Recently Read: The Virgin Suicides

I finished my first Jeffery Eugenides book the other day, The Virgin Suicides. I didn't really know what to expect going into this book, but I had heard a lot of good things about Eugenides and I was curious to read some of his work.

This book centers around the Lisbon family which consists of Mr. and Mrs. Lisbon and their five daughters, from ages thirteen to seventeen and the neighborhood boys who are very interested in the girls. The Lisbons are a very conservative family, and the neighborhood boys find themselves in love and obsessed with all of the girls, especially after all five girls commit suicide in the same year (don't worry that's not a spoiler, the back of the book tells you this).

What adds interest to this book on top of the unique plot line is the fact that the story of the Lisbon girls is told through an outside party. This adds mystery and intrigue to the Lisbon girls. As the reader, you are made into one of the neighborhood boys that are so curious about the girls because you only know as much about the Lisbon sisters as the boys do.

It's hard to form a lot concrete thoughts about this novel, since most of the thoughts I have related to it are about real life more so than the story. Does that make sense? It is one of those books that you have to read for yourself in order to understand it and its concepts and message. I just saw that there is a Sparksnotes page on this book, I would love to check out what they have to say about this book.

I would also love to see the film version of this story directed by Sophia Coppola.