Goodreads | The Virgin Suicides

Matt rated it:

01/15/08

recommends it for: everyone

suicide isn't the happiest of topics. the suicides of five sisters is even less pleasant. how do you recommend a book to someone on such a grim topic? easy: just read it.

what eugenides does so well is capture the mystery of secluded sisters, as seen through the eyes of neighborhood boys. this is important in reading the novel. it's not necessarily the lisbon sisters' story, but rather the boys' story, and how the suicides affected them all the way into adulthood (the boys are now men and th...more suicide isn't the happiest of topics. the suicides of five sisters is even less pleasant. how do you recommend a book to someone on such a grim topic? easy: just read it.

what eugenides does so well is capture the mystery of secluded sisters, as seen through the eyes of neighborhood boys. this is important in reading the novel. it's not necessarily the lisbon sisters' story, but rather the boys' story, and how the suicides affected them all the way into adulthood (the boys are now men and they retell their story). they've never fully recovered from the events of that year, as evidenced by the carefully catalogued and numbered evidence they've collected over the years (faded photographs, scraps of paper, newspaper clippings, etc). it's as though their growth and development from boys to men has been permanently stunted, and it's something of a tragedy to read. euginedes' use of a vague narrator allows the reader to actively participate in the mystery and confusion as the boys try to come to terms with the deaths. the narrator(s) alway refer to themselves as "we," and never "i," drawing the reader in with them. we don't know who's speaking. it could be any of 10-12 boys. it's a particularly useful way of letting the reader experience the same gamut of emotions as the boys. by the end of the book i was every bit affected the same way the boys were and are.

beyond the subject of suicide, there's also some very insightful social commentary on how death (particularly suicides) affect not only specific individuals, but communities as well. the narrator(s), for example, notice how all the leaves went unraked during the fall after the first four sisters kill themselves. there's also mention about a day of mourning and an assembly at school, and one boy comments how he felt like they were supposed to feel badly for everything that ever happened...ever. how do adults explain suicide to children? eugenides expertly taps into what it's like to try to grapple with and understand something completely beyond understanding. how do we process suicide and death? can we? should we? i don't think it's beyond reason to make comparisons to 'hamlet' or other literature where 'ghosts' figure prominently. for all intents and purposes, these men are still boys under the spell of five ghosts. it's a thought-provoking novel and one that stays with the reader well after closing its pages, just as the lisbon sisters still haunt the memory of the neighborhood boys.

perhaps the most impressive aspect of the novel is the prose itself. mr. eugenides can write. my copy of the book is nearly worn out from all the markings i've made. there are passages that made me jump off my bed and shout at the sky. his prose is as shiny as a newly minted coin. it's as though every word were precisely chosen, every sentence carefully constructed (and i imagine they were). the novel reminds the reader of the printed word's power. i don't know how much eugenides got for his soul (for surely there was *some* sort of bargain with the devil), but i hope it was a hefty sum.

unfortunately quality literature seems to be in short supply these days. however, i think it's safe to say that after two books jeffrey eugenides has joined a gradually declining crop of truly great, living, american authors (roth, delillo, morrison, updike, among a few others) and is well on his way to an illustrious, prolific, literary career.

this is one of the few books i read more than once. each time i read it i hope to glean some insight into the 'why' of suicide, yet knowning it will never be so. so i'll just keep reading it over and over and try to understand, just as the boys continue to congregate, go over the evidence, seek closure and try to become men. ...less

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Juushika rated it:

09/20/08

bookshelves: borrowed

Read in June, 2008

In American suburbia, the five Lisbon sisters, ages 12 through 17, commit suicide. The youngest goes first, and after their parents sequester the family within the house, her sisters follow a year afterward. Their story is told by a group neighborhood of boys, now men, who in their fanatic obsession with the Lisbon sister have pieced together the events leading up to—and possibly causing—the suicides. The unusual narrative voice is at once distant and invasively familiar, and paints a ...more In American suburbia, the five Lisbon sisters, ages 12 through 17, commit suicide. The youngest goes first, and after their parents sequester the family within the house, her sisters follow a year afterward. Their story is told by a group neighborhood of boys, now men, who in their fanatic obsession with the Lisbon sister have pieced together the events leading up to—and possibly causing—the suicides. The unusual narrative voice is at once distant and invasively familiar, and paints a surreal image of familiar, ordinary teenage life twisted by stifling overcrowding and overprotection. The narrators never quite determine why the girls commit suicide, but this unanswered question opens up a world of thought for the reader. At pieces sweet and claustrophobic, humorous and unsettling, The Virgin Suicides is strangely engrossing and stands in a class of its own: a unusual novel that investigates without judgment. I highly recommend it.

The novel opens with the suicide of the last Lisbon daughter, and only after revealing the ending does it go back to the beginning and explore the journey through each of the five suicides. The narrators, now-grown neighbors of the sisters, speak across the distance of time and a suburban street. They've pieced their story together through memories, interviews, and mementos collected from the Lisbon house. Needless to say, The Virgin Suicides is an unusual novel from the onset, but these unusual aspects are all strengths. The uncommon first person plural of narrators, which stand at a distance even as they watch the sisters in the privacy of their joint bathroom, captures the reader from the onset, moving swiftly through the plot yet pausing for intimate detail that brings the characters (the sisters, their parents, and even the narrators) to life. It creates a surreal and haunting atmosphere which maintains a sense of mystery despite the blunt introduction of the suicides. The intriguing journey back to the suicide which open the text keeps the book interesting to the last page. As such, the novel's ingenious storytelling makes it hard to put down.

The text is swiftly readable but never disintegrates into a cheap thrill; instead, it is an intelligent, thoughtful book. The suicides are both hook and climax to the story, but the book itself is a journey to and between the suicides. There are a dozen possibilities, but neither the narrators nor the author ever pinpoint what drives Celia, Therese, Mary, Bonnie, and Lux to kill themselves. At some level, this unanswered question is frustrating and makes the end of the book almost teasingly brief. However, the cause of the suicides is essential—and yet somehow irrelevant. What matters is the Lisbon sisters: their life as fractioned representations of modern suburban adolescence, smothered under the protective care of their parents, left forever unfinished by their suicides. The Virgin Suicides is exploration without judgment, opening a world to the reader for him to think on it himself.

I'm was not sure what to expect when I first picked up this book. I was aware of its success and intrigued by the unusual concept, but wasn't quite sure how the latter could lead to the former. Now, having read it, I'm impressed by the connection: Eugenides writes an extreme scenario into the most mundane setting, and so by exaggerating reality he in fact explores it. The sisters are real personalities and also archetypes, images of adolescence which is constrained even as it begins to blossom. The Virgin Suicides is quite brilliant, haunting, readable, intelligent, and thought-provoking. I'm impressed, and glad I had to the chance to read it. I highly recommend this book....less

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Tara rated it:

01/27/08

bookshelves: peaked-my-interest

Read in January, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I just finished reading this book and have to say that I was bothered by it. I saw the movie quite some time ago and was bothered by it as well, and thought that maybe by reading the book I would gain a little more insight. Well, I guess in some ways I did gain a little insight.

The book is about the 5 Lisbon sisters: Lux, Mary, Therese, Bonnie and Cecilia, one of whom commits suicide fairly early in the book (Cecilia), and then aftermath from her suicide which leads to the suicides of the ...more I just finished reading this book and have to say that I was bothered by it. I saw the movie quite some time ago and was bothered by it as well, and thought that maybe by reading the book I would gain a little more insight. Well, I guess in some ways I did gain a little insight.

The book is about the 5 Lisbon sisters: Lux, Mary, Therese, Bonnie and Cecilia, one of whom commits suicide fairly early in the book (Cecilia), and then aftermath from her suicide which leads to the suicides of the remaining sisters. The story is told from the point of view of the teenage boys who observed the sisters over the course of the year between the first suicide and the last, and all of the "evidence" they gathered which they were hoping would help explain to them why these girls did what they did. These boys (who are grown men as narrators) were just as bewildered as I was after reading this. The 4 remaining sisters are made into prisoners in their home, which can drive any teenager to do rash things (like runaway for one), but not these girls. They were prisoners of parents who thought by protecting them from the world, they would not have the same fate of the first suicidal sister.

Jeffrey Eugenides has written an interesting book. I enjoyed his book "Middlesex" and found that this book had a lot of the same issues of angst and acceptance that the character in "Middlesex" had to deal with. That's where the similarities end. Eugenides has written a book that discusses teen suicide which is always a shocking event when it occurs, and it leaves all of us wondering "why?", "what was so wrong that they chose this way to deal with their problems?". That's exactly what the narrators in this book are asking themselves, even with all of the knowledge they had of the girls and the neighborhood at the time, these men still (after all the years that had passed) ask themselves "why did the Lisbon girls do this?". The reader is also left with that question gnawing away at the end of the book. I have no idea, given everything that is laid out in the book from the POV of these men, why these girls felt this was the way out from under their overly protective and domineering parents. The parents were only trying to protect them, and that protection made them feel like prisoners who felt there was only one way to escape. I think that's what bothered me most, that these girls thought there was no other way out from under their parents and therefore, they had no other choice....less

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Debbie rated it:

(review of isbn 0374284385)

09/11/08

Read in September, 2008

Where to begin. I have read some of the reviews of others who did not care for or get this book. I admit that the plot/storyline, though unique, is not what makes this story great--it's the prose. The writing is luminous and reads more like poetry than a novel. We don't even know exactly who the narrators are--it is narrated in first person plural and the name and even number of narrators is left vague. Eugenides uses metaphor to describe the deaths of the sisters as the disintegration of a subu...more Where to begin. I have read some of the reviews of others who did not care for or get this book. I admit that the plot/storyline, though unique, is not what makes this story great--it's the prose. The writing is luminous and reads more like poetry than a novel. We don't even know exactly who the narrators are--it is narrated in first person plural and the name and even number of narrators is left vague. Eugenides uses metaphor to describe the deaths of the sisters as the disintegration of a suburban neighborhood--the trees are being cut down because of the threat of Dutch Elm disease; there are dying flies everywhere that are described by the first sister to commit suicide as not even having time to eat before their lives are over. There are so many themes in the story--going through the layers is akin to peeling an onion. The writing is so lovely that it induces a dreamlike state in the reader. Everything is described so perfectly that you can not only see clearly what is being described, but smell the various smells and recall with clarity everything from that time period. Eugenides did not throw this book together; in my mind's eye I see him sitting at his desk turning each phrase over and over in his hands until he gets it exactly right. Yet, the writing is not strained at all--in fact, it seems to have flowed effortlessly from his pen. This is a gifted writer whose work will be read for generations to come, long after Eat, Pray, Gag is in the remainder pile. Elizabeth Gilbert, Chris Bohjalian, Jodi Picoult, Robert James Waller, John Grisham, read this and weep. To this list I add myself, since I would give anything to be able to write half as well as Eugenides. As for those who look for a conventional plot line like all of the other books out there and do not find it (why EXACTLY did the girls kill themselves?) In the real world, not everything in life can be explained.

I loved the book so much that I immediately rented the movie. It was awful, with the exception of James Wood who nailed the part of the father beautifully....less

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Steven rated it:

(review of isbn 0446670251)

07/18/08

Read in July, 2008

I read Mr. Eugenides' Middlesex before this first novel, and it was very interesting to see some of the seeds for that longer, more engrossing and expansive novel in this one. On its own, this dark tale is held together completely by the novelist's style, which is formidable and captured perfectly in the novel's opening line, an exemplary introduction of tone, point-of-view, and plot all in one sentence. From there, the novel jets back to the beginning of its story, and floats circ...more I read Mr. Eugenides' Middlesex before this first novel, and it was very interesting to see some of the seeds for that longer, more engrossing and expansive novel in this one. On its own, this dark tale is held together completely by the novelist's style, which is formidable and captured perfectly in the novel's opening line, an exemplary introduction of tone, point-of-view, and plot all in one sentence. From there, the novel jets back to the beginning of its story, and floats circuitously forward, returning to the beginning, and along the way, we become obsessed, along with our narrator, with the Lisbon girls, a quintet of suburban daughters caught in the tense net of 70's feminism, when there was a wave of female sexuality blossoming, but Midwest values weren't shifting, yet. The backdrop is a city just east of Detroit, Michigan, Grosse Pointe, and Eugenides paints a clear picture of this neighborhood and its inhabitants, whose observances and histories fill out the novel's otherwise spare, central mystery. Since I'm from the area, I loved all the details, the dying Elm trees, the dense infestation of fish flies, the bleak, gray winter, and it never felt inauthentic. Eugenides is master of well-chosen details, and finding humor in the mundane instances of life, and it is this talent that got this first novel such praise.
The issue that I've been hinting at is that because of the simple plot, this short novel sometimes drags, when the beautiful descriptions and side characters' dramas stray too far from the central theme. Because of this, it loses a little steam by the end, which is too bad, because it is the last chapter where Eugenides has much to say about the nature of obsession, how although its gaze is focused outward, it actually reveals more about the ideals and egos of the watchers than the observed, and how this contributed to the isolation and despair of the Lisbon daughters. Luckily, because of the success of this first book, the author was able to work these kinks out in the superior Middlesex, where setting and history play a more important role in the novel's plot and main characters.

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Abby rated it:

08/29/07

bookshelves: neitherdorksnorfood

Read in August, 2007

So, I am still halfway through the Omnivore's Dilemma. A few things got in the way of digging back into its meaty, not-exactly-grabbing flesh: moving across the country, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the fact that my subway ride every morning is pretty short, etc. And then this weekend I took a touristing friend to the Strand and saw The Virgin Suicides. I re...more

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nicole rated it:

(review of isbn 0446670251)

07/01/07

bookshelves: all-time-favorites

Read in January, 2005

So much better the second time around (and I loved it the first, so...)

Gorgeous, creepy. A suburban mythology. At first, I couldn't shake images from the film, which I thought might detract from really appreciating it as a novel, but in the end it didn't. I think that's because I realized how perfectly Sofia Coppola translated the text. I mean, holy shit, it's pretty much perfect. Such a moody novel with sparse dialogue, but what is there, is so right on (and often funny)... GUSHHHH.

Some...more

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Stephanie rated it:

(review of isbn 0446670251)

04/29/08

Read in April, 2008

Having seen the movie, I feel somewhat robbed of my initial response to this story, but I don't think it makes me love it any less. I read about 40 pages last night, and it was really only by sheer force of will that I was able to retire it to my nightstand at a decent enough hour that I won't be nodding off at my desk this afternoon.

I love the Lisbon girls. I love their extra teeth, their singularity and one-ness, their inability to try to escape the purgatory of their slowly decomposing li...more

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Brandon rated it:

(review of isbn 0446670251)

07/19/07

you know, i was dragged by a girlfriend at the time to see this movie when it first came out. thumbs sort of down. it was late, she was with her friends, i'd had too much to drink at dinner. i actually fell asleep and barely remember it.

then, a friend of mine in grad school taught it as a perfect example of writing, or something like that, so i picked up a copy of the book, sat myself down in my favorite east village cafe and read it in a couple/few hours.

it was pretty okay. whatever thr...more

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June rated it:

02/10/08

Read in March, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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penelopewanders rated it:

02/25/08

Read in February, 2008

Here as a ring.
I suppose that Middlesex is simply a hard act to follow (although I gather this was written first?). Having read that first, I was blown away by it, and unfortunately this didn't capture me the same way. I've just read the other JEs (I usually avoid reading them in detail until I've actually read the book) and see I'm not really alone.
Eugenides has an astounding way of describing people and situations and his metaphors are terrific, but for me the content of this story just di...more

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Audrarose rated it:

03/10/08

Read in March, 2008

First off, to any would-be authors? Never let the person doing your cover blurb use the word "portentous", no matter how glowing the quote, because at first (and second and third) glance -- in fact every time I picked this book up -- I read, "a stunning first novel, lyrical and pretentious".

And wow, it would be so easy to use that phrase as my review, because that pretty much sums it up. It's gorgeous in places, incredibly descriptive, but almost self-consciously s...more

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Jennifer rated it:

04/03/08

Read in April, 2008

The Virgin Suicides was overall an interesting book that kept me hooked throughout the entire story. The story is of five sisters who all commit suicide; not at the same time, but throughout the course of a year. It starts out with the youngest sister, Claudia, and the others follow shortly after. The parents keep the four remaining girls “locked up” in order to protect them. This ends up backfiring in the long run and causes them to loose all the girls.
The story is told from the po...more

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Drew rated it:

08/04/08

bookshelves: own-a-copy

Read in July, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Stephanie Marie rated it:

(review of isbn 0446670251)

09/14/08

Read in September, 2008

This book was, as a reviewer noted, "intoxicating" to me. Over the few days it took me to read it-- when I was able to snatch moments to immerse myself in Eugenides' captivating prose-- I found myself dreaming of the Lisbon girls and their suicides. Weird? Yes. Intoxicating? Definitely.

I am one who has the most random assortment of 5 stars, and I debated for a while before I followed my gut and gave this the full 5. Not only was the story itself captivating, but both the "we&q...more

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Julie rated it:

09/16/08

bookshelves: the-re-readables

Hey! It's a book about suicide! AW-some!!!

No,seriously, I really liked this book, and I think a lot of it had to do with the writing style.
It also did not depress me surprisingly. I can understand how some people would find it unpleasant, but I truly did not think this was a depressing story.
Maybe in part because you know what it's about before-hand. If you were just led to believe that it was a normal story, then it ended in suicide...I can see not liking that.

I thought Jeffrey E...more

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Linda rated it:

01/29/08

Read in June, 2007

recommends it for: people who like pretentious books

I simply didn't get this book. Despite the fact I was so desperate to find hidden meaning behind Jeff Eugenides' words, there was nothing. What was the point of wasting so much paper and ink on something so overtly pretentious and so utterly meaningless? A group of oppressed sisters kill themselves after flirting with the neighborhood boys. How horrible that it happened in the middle of suburban America, where the white picket fences render the neighborhoods impermeable to something as tragic as...more

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Xeyra rated it:

(review of isbn 0446670251)

04/09/08

bookshelves: read-2005

Read in November, 2005

I finished reading this one last night and what a book. First of all, I love the collective point-of-view. The story is narrated by a group of men, an account of the events in their town surrounding the Lisbon sisters, years after their suicides. I'd seen the movie before reading the book and since I loved the movie, I had high expectations for the book -- which doesn't disappoint. It describes, in their own words, the obsession of a group of boys for these mysterious, sheltered girls. Every gli...more

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Julie rated it:

02/28/08

Read in February, 2008

Good read. Really interesting. Couldn't put it down. Started and finished it in 2 interrupted days. Interested to see the movie now...
This is such a story of adolescence, love, and over cautious parents. There's something in here for everyone to be able to identify with. It cuts you to the core and makes you hope for the best for the Lisbon girls. You want them to overcome; to leave. You hope that the end will be different than what the title promises. The movie was the same. I went into it ho...more

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