Who Would Like This Book:
Jeffrey Eugenides' "The Virgin Suicides" is a hauntingly atmospheric read packed with gorgeous, poetic prose and a unique collective voice. The story's dreamy nostalgia and deep dive into suburban adolescence in the 1970s make it memorable. It stands out for its inventive first-person-plural narration, blending true-crime intrigue with an exploration of longing, loss, and mystery. Readers who love literary fiction that plays with narrative style, fans of coming-of-age stories with a melancholic, lyrical edge, and anyone who enjoys a deep sense of place will be captivated. If you like books that leave you mulling over big questions about memory, obsession, and what shapes a community, this is for you.
Who May Not Like This Book:
Some readers may not connect with the book's slow-burn plot and might feel frustrated by the distance it keeps from the central characters - the Lisbon sisters are always seen through the eyes of outsiders, which can feel alienating. The collective male narrator and the strong emphasis on the male gaze has been called out as voyeuristic or objectifying, and the lack of interiority or distinct voices for the girls themselves leaves some wanting more. If you prefer fast-moving plots, clear answers, or character-driven stories where everyone gets their say, this book might leave you cold or even uncomfortable.
About:
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides is a haunting tale of the Lisbon sisters, who grow up under strict religious parents and ultimately meet tragic ends. The story is narrated by neighborhood boys who watch the girls from afar, exploring themes of adolescent love, sorrow, and the end of childhood. The book is written in a hypnotic and lyrical style, weaving together humor, beauty, and darkness as the boys try to make sense of the unexplainable deaths.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include themes of suicide, mental illness, depression, and familial abuse.
From The Publisher:
The national bestseller from Jeffrey Eugenides, the Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author of Middlesex and The Marriage Plot
With a New Introduction by Emma Cline
Adapted into a critically acclaimed film by Sofia Coppola, The Virgin Suicides is a modern classic, a lyrical and timeless tale of sex and suicide that transforms and mythologizes suburban middle-American life.
First published in 1993, The Virgin Suicides announced the arrival of a major new American novelist. In a quiet suburb of Detroit, the five Lisbon sisters-beautiful, eccentric, and obsessively watched by the neighborhood boys-commit suicide one by one over the course of a single year. As the boys observe them from afar, transfixed, they piece together the mystery of the family's fatal melancholy, in this hypnotic and unforgettable novel of adolescent love, disquiet, and death.
Jeffrey Eugenides evokes the emotions of youth with haunting sensitivity and dark humor and creates a coming-of-age story unlike any of our time.
Ratings (160)
Incredible (27) | |
Loved It (64) | |
Liked It (32) | |
It Was OK (28) | |
Did Not Like (7) | |
Hated It (2) |
Reader Stats (341):
Read It (171) | |
Currently Reading (4) | |
Want To Read (135) | |
Did Not Finish (9) | |
Not Interested (22) |
7 comment(s)
I read this while in my last year or two of secondary school. I remember it was quite a gritty book - it was quite moving at times, understandably so. I've since seen the film adaptation, directed by Soffia Coppolla I believe?. Both book and film are worth a watch. It may be a bit harrowing for some but it does provide food for thought.
3.5 Intriguing book about sister's that commits suicide and the obsession of them. But it made me wanting a bit more of the story but overall a good book
I don't know if I was just too young when I read this to understand it, but I just didn't like this as much as I think I was supposed to. The storyline seemed odd and I'm not sure about...I guess...the point? Or maybe this is one of those stories that doesn't need to have an actual point so much as just make some sort of existential comment on society. Either way, this is nowhere near the top of my favorites list. I found the characters of the girls to be shallow as, as if they were all the same girl played out over the years of five sisters. I found the scene where the boys call the girls and they take turns playing snippets of records to each other as a means by which to communicate feelings that they didn't have words for to be touching and very nostalgically sweet; it was like a living mix tape, reminding me of the countless mix cds that my high school boyfriend and I made for each other because saying those words to each other just seemed impossible and absurd. That was the only scene that really stuck with me though. When I finished the story I remember putting the book down on my nightstand, sighing a troubled and slightly disappointed sigh, and thinking, "Well...so...that's it then? Hm." It seemed...unsatisfactory to me. Maybe if I read this now I'd feel differently, but my experience with this book then gives me no inclination to want to pick it up again when there are so many other undiscovered books out there.
i don't know about this book
the writing is beautiful, achingly beautiful
and the way the boys look back on the lisbon girls, their catalog of lisbon-alia and eye-witness accounts of the family's behavior, is darkly funny
but the bare truth is that these boys wanted to fuck the lisbon girls
their obsession seems romantic at times, but underneath it is carnal and objectifying
i think lux knows that in the final scene before their deaths, and i think she taunts them with it
the narrators are interested in helping, in saving, but only for their own benefit
at the end the suicides of the lisbon girls are described as selfish, and i know many people who have lost a loved one to suicide see the person's actions in that light
but here i see the boys' accusation of selfishness coming from a place of greed
they couldn't have the girls, and now nobody could have them
how dare they
Not in the right mood to read this one, I'll try reading it again some other time
it honestly sucked, if the book had been written from the girls pov or even the parents maybe it would have been better but the outsider pov was just a drag
beautifully written and really puts in perspective how little men care
about women and girls
What can you read after
The Virgin Suicides?
About the Author:
Jeffrey Eugenides was born in Detroit and attended Brown and Stanford Universities. His first novel, The Virgin Suicides, was published by FSG to great acclaim in 1993, and he has received numerous awards for his work. In 2003, he received the Pulitzer Prize for his novel Middlesex (FSG, 2002), which was also a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and France's Prix Médicis. The Marriage Plot (FSG, 2011) was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and won both the Prix Fitzgerald and the Madame Figaro Literary Prize. Eugenides is a professor of creative writing in the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton.
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