The+Virgin+Suicides

= The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides = = Monitor: Mrs. Melissa Lambert =

= Review from Amazon.com: = ==Juxtaposing the most common and the most gothic, the humorous and the tragic, author Jeffrey Eugenides creates a vivid and compelling portrait of youth and lost innocence. He takes us back to the elm-lined streets of suburbia in the seventies, and introduces us to the men whose lives have been forever changed by their fierce, awkward obsession with five doomed sisters: brainy Therese, fastidious Mary, ascetic Bonnie, libertine Lux, and pale, saintly Cecilia, whose spectacular demise inaugurates "the year of the suicides." This is the debut novel that caused a sensation and won immediate acclaim from the critics-a tender, wickedly funny tale of love and terror, memory and imagination.==

= About this book: = ==I first read The Virgin Suicides about four years ago when my interest was captured by...you guessed it...the racy title. The first page begins, "On the morning the last Libson daughter took her turn at suicide--it was Mary this time, and sleeping pills, like Therese--the two paramedics arrived at the house knowing exactly where the knife drawer was, and the gas oven, and the beam in the basementfrom from which it was possible to tie a rope." I was sucked in immediately.==

==After reading this novel for the second time, it still retains its haunting quality. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jeffrey Eugenides presents the story of the five Libson sisters who all commit suicide and the five high school boys who are obsessed with saving them. It is no plot spoiler to tell you that all five girls succeed in their suicide attempts; the reader is told this on the first page. What follows is the story of the "year of the suicides," told partly in flashback and partly in current time, from the point of view of five neighborhood boys, now middle-aged adults. This story is set in American suburbia during the early 1970's, and contrasts the story of the Libson family with the coming of age of the five narrators.==

==The most interesting element of this book is the narrative style. Eugenides uses a most original approach, telling the tale from the first person plural ("we"), as the five boys attempt to solve the mystery of not only why the girls commit suicide, but who they actually are. Due to their mother's strict Catholic beliefs, the girls are virtually held prisoner in their own home. During the story, the boys present a collection of bizarre evidence collected over time, including diaries, grocery lists, and pictures, in their attempts to understand the world of the Libson girls. At the end of the novel, we have some theories, but the reader is left wondering much like the boys.==

==The content of this book is not for everyone; if you are looking for a happy ending, you will not find it here. However, the macabre story of the girls' deaths is paralleled with the stories of the suffocating Libson mother, the helplessness of the Libson dad, and the determination of the five boys to save the sisters they believe they love.==

At 243 pages with fairly large print, this is a book that can easily be read in a couple of afternoons. I promise you will be thinking about it for much longer.
= Your Response: = ==You may post your comment on any topic you wish to consider concerning this novel. If you're not sure how to get started, I have listed some questions below that you may use as a starting point for discussion. I look forward to reading your comments!!==

Melissa Lambert
= Discussion Questions =

2. How do other signs of decay reflect the story of the Libson sisters? Consider the descriptions of the Libson house and the death of the community's trees.
==3. The setting of this novel is American suburbia, the symbolic home of the "happy" American middle class. How does this setting influence the events of the novel? Does this happiness seem forced or fake? What evidence can you supply to support this notion?==

4. What is the significance of the relationship between Lux Libson and Tripp Fontaine? Does it have any effect on later events?
==5. Some critics believe the following elements are important symbols in the novel: Cecilia's crucifix, the wedding dress, & the laminated picture of the Virgin Mary. Do you agree/disagree? Why or why not?== ==6. How might you relate the idea of suicide as it is presented in this novel to classical notions of suicide, presented in works such as Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet, or Hamlet? Do these contrasting portrayals have any impact on the narrators' actions or beliefs?==