If I could get married to a literary character, Eleanor Oliphant would be the apple of my eye. (Please take this as an exaggeration, not as a sign of my sexuality.)
A few months ago, I did end up spotting this book in many bookstagrammer’s feeds. The house made up of matchboxes, the neat cursive handwriting on the cover did intrigue me. But I don’t know why I kept putting off reading this book. I don’t even know why I picked up this book in the first place.
But oh lord of books, I’m glad I did so!
There are many aspects about this book that I totally adored. Let’s go through them one by one. Spoiler Alert: This post is aimed towards a discussion about the book, and is not a review. So, please read ahead only if you’ve read the book already.
Let’s get done with the plot, for the pleasure of all you reader who want to experience a quick snapshot on the book.
Eleanor Oliphant, a thirty something with absolutely no social skills and a scar on her face that conceals a dark history, falls in unrequited love with a terrible pop star. She makes earnest attempts at grooming herself to be his true love. While trying to do so, Raymond, an IT guy at her office, and Eleanor rescue Sammy, an oldie with a golden heart. Sammy is her link to the world where people interact politely with each other and follow social etiquettes that Eleanor has never even heard of. Raymond is her guide through these tough times. All is nearly lost when the terrible pop star treats Eleanor like a fan girl that she is- with complete ignorance and rudeness. Broken hearted, she rests her head onto Raymond’s shoulders. What’s the dark history about? Is Eleanor successful at reviving a connection with her mom? Does Raymond turn out to be more a lover than a friend?
Now, let’s head on to each aspect of the book that I want to discuss with you:
- Eleanor’s personality
Okay. This is number one, because this is the first thing that made me love this book. I completely loved the way Eleanor totally didn’t have any social skills, hated talking to people, hated her annual Christmas party at office, loved staying home alone on the weekends, reading books while drinking vodka.
I mean, it felt like I was holding a mirror, not reading a book. (skip the vodka part, prospective employer).
When Eleanor took steps to make herself presentable to her crush, I literally flashbacked to those crazy days when I used to actually take the trouble to match my t-shirt to my pants, wear matching socks, comb my hair neatly, read up on ‘How to get rid of pimples’ on Google, etc. That entire phase of Eleanor’s life is a reflection of the vulnerabilities we feel when going through our lives.
What do you think about Eleanor’s personality? Do you love it as much as I do?
- Eleanor’s past
Now this is something that Gail Honeyman has tied up so brilliantly, that I didn’t realise the twist until I reached the last page. My jaw fell to the ground the moment the whole plot cleared up.
Also, the subtlety with which Honeyman brings Eleanor’s past to the light is like a striptease. I was almost salivating when I reached the part where Raymond encourages Eleanor to go to a counsellor.
- Raymond
Oh my gosh, this bundle of wires, sorry, cuteness was too adorable. His mom, is a sweetheart.
The friendship between Eleanor and Raymond was perfect. And yes, I do not believe that they should get together romantically. Eleanor was in a very confused state of mind when she met Raymond, and those are not ideal situations to fall in love.
Let’s get back to Raymond. I totally feel that Raymond is that perfect geek guy whom we all know, whom the beautiful girls would not even glance at once, but who has a heart of gold. Misunderstood, but loyal to a fault. And often these are the very people who make perfect romantic partners / best friends.
But the introduction of Laura into the picture brought the necessary clarity. Raymond did not consider Eleanor to be his romantic interest. Some other theories that I have: Maybe Raymond just wanted to give Eleanor her space to figure things out. Or maybe Raymond wanted a simple distraction from the intense Eleanor. Mind you, girls who think a lot / are introverts / lack social skills think A LOT. And that often creates stuffiness in the lives of the people they are connected with.
- The subtle lessons
Now let’s get to the smaller aspects of the book.
- Sammy
This character was a pretty fine old man. The introduction of this character at just the moment when Raymond and Eleanor met each other for the first time was perfectly timed. Raymond was proved to the readers as trustworthy, thanks to his concern about Sam’s health and well-being. Also, the stark contrast between Raymond and Eleanor’s personality was displayed. Moreover, it provided an excuse for Honeyman to bring these two characters together more often, and also to introduce Raymond’s love interest, Laura, into the scene.
Lesson learnt: Be cheerful through the dark times. Have a blast when you can.
- Mummy
Oh, don’t get me started about Mummy. She permeated every page of this book, and yet was only seen in the Wednesday scenes. I feel the twist in the end about this character was well executed. It should have been pretty obvious to me, having read so many mystery/detective books. But when pros like me get hoodwinked, you know that the book is really worth the read.
Lesson learnt: Don’t ruin someone else’s life just because you can’t have an awesome one yourself.
- Eleanor’s boss and colleagues
I did feel that these characters were mould-able to a fault. I mean, months ago they hated Eleanor. And then months later, they bring her a bouquet and a card and welcome her back to the office. I know, I know, people can change, and they should change for the better. But if they could be concerned and caring months later, shouldn’t they have tried to be concerned and caring months ago too?
Lesson learnt: Appearances don’t matter. Being nice and kind to people even if they are weird is what matters.
So, what do you wish to add to this discussion? Feel free to comment about anything that you loved in this book. I’m all ears.
~Amateur-Book-Discussionist
(Is discussionist even a word? No worries, I’ll pretend I’m Shakespeare for now.)
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