I’ve finally listened to the audiobook of The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides, and I must say, it’s a very good book.
The Virgin Suicides is about the Lisbon girls, five daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Lisbon. These girls, in their short lives, always stayed indoors, mostly confined, not by their own volition, but as dictated by their Catholic parents’ rules. From what I gather, this was one of the reasons the girls eventually took their lives—or at least, that’s what the author suggests. Because, for all we know, the Lisbon girls didn’t have the chance to share their experiences due to the very short lives they lived.
For this reason, I really liked this book, especially because it’s written from the perspective of the boys, which shapes our understanding—or lack thereof—of the Lisbon girls.
The girls and their experiences can only be known through what we receive from an outsider’s perspective, which works well because no one can truly empathize with or understand the Lisbon girls, as they—or, by extension, we, the readers—haven’t lived through their reality.
The author doesn’t pretend to fully understand them either, but instead sets the stage for everything we don’t know about their lives and uses the boys, who worshipped these girls, as the storytellers of the Lisbon girls’ lives.
Because of this, the girls look like a spectacle—an interesting subject for afternoon gossip and speculation—while never receiving the help they needed. This makes their isolation feel even more profound.
Overall, I feel satisfied with this book. The lingering theme of the girls being mythical, almost an enigma, is clear, especially as the boys grow up and are left with a permanent question mark in their minds: What really happened? What did they miss in all the time they spent watching the girls? Their story would somehow become the tale our mothers tell us from long ago, which seems fictional, but the Lisbon girls and their ghosts did exist.
I really like this book, and I know others who love coming-of-age stories or haunting tales like the one Jeffrey Eugenides brings will enjoy it too.
Have you read this book? If you have, share your thoughts in the comments! If not, let me know if it’s on your list! ❤️
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