Tuesday 27 March 2012

REVIEW: THE MARRIAGE PLOT- Jeffrey Eugenides



I wasn't sure what I was expecting when I opened Jeffrey Eugenides' new offering- but it certainly wasn't it. To be fair, the last book I read by Eugenides was about a hermaphrodite; any subject was going to seem tame after that...

   For those who read my review of David Nicholl's Starter For Ten a little while back, Eugenides' latest novel is almost the American version- only in third person, and from three different perspectives. Madeline, a pretty Browns graduate, is at the centre of these different points of view; the other two voices belong to her maniac depressive boyfriend, Leonard, and her nomadic almost-boyfriend and passionate admirer, Mitchell.

   The best attribute of this novel may be the effortless of it all; the prose just seemed to feel so natural that I almost felt as though I was watching an unscripted scene unfold. I didn't realise how much I was pulled in until I saw that I only had 50 pages of the book to go- a sure sign of a riveting read.

   My favourite character, predictably, was Mitchell; the chapters dedicated to his travels, especially to India, made me reminisce of my own nomadic days. I also felt that he was the most likeable of the three...saying that, I did feel both sorry and frustrated by Madeline's blindness to Leonard's illness. Akthough Leonard- an interesting, complex creation- gave me an insight into the twists and turns of manic depression, it was Mitchell who I truly liked and rooted for.

Do not expect an obvious, huge plot from this novel- that is not it's purpose. The way that these graduates' lives intertwin subtly brings about a 'marriage plot' that you will not be able to resist, and inevitably get sucked into. This novel goes further than bringing you a huge storyline. It makes you feel like an active spectator to events...as though you are a character, a Browns graduate, yourself. What novels have you read recently that give you that kind of power?

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