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Revolutionary Road

3.82 of 5 stars 3.82 · rating details · 35,989 ratings · 4,483 reviews

In the hopeful 1950s, Frank and April Wheeler appear to be a model couple: bright, beautiful, talented, with two young children and a starter home in the suburbs. Perhaps they married too young and started a family too early. Maybe Frank's job is dull. And April never saw herself as a housewife. Yet they have always lived on the assumption that greatness is only just aroun...more

ebook, 370 pages

Published July 8th 2008 by Vintage (first published 1961)

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Jul 07, 2008 Eric rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, ficciones

I let out a whoop of laughter on about page 180, when I finally figured Frank Wheeler out. You see, Frank spent most of his youth a scattered, bashful schmuck. Then after WWII, as a Columbia student and Village-dweller, he started getting laid all the time, thanks to a theatrically brooding pseudo-intellectual schtick. Nevermind that Frank is essentially a glib blowhard, talented in no artistic way (he's one of those tiresome people who whine about Conformity as if America invented it, threaten...more I let out a whoop of laughter on about page 180, when I finally figured Frank Wheeler out. You see, Frank spent most of his youth a scattered, bashful schmuck. Then after WWII, as a Columbia student and Village-dweller, he started getting laid all the time, thanks to a theatrically brooding pseudo-intellectual schtick. Nevermind that Frank is essentially a glib blowhard, talented in no artistic way (he's one of those tiresome people who whine about Conformity as if America invented it, threaten expatriation, etc.), but the sexual success of his hip, disaffected persona was the only success or strength he had ever really known, so it became the core around which he wrapped his entire being and identity. That's fine, we all need illusions, and if they get you laid, even better--but the hitch is that April, his wife and the last of his conquests, and the woman with whom he now lives in the suburbs, actually half-believes him, thinks that he's a noble soul who needs the rarefied air of foreign capitals in order to flower. This is hilarious because Frank is nothing if not the standard guy, le homme moyen sensuel: his dissatisfaction with his life, which he pretentiously blames on the conformity and boredom of 1950s America, is actually pretty well mollified once he gets a promotion at work and starts screwing a secretary; the idea of moving to Paris the better to become a 'nicotine-stained, Jean-Paul Sartre kinda guy' vanishes once he starts having more sex; he affects a snooty disdain for his job, but he's actually quite good at it, and, in heartbreaking scene toward the end, when it's all too, too late, demonstrates that he kind of likes it.

But getting back to my whoop of laughter. That laughter didn't diminish my esteem for the novel--regardless of his characters, Yates is a godlike stylist--but for a while there I felt it played more as a macabre farce than as a Tragic Laying Bare Of The Hollowness Of The American Dream. Then the tragic gravity of the characters came rushing back in chapter 7 of part 3, when the narration switches to April's point of view, and Yates starts hitting you where the last pages of 'The Great Gatsby' hit you. I ended up with more compassion for Frank, I saw that his pose of superiority rises, at least partly, out of a desperate fear of ending up like his wilted, used-up working stiff of a father. Frank and April were drifting, lonely people who initially thought that one another looked like the kind of person (the 'golden' boy, the 'really first rate girl') who could whirl their lives into effortlessness and perfection and a final salvation from lifelong feelings of dread and inadequacy...just as everyone else in the book thinks that the Wheelers LOOK LIKE that golden couple with the world at its feet, and all problems solved. Stendahl said 'beauty is the promise of happiness.' That's it, merely 'the promise.' Yates is so eloquent on how easy (and how dangerous) it is to theatricalize our lives. He knows all the little gestures and poses with which we briefly and delusionally elevate flawed creatures into romantic figures.

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Sep 04, 2012 Steve aka Sckenda rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: consumerism, connecticut, marriage, love, truth, nostalgia, misanthropy, movie, friendship, time-100

“Do you know what the definition of insane is? Yes. It’s the inability to relate to another human being. It’s the inability to love.” – Revolutionary Road

Fire up your cigarette: drag deep; flick ash. In 1955, cigarettes are as harmless as steaks that are pan-fried in butter. Skip the highball and drain three fingers of straight bourbon instead. You will need a ball of whiskey sloshing in your stomach to flash a plastic grin as you meet the sad characters of Revolutionary Road.

Frank Wheeler hate...more

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Dec 22, 2009 Ben rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, favorites, good-fiction, read-in-2009, to-read-again, all-time-favorites, romantic-love-and-hate, families, funny-shit, important-message, memorable-characters, transformative-experience

For the longest time I just wanted a family, kids, a decent job, and a happy life in suburbia. That was all I wanted. That's it. It seemed so simple, predictable, and reliable. It was my ideal image.

It seems that society has done a good job of putting that thought in everyone's head. The best thing for a young man is for him to go to college, get married, get a reliable job with a steady company, have babies (2 or 3, of course), make friends with neighbors, have birthday parties for the kids, d...more

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Nov 29, 2009 karen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: littry-fiction, sad-burbia

watching this movie last night made me want to read the book immediately after. and it's not a terrible movie, it's just a little... hammy, and the tone is uneven - whether these people are meant to be seen as victims of the stultifying, euthanizing effects of suburbia, or if they are at root unlikable people who deserve to be taken down a peg for their arrogance and their conviction that their involvement in this thing we call "suburbia" is just playacting, not to be taken seriously. the book d...more

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Jun 24, 2010 Ellen rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: My father, who'd like Frank Wheeler

Shelves: novels

On my fling-o-meter scale, Revolutionary Road is a well-traveled book, having been flung (why does this past participle sound so ungainly?) across the room several times. The initial trip occurred when Richard Yates gratuitously threw in this bit of over-writing in the first chapter:

At first their rehearsals had been held on Saturdays—always it seemed, on the kind of windless February or March afternoon when the sky is white , the trees are black, and the brown fields and hummocks of the earth

...more

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Jan 04, 2009 Michelle rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels

I've been putting off reviewing this book. I didn't enjoy reading it, and it wasn't because the characters were unlikeable, which they were. There are authors who can write great books about people the reader hates. This wasn't one of them.

I get the whole 1950s values/suburbia/trap that Frank and April found themselves in. I just didn't care. He was a whiny, immature, alcoholic. She was a bored suburban housewife whose only sense of identity was tied into how successful Frank may/may not be in l...more

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Jun 03, 2009 brian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

well, i read the book ages ago and it left such an impression that when i signed up for bookface i stamped the sucker with a fiver. the gothsissy promises if i re-read it i'll knock off a few stars. whatever.

i saw the movie last night and a word popped into my head:

smimsicholy: a specific combination of smug-whimsy-melancholy seen in the work of certain 'important' artists and/or entertainers.

yeah. if sam mendes is the cinematic anti-christ than this movie's his mastercheese. it's a laughable...more

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Nov 16, 2007 David rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Revolutionary Road is a masterpiece of a genre that’s largely considered played out—the novel of suburban malaise. It’s a social novel about The Way We Live Now, only in this case Now is over 40 years ago and Yates’ take on the plight of the poor souls marooned in corporate/suburban America has long since been digested and superseded. It still persists to some degree—in films like American Beauty, novels such as Tom Perotta’s Little Children, and the brilliant TV show Weeds. But, American Beauty...more Revolutionary Road is a masterpiece of a genre that’s largely considered played out—the novel of suburban malaise. It’s a social novel about The Way We Live Now, only in this case Now is over 40 years ago and Yates’ take on the plight of the poor souls marooned in corporate/suburban America has long since been digested and superseded. It still persists to some degree—in films like American Beauty, novels such as Tom Perotta’s Little Children, and the brilliant TV show Weeds. But, American Beauty aside, contemporary takes on suburbia tend to be much less tragic and portentous.

Frank and April Wheeler, Yates 20-30-something protagonists are, in their own misguided way, dissidents struggling against certain stereotypically oppressive aspects of American life in the 50’s: conformity; the tedium and banality of life in the suburbs and the mid-century corporate workplace (they live in Connecticut, Frank works in New York); in April’s case, against a life of homemaking and childrearing. The problem is they don’t seem to have very good intellectual resources for waging the struggle. The practical, material resources are probably there—they are well educated (at least Frank is), intelligent, they make a good impression, while not rich they are far from destitute. But they are hampered by all kinds of romantic illusions, illusions that keep them from coming up with a plausible escape plan, or making the most of the hand they are dealt. They are tormented by the idea that they are not living up to their best selves (and this is true) but they have utterly self-deluding notions about what their best selves are or how to bring them into being. They are so afraid of being corrupted by their environment that they hold themselves aloof from the life around them. Their aversion is largely aesthetic, but the pop psychological and sociological theories they use to explain to themselves why they are alienated are inadequate to the task. They want to lead lives of significance, but the best they can do is to concoct a vague and implausible scheme of moving to France, where the plan is for April to work as a secretary while Frank sits around the apartment trying to figure out what to do with himself. I mean, if they want to do something worthwhile with their lives, Frank could become a teacher, or, at the other end of the scale, go to work for the kind of high-powered advertising firm portrayed in Mad Men (he graduated Columbia and has a way with words). April could have, at the very least, volunteered to work at the NAACP.

Yates is an extremely accomplished prose stylist. He’s a master of the vivid, transparent prose style that is the gold standard for writers of realistic fiction. He nails the details of life among the white middle class in the mid-to-late 50’s, while at the same time painting it as a more complicated and conflicted time than popular stereotypes would have you believe. He has an extraordinary ability to make you feel like you are deep inside the consciousness of his characters while at the same time watching them from a great distance. And the central dilemma his characters face—how to live a worthwhile life in a world that often conspires against it—is not one that will go out of fashion any time soon.

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Sep 04, 2008 Zack rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What a wise book. Many rate it as depressing, and yes, it tells a very tragic story. But at the same time, it's also a tremendously funny book. It's just that its humor stings because it's based in the most human of weaknesses: Self-rationalization.

Frank and April Wheeler are the prototypical post-WWII suburban couple -- happy on the outside, endlessly frustrated on the inside. But author Richard Yates isn't interested in just dissecting the suburbs. Frank and April are painfully aware of their...more What a wise book. Many rate it as depressing, and yes, it tells a very tragic story. But at the same time, it's also a tremendously funny book. It's just that its humor stings because it's based in the most human of weaknesses: Self-rationalization.

Frank and April Wheeler are the prototypical post-WWII suburban couple -- happy on the outside, endlessly frustrated on the inside. But author Richard Yates isn't interested in just dissecting the suburbs. Frank and April are painfully aware of their shallow surroundings, but they've always tried to convince themselves that they're better than this life.

Their frustration -- mainfested in arguments that are painfully realistic and bitter -- comes from a sense that they should be doing more, that they should accomplish something with themselves. But, as the failed local theater production that opens the story points out, they're also haunted by the fact that perhaps not only were they not meant to be great, but they were never on the road to greatness in the first place.

Scene after scene crackles with familiarity. There's the conversation with another couple that leads to awkward silence until the neighbors' troubles provide a desperately-needed topic of discussion. There's the description of how Frank came to get his job, a dead-on commentary on college graduates looking for financial stablity with little output. And there's April's heartbreaking lament about the validation she hoped to find for herself in the real world, and what she's found instead.

It's not that the Wheelers are unjustified in their decisions -- their backstories flesh out Frank's need not to be his blue-collar father, and April's desperate desire for a loving family. But their attitudes toward facing the world are hopelessly compromised by their insecurity. Neither is truly happy with themself, and April's harebrained idea about moving to Paris is just an excuse to avoid the real issue: It's not the suburbs that's draining the life from their marriage, it's them. In the end, April realizes they were never really in love with each other, just the idealized images they created for each other.

REVOLUTIONARY ROAD has enjoyed a cult reputation for decades, but has often had a hard time gaining widespread acceptance. I think the reason for this is because it's filled with truth -- the kind that makes people nod in recognition and wince in embarassment. It achieves one of the highest goals of fiction: It makes you question yourself and the world you live in. It's not without hope -- even after the climactic tragedy, life goes on. It's just up to you to try and understand the book's lessons, and figure out if there's anything you've learned.(less)

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Sep 10, 2008 Katie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Suicides and the homeless.

Recommended to Katie by: David Henson, the jerk.

Oh sweet barbequed jaysus--why does anyone ever get married? And why do I keep listening to my boyfriend when he recommends books to me?

Because he has good taste. Good, horribly morose and depressing taste.

This is an excellent book. Richard Yates has a preternatural ability to divine and pick apart the artifice we assume in everyday life with our loved ones and coworkers. The young couple of the book, Frank and April Wheeler, are bougie suburbanites who aspire to be artistic interesting people,...more

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Jan 26, 2009 RandomAnthony rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I found myself reading Revolutionary Road through dual lenses. The first lens framed the novel through what I’ve heard about the apparently groundbreaking approach Yates took to controversial subject matter in the early sixties. The second lens framed the novel through the question as to whether or not it would hold up as a great book outside of the controversial context. So what’s the verdict? Nice try, Mr. Yates, you’re a technical virtuoso, but other than feeling that “Oh, God, is this charac...more I found myself reading Revolutionary Road through dual lenses. The first lens framed the novel through what I’ve heard about the apparently groundbreaking approach Yates took to controversial subject matter in the early sixties. The second lens framed the novel through the question as to whether or not it would hold up as a great book outside of the controversial context. So what’s the verdict? Nice try, Mr. Yates, you’re a technical virtuoso, but other than feeling that “Oh, God, is this character really going to do that in this situation? I can barely watch” horror, Revolutionary Road seemed cold and clinical.

Spotting Yates’ literary devices in play is easy, almost too easy, and sometimes feel stock (for example, the crazy guy who can say things other people can’t). A few of the characterizations are interesting, especially Mrs. Givings, but veer towards oversimplification. Frank in particular is underdrawn as a sort of insecure suburban go-getter putting up a detached intellectual front. Add some heartstring-tugging kids, plenty of cigarettes (Did everyone chain smoke back then? I swear Yates mentions a cigarette on every page), and the controversial sex, etc. and you’ve pretty much summed up the novel.

Still, there’s no denying the critical praise heaped on the book. Dorothy Parker raved about it. Maybe Yates was making brave choices in Revolutionary Road but we’re too far past that period to appreciate them. I’m reminded of the New York Dolls. You can’t read punk rock history without somebody mentioning the importance of the Dolls, but does anyone listen to their records anymore? Maybe this novel is more of a historical document than a living, breathing, timeless work of fiction. I don’t know. Honestly, I’m still conflicted. I don’t regret reading Revolutionary Road, but I don’t think I’d read another of Yates novels without strong recommendations from people I trust. I do, however, want to see the movie. Kate Winset? Are you kidding? I’m there.
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Jul 08, 2008 Hannah Messler rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oh snap, just try and read Yates's bio and then NOT be compelled to go back through his business . . .

This book breaks my heart with such gentle little fingers. I think what kills me even worse than the dreadful big bang on which this little world ends is the fact that Frank and April never say a goddamn word to each other throughout the whole book--in all that time, all that marriage and all those hours and all those years, never a word. And so much talking. Mercy. And how close it cuts to the...more

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Aug 29, 2007 Lori rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Reading this book was a new experience for me. I disliked every character except the children, the premise wasn't particularly interesting, and the theme was tired. And yet I kept reading, realizing halfway through that it was because Richard yates is such an incredible writer. I finally understand writing skill. A young couple moves from the city to the country and spend their days going through the motions and spend their evenings getting completely soused and complaining about the hopeless st...more

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Jul 09, 2007 Rachel rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: disillusioned housewives/businessmen

Shelves: fiction

This book is really depressing, and not even in a particularly eloquent way.

It chronicles the highball-soaked dissolution of a suburban family. Set against the backdrop of post-war Connecticut, the story follows Frank and April Wheeler as they fight, throw dishes, scream at their children, and verbally and emotionally manipulate one another.

My hunch is that this book might have really resonated for the dissatisfied housewives/businessmen who read it when it was originally published in 1961. To...more

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Oct 27, 2012 Lou rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: best-reads

A Well written story centered on how an idealist american couple may not be so ideal away from the faces of many.
They cannot seem to make their life work and enjoy their daily trappings until it is too late. Makes you wander at making the most of the good things in life that you have before you lose it rather than trying to rewrite your life completely from scratch.

(Re-read coming in November 2012 really love this story for some strange reason)

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Mar 02, 2009 Jason Pettus rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As any lover of the arts knows, an artist's reputation depends not only on what society thinks of their work, but also what they think of it over the passage of time, with many creative professionals' careers dipping up and down over the decades based on changing trends and tastes. Take American author Richard Yates for an excellent example; celebrated by the academic community when he first started writing in the early 1960s, he was considered in the vanguard of the nascent "postmodern" movemen...more

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Sep 24, 2008 Brian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Because I'm a terrible reader, I tend to do this thing where I read about the first half to two-thirds of a book, then drag out the last third until I've completely lost track of it. I started "Revolutionary Road" worried that this would happen again, but quickly found it wouldn't be a problem because I COULD NOT STOP READING IT. I started it at 5 p.m. and was finished by 1 a.m.

So, yes, because I couldn't stop reading it, you should. It's as simple as that! OK, also it's one of the best books I'...more

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Feb 07, 2009 deLille rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Reading this book reminded me of a book I read my freshman year of high school, John Updike's "Rabbit, Run", which I gave one star to. I have to admit that I barely remember the Rabbit, Run plot given that it's been decades since I read it, but "Revolutionary Road" vividly brought back the feeling that book left me with: one of disgust that people can actually be so self-absorbed that they deliberately wreck what most people would think is a pretty good deal. I had just finished reading “A Thous...more Reading this book reminded me of a book I read my freshman year of high school, John Updike's "Rabbit, Run", which I gave one star to. I have to admit that I barely remember the Rabbit, Run plot given that it's been decades since I read it, but "Revolutionary Road" vividly brought back the feeling that book left me with: one of disgust that people can actually be so self-absorbed that they deliberately wreck what most people would think is a pretty good deal. I had just finished reading “A Thousand Splendid Suns” when I picked up “Revolutionary Road”, and part of me wanted to say that Frank and April are the most ridiculous, whining spoiled brats I’ve encountered in fiction in a long time.

Don’t like living in the stifling, safe enclave of suburbia? Fine – I know some people in Afghanistan (or how about the Gaza strip) who would be happy as hell to trade places with you.

Don’t get me wrong, the suburban existence IS suffocating, but people who are affluent enough to live in a nice suburban neighborhood are also affluent enough to do something about it if that’s not their preference. There are so many people in this world who do not have the financial resources to do anything about their condition that I have no patience with people who DO have those resources, and yet would rather whine and moan -- and sabotage their families and marriages -- than do something constructive about it.

Now, why did I give this book at least three stars? Well, it is a very well-written book. I was truly amazed at Yates ability to capture the nuisances of the 1950’s landscape and the cultural peculiarities that existed then. "Revolutionary Road" is an historical novel in that it does a tremendous job at portraying the way things really were back in a time that most of us (born afterwards) were led to believe was a golden period of existence. Post-war peace and prosperity – what could be better? Well, all that glitters is not gold, and Revolutionary Road is quite powerful in conveying that feeling of entrapment many people may have felt during the 1950s. People were supposed to appreciate all the wonderful things that they had… instead of the Great Depression and “The War”, they now had split-level homes in the suburbs, cocktails for lunch, and job security for life. But what if you were one of those who didn’t appreciate it? What if you wanted a little drama in your life? Well, people considered you slightly nuts, and ungrateful.

Revolutionary Road is also masterful at illuminating certain personality traits that exist in many people, such as the way people tend to relish telling a story about a horrific event while feigning grand levels of sympathy. This book crystallizes the subtle impressions that we get from people but never raise to the forefront of our consciousness. Clearly, Yates was a deep observer of human behavior (and was probably one of those people who psychoanalyzed everyone to death).

Ultimately, Revolutionary Road left me with very mixed feelings. I loved the book, but hated the characters. It was hard for Frank and April to not trigger feelings I have towards certain modern day Franks and Aprils that I know… people who have an inflated sense of their own self-importance, and think that the most important thing in life is to pursue their own happiness regardless of what their pursuit of happiness does to their kids and spouse.
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Jul 05, 2011 Gloria Mundi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: gender, love-and-romance, anti-hero-es, guardian-1000-novels-list, adultery, unhealthy-relationships

My husband and I have one of those relationships that a lot of people would refer to as fraught or even (dare I say it?) dysfunctional. We argue. A lot. As people, we are as completely different as it is possible to be. He is an extrovert who thrives on attention, comes from a large family and enjoys physical work and nature. I am an introvert with a single sibling and like nothing better than to read. Our views on everything from the correct way way to bring up one's child to whether god exists...more My husband and I have one of those relationships that a lot of people would refer to as fraught or even (dare I say it?) dysfunctional. We argue. A lot. As people, we are as completely different as it is possible to be. He is an extrovert who thrives on attention, comes from a large family and enjoys physical work and nature. I am an introvert with a single sibling and like nothing better than to read. Our views on everything from the correct way way to bring up one's child to whether god exists are diametrically opposed. Here are a few examples of things we have argued about:

• Whether to leave the curtains open or closed. My husband is convinced that the perverts of the world routinely camp outside our house just to catch a glimpse of me ironing fully clothed in our bedroom.

• Whether the collar on a polo shirt should be worn up or down. In response to his feeble bleatings that he doesn't want his neck to burn, I have very subtly told him that if he wants to look like an unspeakable prole he can very well walk on the other side of the street from me.

• Which is better, Russia or England. I am Russian and my husband is English which, obviously, means that not only are we personally responsible for every action taken by our respective countries throughout history but we are also each charged with the task of defending and propagating the social and cultural mores of those countries to the other.

• Arguments about arguments – whose fault an argument was, who started it (not to be confused with the former), what the argument is about, whether it is happening at all and so on.

You get the gist.

So trust me when I tell you that the arguments and the relationship politics which Yates describes in Revolutionary Road are frighteningly authentic. It is a brilliant account of a marriage going wrong, full of black humour and exceptionally well-written, and I would thoroughly recommend this book just for that.

Frank and April are very flawed characters but very real and intricately drawn. They are selfish, self-absorbed and self-aggrandising, they each rely on the other to make their life worthwhile and make them into the kind of person they want to be and they take themselves and their bullshit far too seriously. Add to this the effect of the mind numbing 50s suburbia and the straight-jacket rigidity of the 50s gender roles and the nuclear family ideal and you get the tragic farce that is Frank and April's marriage.

Some reviewers have argued that the book has become irrelevant because it is set in a world that no longer exists. I don't think so. I think the way we live and function now is not really so brave or so new as we would like to think. Yates is fantastic at picking apart the fictions that we create about ourselves, the personas that we construct (both in our interaction with others and in our own mind) and the values that we ascribe to certain choices and lifestyles and that, I believe, is as relevant today as it ever was. It has certainly given me much food for thought and is still fresh in my memory, even though I read the book several years ago.
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Sep 13, 2008 Meghan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

9/10: I am reading this really slowly because it is absolutely amazing and I am kind of nervous and sad about how soon I'll be done with it.

9/13: Okay, wow. First of all, I'd like to build a home in some of these sentences. Something with a veranda so I can sit out there with a drink and really look around and take the whole thing in.

Okay just give me a minute.

Ready.

You read some books and you think, this person is a storyteller. I would listen to any story this person tells. And then sometime...more

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Feb 09, 2009 selena rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Aspiring poets and suicidalists

Shelves: 2009

Revolutionary Road is the story of April and Frank Wheeler, an accidental couple with accidental children who are accidentally but unhappily living the American Dream. They live in the Connecticut suburbs on Revolutionary Road and Frank works in New York. His wife, of course, stays home with their two children. To say that they are not the most devoted couple or set of parents is a drastic understatement. Their children are merely there to give the illusion of happiness and normality. Their rela...more Revolutionary Road is the story of April and Frank Wheeler, an accidental couple with accidental children who are accidentally but unhappily living the American Dream. They live in the Connecticut suburbs on Revolutionary Road and Frank works in New York. His wife, of course, stays home with their two children. To say that they are not the most devoted couple or set of parents is a drastic understatement. Their children are merely there to give the illusion of happiness and normality. Their relationship is only there to explain the children.

The story really begins when April cooks up a scheme to go to Europe in order for Frank to "find himself." She would be the one working while he did whatever it was that people do when they're looking for themselves. This was the answer to all of their problems. They would leave behind their pseudo-intelligent friends in favor of friends who lived the posh European life. Their plans are quickly brought to a halt when April finds out that she is pregnant again. This proves to be a great problem and cancels their plans - throwing them back into their unhappy situation with no way out.

Throughout this book, I found myself immensely enjoying Yates' beautiful prose but disliking the characters and the story. I felt like the characters were oversimplified - caricatures of real people. There's the man who has spent most of his adult life in an insane asylum and is brutally honest and the neighbor that is stupid and naive but pining after April regardless of how many times he is rejected, etc. However, this book has received vast amounts of praise for its great story and heart wrenching characters. The only way to justify this is to view it from its intended time period.

This book is meant to be a critique of the stifling 50's idealism written in the 60's. To our society, this story isn't shocking or controversial, like it was when it first came out. We're so far from the American Dream that the idea of someone else finding it not-all-its-cracked-up-to-be does not in any way faze us.

April, after a brief tryst with her neighbor:

"I really don't know who you are..."
"And even if I did," she said, "I'm afraid it wouldn't help, because you see I don't know who I am either."

This has proven to be the most depressing book I've read this year.(less)

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Jan 22, 2013 Cristina rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Per fortuna l'uomo medio non ha nemmeno la metà dell'acume di questo autore
per fortuna l'istinto innato di soprvavvivenza rende anche l'uomo meno medio incline a non guardarsi dentro in modo tanto spietato
perché insomma, ciò che rende tanto diverso l'uomo medio e meno medio dai protagonisti di questo romanzo, nonché dalle persone che ruotano intorno ad essi, forse, dico forse è solo un tragico "accidentale" epilogo.

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Jul 04, 2007 Simon A. Smith rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, novels-before-1980

I can't say enough about how awesome this book is. It really blew me away. As a writer, it made me reconsider everything else I had read and written and hold it to a completely different standard. This book changed my life. The fearlessness with which Yates writes with is so jarring that it forces you to go back and find out what he is doing to accomplish such marvelous feats.

He may very well be a "writer's writer" but for that he must be included on the same mantel with other greats such as Fit...more

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Dec 11, 2008 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Beautifully done, exhilarating and FUNNY, which I wasn't expecting. And of course, sad as hell. Minus one star though because it never quite got past the cerebral level for me. The characters felt a bit like puppets - the most complex, masterfully constructed puppets in the world, but puppets all the same. I mean how many times was there a sentence like, "If person A had said x instead of y, everything would have been OK"? In real life people's words don't have that much power, do they? Definite...more

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Mar 12, 2009 Erik rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Excellent characterization, in both direct and subtle ways. As despicable as the main character, Frank Wheeler, was at times, I thought the author did a tremendous job of showing the reader who he really was. April Wheeler (his wife) didn't seemed to be as covered in-depth, but was still so well-drawn with her thoughts, words and actions.

As long as the story was (460+ pages, even though the stats here don't seem to match), it moved quickly for me. I read the last 100 pages in one sitting; I knew...more

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Jan 25, 2009 Lindsey rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: school-2k8-2k9

And another one bites the dust. Revolutionary Road made me want to eat dust, or dirt or even mud. I had all the anticipation of both my tumblr book club and the movie “Titanic 2” behind me and I just couldn’t do it.

The back says

In the hopeful 1950’s, Frank and April Wheeler seem to be a model couple: bright, beautiful, talented, with two young children and a starter home in the suburbs. Perhaps they married too young and started a family too early. Maybe Frank’s job is dull. And April never di...more

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Oct 19, 2010 Miss Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, random-grab, ubs

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Connecticut 1955

Frank and April Wheeler appear to be the perfect couple. They are in their late twenties, beautiful, they have two young children, Frank is successful, and they are envied by most. I had to keep reminding myself that at this period in time, this is how society was-- the ‘what would the neighbors think’ mentality about everything. Everyone must think we are perfect!

Both are feeling unfulfilled in their lives and in their marriage, but neither voices it to the other. Frank desper...more Connecticut 1955

Frank and April Wheeler appear to be the perfect couple. They are in their late twenties, beautiful, they have two young children, Frank is successful, and they are envied by most. I had to keep reminding myself that at this period in time, this is how society was-- the ‘what would the neighbors think’ mentality about everything. Everyone must think we are perfect!

Both are feeling unfulfilled in their lives and in their marriage, but neither voices it to the other. Frank desperately wants to be liked by all, and worshipped by his wife. He is struggling with turning thirty years old, and realizing he is living in the suburbs, working at a job he hates. Both he and April feel they are somehow above this, and often talk down their friends and neighbors. He still doesn’t feel that he is a man yet—someone his wife would be proud of.

I had trouble understanding him at first; because I saw him as pretty well off in most areas of his life. Once he clicked with me, I began to like him a little, and even feel a bit sorry for him. He really wanted to please his wife, and make her happy. Yet she would shut down on him and say things in a flat tone like ‘yes dear. whatever you think, darling…’ no matter what the subject. April is not as fleshed out as Frank’s character, so it was harder to understand what her motivations were. About half way through, I realized this woman is manic depressive. On his birthday, she greets him in the driveway all dressed up, had baked him a cake, bought presents for his birthday, and was like a totally different person. She just blows off her previous behavior, by basically just saying ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it’. He is as surprised as I; however, he wants her love so badly that he eats it up. She lays this big idea on him that they should uproot themselves and their children and move to Paris. She will get an administrative job, and Frank will ‘find himself’ while she supports him. At first, is skeptical. However, she knows what to say to him, by praising him and telling how wonderful it will be, they can leave this area, he can be a man. He buys into this romanticized idea, and suddenly they both jump into this mania of moving to Europe. I really didn’t get it, but it seemed to be making them happy, but I knew it would not last. After telling people about their plan, they are met with skepticism of course.

Frank begins working harder at work and suddenly he is recognized by his boss and offered a promotion. He starts to have second thoughts about this Paris move. April won’t let the dream go. She very much wants to leave. She finds out she is pregnant, and I got a glimpse of her character that I didn’t really like. She is selfish, resentful, and needed therapy in my opinion. She wants to abort the child, and Frank wants to keep it. However his only motivation for this would mean they can’t go to Paris. How could she support him if she was pregnant, then had a baby? Frank doesn’t understand her want to not keep the baby and even suggests she needs psychoanalysis. The last part of the book is pretty tense because you don’t know what April is thinking. He thinks he has convinced her that they will stay, and everything has worked itself out. She’s shut down on him again, and he is realizing that he really isn’t happy either. He doesn’t want to have another baby, but what can he do?

I’ve really rambled on, here. I liked this book and recommend it to anyone looking for a serious emotional story. Frank and April aren’t especially likeable, but they aren’t supposed to be. Frank is narcissistic, April is just a terrible drag, and both are adulterers. Did I forget to add they are delusional? This does not have a happy ending.
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Jul 18, 2007 Jeff rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book wrecked me; and I loved every minute of it.

In my research, I've found many writers, from R. Ford and T. Williams to Vonnegut, to have loved this book, while many critics -- particularly, the daily/weekly newspaper variety -- haven't.

Makes sense.

All the talk about it portraying the drag of suburbia, 1950s life, post-war disillusionment, blah, blah, blah. That's just to help English profs teach it and to have something accessible -- and history always is, because you can shirk your ance...more

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Apr 23, 2007 teresa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: thedarksideoftheamericandream

I don't even remember why i picked up this book. None of the characters are sympathetic. It is of the suburban-life-is-not-all-it-is-cracked-up-to-be genre but Richard Yates is such an incredible writer that you find yourself being stunned by his writing. After reading this I read another by him. I also went and bought his short story collection.

If JD Salinger and Catcher In The Rye is for teenage/young adult malcontents, Revolutionary Road is JD Salinger for adults. Plus, Yates if much better...more

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Mar 18, 2009 Janessa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When I read the blurb on the back of the book I was actually repulsed. I hate the dissatisfied housewife theme. I'd rather go back to The Awakening than keep encountering new revisions from one decade to the next. So I put it down and walked away. But I had to come back. It was a book group selection.

I'm so glad I did.

I was fascinated by Yates story, and the complexity he so deftly explores in the relationships throughout the book. Everything is so nuanced, and I loved that. There was never an...more When I read the blurb on the back of the book I was actually repulsed. I hate the dissatisfied housewife theme. I'd rather go back to The Awakening than keep encountering new revisions from one decade to the next. So I put it down and walked away. But I had to come back. It was a book group selection.

I'm so glad I did.

I was fascinated by Yates story, and the complexity he so deftly explores in the relationships throughout the book. Everything is so nuanced, and I loved that. There was never an a-ha moment, never a time when things fell nicely into place, never a moment of clarity that wasn't simultaneosuly darkened by disillusionment or misunderstanding. Everything about the book challenged assumptions and engaged the mind and I loved that.

A friend at bookgroup shared the following quote from Yates about the book, told during an interview with DeWitt Henry in 1972: "I remember when I was first working on it and feeling my way into it, somebody at a party asked me what I was writing a novel about, and I said I thought I was writing a novel about abortion. And the guy said what do you mean by that? And I said, it's going to be built on a series of abortions, of all kinds - an aborted play, several aborted careers, any number of aborted ambitions and aborted plans and aborted dreams - all leading up to a real, physical abortion, and a death at the end. And maybe that's about as close to a real summation of the book as I've ever come."

I thought that was an interesting way to look at the book. I went to Webster and found this definition under the heading 'abortion': "Any fruit or produce that does not come to maturity, or anything which in its progress, before it is matured or perfect; a complete failure; as, his attempt proved an abortion."

The book is filled with failures, and what makes them so frustrating, and so tragic, is that there is hope at the inception of each idea, effort, and relationship, that it will bear fruit or reach perfection. Yet nothing ever reaches that maturity. Yates nuanced writing doesn't allow us to pinpoint any single reason why, yet so much of it depends on the characters. On their inability to see themselves, or each other, for who they really are. They place the burden of a false hope on every part of their lives: their friendships, families, jobs, intimacies, and because those hopes are false, painted in gold to hide their disfigurement, abortion and failure are the inevitable result. (less)

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About Richard Yates

Richard Yates, or Dickie, shone bright upon the publication of his first novel, Revolutionary Road, which was nominated for the National Book Award in 1961. It drew unbridled praise and branded Yates an important, new writer. Kurt Vonnegut claimed that Revolutionary Road was The Great Gatsby of his time. William Sytron described it as "A deft, ironic, beautiful novel that deserves to be a classic....more Richard Yates, or Dickie, shone bright upon the publication of his first novel, Revolutionary Road, which was nominated for the National Book Award in 1961. It drew unbridled praise and branded Yates an important, new writer. Kurt Vonnegut claimed that Revolutionary Road was The Great Gatsby of his time. William Sytron described it as "A deft, ironic, beautiful novel that deserves to be a classic." Tennessee Williams went one further and said, "Here is more than fine writing; here is what, added to fine writing, makes a book come immediately, intensely, and brilliantly alive. If more is needed to make a masterpiece in modern American fiction, I am sure I don't know what it is."

In 1962 Eleven Kinds of Loneliness was published, his first collection of short stories. It too had praise heaped upon it. Kurt Vonnegut said it was "the best short-story collection ever written by an American."

Yates' writing skills were further utilized when, upon returning from Los Angeles, he began working as a speechwriter for then-Senator Robert F. Kennedy until the assassination of JFK. From there he moved onto Iowa where, as a creative writing teacher, he would influence and inspire writers such as Andre Dubus and Dewitt Henry.

His third novel, Disturbing the Peace, was published in 1975. Perhaps his second most well-known novel, [booK: The Easter Parade], was published in 1976. The story follows the lives of the Grimes sisters and ends in typical Yatesian fashion, replicating the disappointed lives of Revolutionary Road.

However, Yates began to find himself as a writer cut adrift in a sea fast turning towards postmodernism; yet, he would stay true to realism. His heroes and influences remained the classics of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Flaubert and short-story master, Chekov.

It was to his school and army days that Richard turned to for his next novel, A Good School, which was quickly followed by his second collection of short stories, Liars in Love. Young Hearts Crying emerged in 1984 followed two years later with Cold Spring Harbour, which would prove to be his final completed novel.

Like the fate of his hero, Flaubert, whose novel Madame Bovary influenced Revolutionary Road and The Easter Parade, Richard Yates' works are enjoying a posthumous renaissance, attracting newly devoted fans across the Atlantic and beyond. (less)

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Quotes from Revolutionary Road

“if you wanted to do something absolutely honest, something true, it always turned out to be a thing that had to be done alone.” — 238 people liked it

“It's a disease. Nobody thinks or feels or cares any more; nobody gets excited or believes in anything except their own comfortable little God damn mediocrity.” — 190 people liked it

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