Summary (Publisher's Weekly)
Eugenides's tantalizing, macabre first novel begins with a suicide, the first of the five bizarre deaths of the teenage daughters in the Lisbon family; the rest of the work, set in the author's native Michigan in the early 1970s, is a backward-looking quest as the male narrator and his nosy, horny pals describe how they strove to understand the odd clan of this first chapter, which appeared in the Paris Review , where it won the 1991 Aga Khan Prize for fiction. The sensationalism of the subject matter (based loosely on a factual account) may be off-putting to some readers, but Eugenides's voice is so fresh and compelling, his powers of observation so startling and acute, that most will be mesmerized. The title derives from a song by the fictional rock band Cruel Crux, a favorite of the Lisbon daughter Lux--who, unlike her sisters Therese, Mary, Bonnie and Cecilia, is anything but a virgin by the tale's end. Her mother forces Lux to burn the album along with others she considers dangerously provocative. Mr. Lisbon, a mild-mannered high school math teacher, is driven to resign by parents who believe his control of their children may be as deficient as his control of his own brood. Eugenides risks sounding sophomoric in his attempt to convey the immaturity of high-school boys; while initially somewhat discomfiting, the narrator's voice (representing the collective memories of the group) acquires the ring of authenticity. The author is equally convincing when he describes the older locals' reactions to the suicide attempts. Under the narrator's goofy, posturing banter are some hard truths: mortality is a fact of life; teenage girls are more attracted to brawn than to brains (contrary to the testimony of the narrator's male relatives). This is an auspicious debut from an imaginative and talented writer. Literary Guild selection.Discussion Points
Themes:- Control, paranoia--holding something so tight that it spirals out of control.
- 70s era coming of age: youth’s first experience with personal pain, sadness, death
- The Libson house--highly visible metaphor for the
- Pubescent infatuation--mystery and allure of the girls bred by their confinement
- Suicide
Suicide theories:
- Purity of the girls--too good for the world. Purposely predeceased the neighborhood, city, and nation’s downturn.
- Ending unhappy, suffocated lives of confinement
- Author’s perspective--selfish act, leaves no legacy, just belongings and questions, leaves those behind forever haunted and bewildered
- Cutting down of the trees--symbolism
- Fish flies
- Significance of ‘Virgin’--4 of the 5 girls were virgins, Cecilia held laminated Virgin Mary, Cruel Crux song
- Head in the oven--what???
3 comments:
Hi Ladies! Ok, here is some input for the posted discussion topics.
Suicide Theories:
- In relation to Lux's promiscuity and her suicide, I think because of her (their) seclusion from the world, she lacked and/or sought to keep things and people at a distance. Her promiscuity was a way for her to act out without creating any sort of worldly attachment. Had she fallen truly in love with someone, it would have made her more human and connected to the world.
- Purity of the girls: As they began to taste the real world (boys, dances, cutting trees down, Cecilia committing suicide...their purity came into an even brighter light to them. Is it possible that b/c of the parents sheltering, they chose suicide as a way to avoid a life of those realities? This can go along with the fact 4 of the 5 of them were virgins...is it sometimes easier to ignore what really goes on, the challenges that life really poses and for them, ignoring turned into suicide. Granted, they were forced into their position of unknowing, but clearly there were ways around it (Lux sneaking out, sex on the roof, etc.). It was easier for them to commit to each other then anyone else? Suicide together let them maintain their smooth lives without love and heartache and favorite trees getting cut down (symbolic of other events of life) and be together in a world where none of that would be an issue.
Other personal notes:
- Tone of book = detachment. Was the writing done in a way to purposefully keep you detached from characters or was that just the writing style? I felt no emotional connection to any character...especially not the girls. I felt like I really knew so little about them, but I suppose that was the point seeing as it was narrated by boys on the outside? Still, those boys were so consumed with the Lisbon girls, I expected to be more torn or pained when they all finally killed themselves.
- The significance of the girls having the boys come over at their final hour? What was the point of that? To have the boys witness their final demise and have at least that minimal connection to them?
Ok...I think I'd have more profound responses and thoughts if I were sitting in the room w/you all and the ideas were flowing but maybe my thoughts will provide some ammo for more heated conversations. If I have any more thoughts before hopping on the plane I'll add them. Can't wait to see what all of your takes on the book were!
-LZ
Ok another little mental rant...
Although we were not given an in depth look at their lives behind closed doors, the girls didn't seem to exhibit characteristics of people that would be prone to suicide. For instance, there weren't mentions of the girls have crying fits or substance abuse or things of that nature. It was like they had been raised in a bubble by their parents and stayed that way, and again as I mentioned before, once the outside world began to creep in, their comfort zone was breached. They just seemed so nonchalant about their final moments...the calm before the storm?
This book left me feeling very unfulfilled for the most part...
here are my notes from the meeting...
High imagery/symbolism:
Cutting down of the trees. Idea of suicide as a thing that’s permeating the house. This sick tree is risking the next tree is risking the next tree… Suicide is a disease that travels. That poisons the air.
Fish flies are a foreshadowing of dying so young.
Rotting house is an imagery of the girls’ wasted life. The author’s descriptions are so full of imagery and ultra-sensory language, you can almost smell the rot that he’s describing. Brings to mind the high-context imagery of the 70s—a juxtaposition of clean plastic things, industry and suburbia with the organic underbelly of humanity (i.e. reality, emotion, and bodily fluids). The Wonder Years.
Narration/point of view:
Voyeuristic point of view=stalking. The narrators weren’t really relevant to these girls’ lives at all. So why, then, are they so obsessed with them? Everything about them is “dirty.” The girls aren’t even that pretty. Post-suicide, the boys are probably traumatized by being involved with the girls’ suicides. This book is their way of making sense of things and trying to tie up loose ends. Do they succeed?
Girls are so hidden away. You finish the book without learning anything about them. Story unbelievable? Or is it believable if you consider that the source is in the eyes of little boys.
Book does not really go into detail about the mother, but they do about the dad. Is it because of the point of view of the narrators?
No moderation. Lots of fanaticism. Is that because of the point of view of the narrators as young boys?
Human/Emotional Freedom vs. Confinement
Anonominity- how much do we really know about our neighbors? These guys are all learning from others by their physical evidence. Judging from the outside looking in.
Demo, the Greek grandmother, is one of the few characters in the novel who represents raw emotion. “Suicide makes sense to me. Putting up Christmas lights after your own daughter does it—that makes no sense.” Critique of American’s reaction to tragedy by putting up facades. We should feel like we can show others that we’re upset. But in this book, everything is glossed over and ignored. Sanitized. She had been through truly great tragedy, but she is the one in the book who lives the longest. She seemed the most true to herself and to human emotion.
The imprisonment of being a girl versus the absolute freedom of being a girl—the boys say, “we had to fight the urge to hug one another or tell each other how pretty we were.”
Tripp Fontaine represents the freedom of male sexuality—his own as well as his father’s gay relationship. That jars with the parallel story of the Lisbon girls. Completely opposite upbringing—both sides left to destruction. In both cases, lack of true parental guidance. The Lisbon parents because their guidance is so unrealistic and unattainable, and Tripp’s dad because there are no boundaries at all—no way to measure his own growth.
Lots of confinement imagery in side-stories: grandmother in the basement, mafia family having escape tunnels in the sewers. When the parents try too hard to maintain control of children by forcing them to stay inside, the build-up up of pressure results in an explosion. Parents stifling their children has a different effect depending on the child’s developmental stage.
Tone of the book=detachment. Is that to symbolize the nature of a human neighborhood? How well do we really know our neighbors? We view each other from a distance. Fences are a representation of that human disconnectedness. The fence that the neighbors try to pull down after Cecelia dies is SO deeply implanted that they need a back-hoe to pull it out of the ground and after that what’s left is just an empty hole in the ground.
Sex vs. Purity
Lux looking for a higher form of love. Are we set up to judge her? Why do we look at her rooftop escapades differently than we do Tripp’s promiscuity? Why is Lux seen as dirty whereas Tripp is revered for his sexual prowess?
Religious connections? Are the girls mocking their parents and religion? Or are they were so caught up in the idea of purity & virginity that they killed themselves so that they wouldn’t ever have to grow up?
In terms of sexual imagery, what is the significance of each of the girls’ suicides? Cecelia’s seems to be the most pure since she was wearing a wedding dress and holding a picture of the virgin mary. But the other girls’ suicides seem dirty and sexual in a way. Perhaps theirs were the wrong motives?
Are all of the girls satanic as some of the neighbors believe? Is Lux a symbol of the devil/lucifer? The name Lux brings to mind an imagery of indulgence. Lust. Whereas her sisters’ names recall good or saintly imagery.
Lux really liked Tripp. What would have happened if they had have gotten into the car on time. Would the girls still be alive? Would they have a successful relationship? Are there any examples of successful relationships in the novel? I can’t think of any.
What does Eugenides mean by the title given Lux’s promiscuity? Is he suggesting that we should kill the idea of virginity in its classical sense because it’s so destructive? Or is he suggesting that the idea of virginity and purity has the power to kill? Or both?
Suicides
The girls didn’t seem depressed really. So what was their motive? The 5 girls are lumped together almost as if they could be one character. Oneness. Did the girls even have a choice of living versus dying once Cecelia died since they are so connected? In the end, why did the author choose to have Mary survive at first? Didn’t make sense to us.
What was the point of bringing the boys in to witness the suicide? Was it a last attempt to establish a legacy? Was it another way for them to rebel with all the boys around? Mirrors the suicide of Cecilia’s party. All of the same boys. Bring them all together. The party hadn’t even been cleaned up. Reenacting the first suicide scheme.
One of the big parts of religion is the idea of heaven. Do the girls’ have an idea of heaven in their suicides? Are they joining Cecilia or they can’t live without her. Are they mocking religion or really religious? We don’t know enough about them to decide.
Summary
We all love having book club. It makes us think critically about what we’re reading! A lot of us felt unfulfilled after reading the book, but upon further discussion, we’ve been able to pull lots out. For instance, even though many of us felt unfilled at the end, the ending almost seems purposeful in a way, because of how everyone—characters and readers—are left hanging. Because of the nature of the story (is the whole novel an allegory?) this book cannot possibly have a happy ending or resolve—it’s there to ask questions, not answer them.
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