- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Picador; Reprint edition (2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0312428812
- ISBN-13: 978-0312428815
- Product Dimensions: 20.9 x 14.1 x 1.7 cm
- Shipping Weight: 227 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (311 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #32,566 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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First Sentence
On the morning the last Lisbon daughter took her turn at suicide-it was Mary this time, and sleeping pills, like Therese-the two paramedics arrived at the house knowing exactly where the knife drawer was, and the gas oven, and the beam in the basement from which it was possible to tie a rope. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
On the morning the last Lisbon daughter took her turn at suicide-it was Mary this time, and sleeping pills, like Therese-the two paramedics arrived at the house knowing exactly where the knife drawer was, and the gas oven, and the beam in the basement from which it was possible to tie a rope. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Eugenides is tops,
By Barrister John (Nova Scotia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Virgin Suicides (Paperback)
Let's start out by saying that above all things, this novel by Jeffrey Eugenides is macabre, to the inth degree. But, it's also fascinating and totally bizarre--just one of the reasons you should take it on. The story starts out with a suicide, that of oneof five teenage daughters of the Lisbon family. The setting is Michigan in the seventies, where Eugenides is from and where he's set part of his "Middlesex" another great novel. Some may call his themes sensational, but I call them fascinating. And, it's been rumored that this novel is based on actual happenings--an actual account. This is probably the reason it's spoken of in the same breath as McCrae's "Bark of the Dogwood" and Capote's "In Cold Blood" as those too are hybrid novels--both fact and fiction. Yet the material in Eugenides hands, along with the subject matter, make this a one of a kind book. The narrator's voice in this case, in the matter of "Virgin Suicides" is that of a rather sophmoric groups of teens, and at times I was reminded of Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye" with its same tone. The title of this book is derived from a fictional rock band named "Curel Crux" which was (fictionally) a favorite of one of the Lisbon daughters. What amazed me the most about this novel was the way the author makes us think that it's actually the teenage boys narrating the whole story. Remarkable. He's extremely successful and I highly recommend this book for anyone seeking a fresh new voice. Must also recommend another great novel that makes a great companion to this one titled "Bark of the Dogwood" which is equally riveting and complex, though on a totally different subject.
2.0 out of 5 stars
See the movie instead,
By
This review is from: The Virgin Suicides (Paperback)
Frankly, I almost missed the movie because I'd already read the book. This book's cleverness is in its voice, but the story is truly empty and its characters unmotivated . There are never any revelations about the reasons these "virgins" commit suicide, but from the tone of the narrative and its annoying voyeurism, one can guess the author's inference is that the real tragedy is that the Lisbon sisters died virgins. I'm just kidding, but really, this novel is ridiculous, and offers no more than a hackneyed and stereotypical portrayal of adolescence. Critics have compared it to Birdy which is far superior. I had to laugh at myself for even entertaining the idea of reading this book. See the movie instead. It's not a masterpiece either, but for a first work, it's far more artistic than this silly screed. Eugenides was a lucky scribbler to have sold it. There's not a shred of plausibilty in this story. I should have taken my cue from the title: VIRGIN Suicides. They're not girls, not women, not even people; they're virgins! And Eugenides kills them off for no reason at all. Please! It should be subtitled: Misogynist Gets Even With Words. Curiously, I suspect that the writer has talent, but this product is not solid evidence.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Obsessed,
By Miss Hater "Avid Reader" (Kentucky,USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Virgin Suicides (Paperback)
That is all I can say and the best way I can describe my feelings for the book and movie.Its very simple. The book and movie changed my life. They affected me in ways that very few other books and movies ever have or have ever had the capacity to do.It has a pretty big place in the fabric of my life.I read some in the book every day. It and the movie have become a sanctuary for me. Whenever I'm upset or depressed , I run to them and I feel better.It draws me into the Libson's girls world and its fascinating and comforting. Lux, Bonnie, Therese ,Mary and Cecilia are so vivid, that they almost seem like real people to me.They don't seem like fictional characters. They seem like friends.I find myself thinking about them a lot and there are very few made up characters that have ever stayed with me like this. I'm sure that there is at least one other Virgin Suicides fan out there that feels the same way I do and understand what I mean. I can only hope that it continues to affect and changes peoples lives the way it has mine.Read it. You might be shocked at how it haunts you and the presence it has in your life.I hope I explained it well. Something so luminous and subtextural and dream like yet deeply rooted in your psyche can be hard to explain.
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