The Marriage Plot

Sandra reviewed The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

Review of 'The Marriage Plot' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I really liked this book. This book felt like real life to me. Sometimes, maybe, not all that much happens, but it happens in such detail! haha I guess this can be thought of as a "coming of age story" for twenty-somethings. You have such high hopes and expectations, finished with school and the demands of your parents. You're ready to head off on your own, the world is your oyster, anything's possible. Only to realize your own limitations when real life gets in the way. Choices seem frightening because of the very real chance of screwing things up. Shit gets real. Great character development. Not real hip on the idea of the marriage plot as I was a science major. I haven't read a lot of those classics like Jane Austin.

emarsh reviewed The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

Review of 'The Marriage Plot' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Not really as good as I had hoped. The stuff about academia, so consistently hyped, is no more than a faint backdrop to a predicable love story. Still worth reading, though.

Jamie reviewed The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

Review of 'The Marriage Plot' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

The Marriage Plot was my first read of Jeffrey Eugenides and I think I get the hype, now. I feel a little too Goldilocks saying this, but everything was just right.

Eugenides created very real characters, much like several I knew in college, experiencing the same struggles I did at that age. He's fair to them, allows them to have foibles (even exceptional character flaws) without condemning them or relegating anyone to a caricature: The Manic Depressive, The Romantic, The Wanderer.

This novel is perfectly structured and paced. He moves backward and forward, sometimes revisiting, much later in the story, earlier scenes from another character's perspective. These always advance the story and your understanding of it without being an obvious or annoying tool.

And, over the length of the book, it becomes a relevant and thought-provoking study of romance and marriage - how the two interrelate and have evolved since …

The Marriage Plot was my first read of Jeffrey Eugenides and I think I get the hype, now. I feel a little too Goldilocks saying this, but everything was just right.

Eugenides created very real characters, much like several I knew in college, experiencing the same struggles I did at that age. He's fair to them, allows them to have foibles (even exceptional character flaws) without condemning them or relegating anyone to a caricature: The Manic Depressive, The Romantic, The Wanderer.

This novel is perfectly structured and paced. He moves backward and forward, sometimes revisiting, much later in the story, earlier scenes from another character's perspective. These always advance the story and your understanding of it without being an obvious or annoying tool.

And, over the length of the book, it becomes a relevant and thought-provoking study of romance and marriage - how the two interrelate and have evolved since the novels of the Victorians.

Tournament of Books note: have now completed seven of sixteen. This is my favorite to win it. It's a modern novel that requires no bonus stars for avoiding crap manipulation - true top marks.

Sharyl reviewed The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

Review of 'The Marriage Plot' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

The Marriage Plot, the latest novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, is a coming of age story of the early 1980's that follows three young people through college at Brown University and the year afterwards. Each has his/her own interest: Madeleine's focus is on nineteenth century literature, while Leonard is studying biology and Mitchell is concentrating on philosophy and religious studies.

Eugenides stays close to each of these three characters, in all their pain and confusion. Madeleine embarks on a very difficult romance with Leonard, who is charming, outgoing, and fun during the best of times, but wild, unpredictable, and unreasonable at others. He is manic-depressive, or bipolar, and is struggling to forge a career while struggling with a serious disease. Madeleine is trying to plan for graduate school, knowing that Leonard's condition will make their lives and relationship challenging. Meanwhile, Mitchell is volunteering in a hospital in India, and having a …

The Marriage Plot, the latest novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, is a coming of age story of the early 1980's that follows three young people through college at Brown University and the year afterwards. Each has his/her own interest: Madeleine's focus is on nineteenth century literature, while Leonard is studying biology and Mitchell is concentrating on philosophy and religious studies.

Eugenides stays close to each of these three characters, in all their pain and confusion. Madeleine embarks on a very difficult romance with Leonard, who is charming, outgoing, and fun during the best of times, but wild, unpredictable, and unreasonable at others. He is manic-depressive, or bipolar, and is struggling to forge a career while struggling with a serious disease. Madeleine is trying to plan for graduate school, knowing that Leonard's condition will make their lives and relationship challenging. Meanwhile, Mitchell is volunteering in a hospital in India, and having a hard time making decisions about his faith and the direction of his postgraduate studies.

Mitchell has also been in love with Madeleine all through college, so this story is also a love triangle. Eugenides provides the reader with a rich depiction of the passions influencing his characters.

Madeleine, Mitchell, and Leonard are all smart and incredibly well-read, but in the end, none of the literature they have prized and favored for years can instruct them on how to live their lives. The Marriage Plot is a fascinating, mulitlayered story that can be enjoyed for many different reasons.

GG reviewed The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

Review of 'The Marriage Plot' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Not as good as Middlesex, but still an enjoyable read.

JoeJoh reviewed The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

Review of 'The Marriage Plot' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Without a really good grasp of Derrida, Barthes and deconstruction, much of the beginning of this book will feel more like a philosophy text than a novel, but it's worth it. What this novel really is is a deconstruction of the Victorian Marriage plot. It twists the ideas of that stilted and outdated formulaic plot and turns it on its head. The characters are reflections of people; they are not the real thing. Each of them is a deconstructed trope from the Marriage Plot. The 'bad choice' becomes the mentally ill man. The 'good choice', usually a strong, moral man, becomes a seeker (with a moral failing). The woman they both desire is a woman who studies the Marriage Plot, but fails to see it right in front of her face. All in all, it is an incredibly fun read.