Some well-drawn characters, but a book with the title 'The Marriage Plot' needs more of a plot.
There is a remarkable portrayal of bipolarity and the caricature of a Quaker meeting is sharp, although a bit more 2010 than 1982; there were still a lot of the old-money, came-over-with Billy Penn sort around in 1982.
Eugenides probably thought the ending clever, but it was empty. A whimper, not a bang. I raced through the last quarter of the book to see who got the girl, and then, whoosh! Nothing. And disorderly, with so many loose ends. Mitchell was the most interesting character, smarter than Madelaine and more grounded than Leonard, so why abandon him in such a way?
The evocation of Brown was strong, but at times anachronistic. I don't remember smoothies in 1982, or jerk chicken, or concern about 'gender'. He should have watched Mystic Pizza again.
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This is one of those books that drains your energy in order to read it. Why should these sentences be a lot of times so long and awkward?I did not read author's other books, but I learned that he got Pulitzer prize for two of them.I really wonder who are these people sitting in theses committees awarding these prizes. What are they after? Are they promoting to build a new language, do they like to see an awkward English?Or is it all about trends, fashion, not for enjoyable reading?Well I am not a native English speaker, but I read enough to judge what is fun to read, and what irritates a reader, pushes you away from the book.Then comes these detailed long descriptions which add no value to characters, or to sphere, or to location. These descriptions just disconnect the reader from the flow of the story. And then one really should put quiet some energy to get back. Crowd makes the reader disconnect, cut the crowd for God's sake.With a simple one sentence, an author should be able put loads of ideas to the head of the readers about a character. This is the art of writing.Make the reader to fantasize about the character to reach him, not by describing things like how he gets off his belt, how he puts his hands into his pocket, how he runs down the stairs in dark.This book is 400 pages printed with small fonts. With normal fonts it would have been something like 600 pages.If the crowd is taken away, it could have been 400 pages with normal font. My eyes, my brain, my soul would have enjoyed far more.And then comes the problem of dull sentences. I mean sentences feel like manufactured by a computer; dull, numb, cold, unfeeling.Reading dull sentences make me feel like my brain is rubbed against a rough metal.Same goes for the sex scenes. Sex should not be as easy as drinking glass of water. That irritates me, at least in the novels.Sex scene tells quiet a lot about author. How lively, real he can describe a sex scene, same goes for the rest of the story.Well, still somehow, I wanted to finish the book, and I did finish it. Because I liked the plot.After a while story splits into different streams for different characters. I think author uses an interesting, and enjoyable switching back and forth on streams.Basically it just stops for one character, and then moves to another one, and when it resumes back the former one, it does not start where it has left. Instead it starts with earlier key events which led to the point it left.Though initially it feels bit confusing, eventually it makes you say "Aha", with wider grasp of what have happened.Plot runs around three characters, that is three young people, two boys, and one girl. It is during their University study, and after graduation. One of the boys study Theology, other one studies Biology, and the girl studies Literature.Timing is early 1980s in Rhode Island America. Sphere is post-modern. They are putting some energy to be unique in what they would be as a person.People who studied in those times would remember these concerns, worries, sensitivities, and huge ambitions.They are pretty at alert with what they are in their relations with their friends, families, and love affairs.and all three are smart candidate for becoming future academic intellectuals.What I loved most about the book is that now and then you come across philosophical suggestions . They came out in scenes like lectures, a casual conversation at home, a discussion among friends. For example, with one single sentence , or two you would understand basic concept of Derrida.The one I loved most is about Nietzsche.It takes place in a talk between an American , and a German in India. Both are devoted Christians. And they are there as volunteers to help Maria TheresaWhen all three characters graduate, they are still young, forming their personalities. Both boys want to marry her. Girl likes both of them, but she is excited more for one, the one studying Biology, and marries to him. The other boy can not forget her, is jealous, and resentful for her husband.And at the end, both boys feel sad. And it is unclear how girl feels. My impression is that entire thing was for her academic thesis, Marriage Plot.
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