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The Virgin Suicides

By Jeffrey Eugenides

(187)

| Paperback | 9780747560593

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Book Description

This beautiful and sad first novel, recently adapted for a major motion picture, tells of a band of teenage sleuths who piece together the story of a twenty-year old family tragedy begun by the youngest daughter’s spectacular demise by self-defenstration, which inaugurates “the year of tContinue

This beautiful and sad first novel, recently adapted for a major motion picture, tells of a band of teenage sleuths who piece together the story of a twenty-year old family tragedy begun by the youngest daughter’s spectacular demise by self-defenstration, which inaugurates “the year of the suicides.”

Critics

  • Book Review: The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides Share

    Bizarre, abnormal, and tragic. That is how I would characterize Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides. See, I picked this book from a friend's collection, as, I should say, the title is intriguing. And as I progressed through the book, I found mysel ... (read full critics)

    blogcritics published on Wed, 12 Oct 2011

  • Book review: Jeffrey Eugenides' *The Virgin Suicides*

    The Virgin Suicides Jeffrey Eugenides Picador Paperback 256 pages April 2009 I first experienced The Virgin Suicides upon its initial release, back in 1993, when I was seven years old and definitely much too young for it. I remember reading the openi ... (read full critics)

    curledup published on Tue, 7 Sep 2010

17 Reviews

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  • 4 people find this helpful

    The second English book I finished this summer. Though I'm actually a slow reader to English books, this book is truly a page turner. Just couldn't put it down. I was as obsessed as the boys with the Lisbon girls. With the story went on, I found myself caught in the same bewilderment like the boys. ... (continue)

    The second English book I finished this summer. Though I'm actually a slow reader to English books, this book is truly a page turner. Just couldn't put it down. I was as obsessed as the boys with the Lisbon girls. With the story went on, I found myself caught in the same bewilderment like the boys. Having known the final end in the first paragraph, still I knew nothing more than the narrator when I reached the last page. The twists in its plots left me stunned and the foreseen end just makes all this process sadder and much more ominous. Well-written and haunting, I guess I'll soon be rereading this book, probably even go on searching for the movie. 2008/8/19</p><p>(The descriptions of rotting Lisbon house keep reminding me of the Fall of the House of Usher. Thought the scenes and atmospheres are different, they somehow give me the same chill of slow, gradual death and decay.)

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    Beast said on Aug 19, 2008 | 1 feedback

  • 4 people find this helpful

    A beautifully written, haunting story about five adolescent sisters living in a generic suburb neighborhood, told by a choir of boys obsessed with the sisters. I couldn't put the book down although you are told the ending in the very first chapter.

    It explores the angst and loneliness of livin ... (continue)

    A beautifully written, haunting story about five adolescent sisters living in a generic suburb neighborhood, told by a choir of boys obsessed with the sisters. I couldn't put the book down although you are told the ending in the very first chapter.

    It explores the angst and loneliness of living in the modern world, without being too nihilistic. It reminds us of the sweet and bitter times of our youth, without alienating those of us who prefer to feel like adults. It is the kind of story that only the likes of Sofia Coppola and Lee Ang could touch and turn into a movie.

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    s tsui said on Jul 5, 2007 | Add your feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    The Virgin Suicides.

    It didn't matter in the end how old they had been, or that they were girls, but only that we had loved them, and that they hadn't heard us calling, still do not hear us, up here in the tree house, with our thinning hair and soft bellies, calling them out of those rooms where they went to be alone fo ... (continue)

    It didn't matter in the end how old they had been, or that they were girls, but only that we had loved them, and that they hadn't heard us calling, still do not hear us, up here in the tree house, with our thinning hair and soft bellies, calling them out of those rooms where they went to be alone for all time, alone in suicide, which is deeper than death, and where we will never find the pieces to put them back together.

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    Cecilia M. said on Sep 19, 2009 | Add your feedback

  • One of the best books of the '90s

    WELL, just got around to reading this book (it was published in 1993). Eugenides' astonishingly accomplished 'Middlesex' was so impressive, I though I'd take a peek at 'Virgin Suicides' to see what all the fuss was about.

    'Virgin Suicides' describes the deaths - by suicide, obviously - of five teen ... (continue)

    WELL, just got around to reading this book (it was published in 1993). Eugenides' astonishingly accomplished 'Middlesex' was so impressive, I though I'd take a peek at 'Virgin Suicides' to see what all the fuss was about.

    'Virgin Suicides' describes the deaths - by suicide, obviously - of five teenage sisters, within the space of a a year, and the impact on a group of teenage boys hypnotised by the girls' alluring strangeness. The narrative is told from the perspective of one of the boys 20 years after the event - and the intriguing retrospective take on events was a style much praised when the book was published.

    Its a fine book, considering this is Eugenides' first novel. Descriptions are rich and evocative, and empathy with all the characters reminds me strongly of John Updike's deep, precise, engaging prose (especially his early works) - a style Eugenides channels with some success and remarkable aplomb. There is sadness, humour and (towards the closing chapters) real tension.

    I'd recommend this text for anyone seeking a writer with style, wit and real skill - and for insights into small town America in the early '70s.

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    Ian Hodgson said on Apr 26, 2012 | Add your feedback

  • "They made us participate in their own madness, because we couldn't help but retrace their steps, rethink their thoughts, and see that none of them led to us." We never figure out why the girls killed themselves one after another. Grief, anger, devastation, and hopelessness plague my mind througho ... (continue)

    "They made us participate in their own madness, because we couldn't help but retrace their steps, rethink their thoughts, and see that none of them led to us." We never figure out why the girls killed themselves one after another. Grief, anger, devastation, and hopelessness plague my mind throughout the whole narration. It's a good read.

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    康加美 said on Nov 14, 2011 | Add your feedback

  • I just was not impressed at all with this book. In fact, I found it pretty creepy. It left me wanting to close all of my windows. I can see why it would be interesting to some given the controversial nature of suicide. It was definitely not my cup of tea.

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    Heather Landry said on Dec 4, 2010 | Add your feedback

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