Jeffrey Eugenides, "The Virgin Suicides" (1993).
In 1999, Sofia Coppola (the daughter of Francis Ford Coppola) released her feature film debut, The Virgin Suicides. It was an appropriate beginning for her, and brought much publicity to the novelist whose own debut was the book the film was based on. Jeffrey Eugenides went on to write a novel about a hermaphrodite. I read Middlesex, yet I have to admit that I recall very little from it. That's why I wasn't all that excited to read another Eugenides book. My copy of The Virgin Suicides sat on an out-of-the-way end table while I passed over it for more alluring titles. But when I actually got around to it, I was pleasantly surprised.
The Virgin Suicides concerns a family of five daughters (the Lisbons) that all end up doing themselves in. I'm not really giving anything away by saying that, because that outcome is revealed right at the start of the book. The anonymous narrator, who represents a group of boys that live in the same neigborhood as the Lisbon Family, attempts to explain the events that led up to the tragedy. Ultimately the mystery of the girls' motivation(s) for suicide propel the narrative.
At the start, the Lisbon family is presented as being a relatively "normal", if strictly conservative, family. But the five daughters are otherworldly and form a unit apart from the rest of the neighborhood kids. They are therefore the subject of much obsessive speculation, much of it characterized by a crude adolescent quality- as it comes solely from the boys who attend school with the Lisbons . The entire community is stunned when the youngest Lisbon initially tries and fails, and then succeeds gruesomely, to take her own life. This sets off a chain of tragedy, as the Lisbons and the house they occupy begin a steady deterioration. There is much speculation among the neighbors as to the origin of the Lisbon malaise, but until well into the book no one actively confronts the devolving situation.
Eugenides creates an odd dislocation by being enigmatic about the period and setting for the story. He hints at widespread environmental degradation in the present space of the narrator- but that can suggest the recent past, the present, and/or the future. At the same time, he is clear that the narrator is looking back from his middle age, to a time of childhood innocence. This lack of clarity ends up lending his story the quality of an allegory or fable. Yet there are times when the author makes specific cultural references that lead the reader to try to place the plot. With a bit of detective work, the reader can guess that the events take place in Michigan in the late 60's and 70's.
Ultimately The Virgin Suicides can be read as commentary on a society in the midst of moral upheaval and confusion. The ideas that the neighborhood onlookers have about the fate of the Lisbons can be generalized into perspectives common to the particular time and location in which this tale takes place. How have the daughters reached such a point of abject despair? The street they live in is simply a microcosm of the larger world they inhabit, beyond their immediate suburban borders. They seem to see this more clearly than anyone else. But despite Eugenides rather bleak philosophical outlook and the sufferings of the Lisbon family, there is an underlying black humor scattered throughout that makes this work an entertaining read. Rarely is teenage suicide this fun.
The Virgin Suicides concerns a family of five daughters (the Lisbons) that all end up doing themselves in. I'm not really giving anything away by saying that, because that outcome is revealed right at the start of the book. The anonymous narrator, who represents a group of boys that live in the same neigborhood as the Lisbon Family, attempts to explain the events that led up to the tragedy. Ultimately the mystery of the girls' motivation(s) for suicide propel the narrative.
At the start, the Lisbon family is presented as being a relatively "normal", if strictly conservative, family. But the five daughters are otherworldly and form a unit apart from the rest of the neighborhood kids. They are therefore the subject of much obsessive speculation, much of it characterized by a crude adolescent quality- as it comes solely from the boys who attend school with the Lisbons . The entire community is stunned when the youngest Lisbon initially tries and fails, and then succeeds gruesomely, to take her own life. This sets off a chain of tragedy, as the Lisbons and the house they occupy begin a steady deterioration. There is much speculation among the neighbors as to the origin of the Lisbon malaise, but until well into the book no one actively confronts the devolving situation.
Eugenides creates an odd dislocation by being enigmatic about the period and setting for the story. He hints at widespread environmental degradation in the present space of the narrator- but that can suggest the recent past, the present, and/or the future. At the same time, he is clear that the narrator is looking back from his middle age, to a time of childhood innocence. This lack of clarity ends up lending his story the quality of an allegory or fable. Yet there are times when the author makes specific cultural references that lead the reader to try to place the plot. With a bit of detective work, the reader can guess that the events take place in Michigan in the late 60's and 70's.
Ultimately The Virgin Suicides can be read as commentary on a society in the midst of moral upheaval and confusion. The ideas that the neighborhood onlookers have about the fate of the Lisbons can be generalized into perspectives common to the particular time and location in which this tale takes place. How have the daughters reached such a point of abject despair? The street they live in is simply a microcosm of the larger world they inhabit, beyond their immediate suburban borders. They seem to see this more clearly than anyone else. But despite Eugenides rather bleak philosophical outlook and the sufferings of the Lisbon family, there is an underlying black humor scattered throughout that makes this work an entertaining read. Rarely is teenage suicide this fun.
posted by Merge Divide at 5:06 PM
2 Comments:
Good review. I enjoyed the subtle messages of Virgin Suicides, set in a wealthy Michigan suburb in the years of my youth. It was easy becoming one of the boys viewing the tragedy from across the street from the house of secrets. I thought the movie did a decent job capturing the book and evokes the same questions, but in a much more simplistic fashion.
Middlesex's story was certainly more complex (depth and breadth) and to me was several stories in one, and ranks in my top ten of books read in recent years. Eugenides certainly paints his scenes with a fine brush, making everything clear visually, yet leaving alot of room for daydereaming and interpretation.
I wish he had more books available, and that someone would tackle Middlesex for the screen.
I'd probably be at least mildly interested in seeing the movie now.
I'm not sure why I remember virtually nothing of "Middlesex". Many reviewers preferred it to Eugenides debut. Maybe it simply had to do with whatever mood I was in at the time.
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