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The Virgin Suicides Paperback – June 1, 1994

by Jeffrey Eugenides (Author)

663 customer reviews

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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, sex and suicide, memory and imagination.

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Product details

Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; Reprint edition (June 1, 1994)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446670251
ISBN-13: 978-0446670258
Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
Average Customer Review: 663 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #905,549 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4377 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > TV, Movie, Video Game Adaptations
- #8495 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers & Suspense > Psychological Thrillers
- #26449 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary

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LauraTop Contributor: Quilting

Difficult subject, excellent writing

October 4, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

A difficult book to explain. We all know what will happen- but this is about those left behind. Eugenides writes so well that a reader will feel like one of the boys in the group watching it happen, trying unsuccessfully to draw the girls into life. You may not like the way this book makes you feel but it will(or should) make you feel. It's the sort of book that stays with you long after it's over.

Comment 4 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

Sara Dactyl

A Beautifully Written Classic

August 30, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I RARELY give a book 5 stars because, quite frankly most don't deserve it. The Virgin Suicides is simply put an elegantly written tome for modern times. A modern day "Fall of the House of Usher," where a family decays from the inside out like a tooth whose cavity is left to rot, destroying not only the tooth itself, but putting in jeopardy those around it. I would recommend this book as required reading for any true lover of great literature.

Comment 6 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

Brian W.

I really enjoyed the way that the author chose to have the ...

April 10, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The book “The Virgin Suicides” by Jeffrey Eugenides, the Lisbon family consisting of 5 girls goes through a rough patch when Cecilia is the first to commit suicide. I chose to read this book due to it being a mystery/tragedy book. I really enjoyed the way that the author chose to have the narrator's as the neighborhood boys because you get the outside view of the girls. The setting of this book takes place in Detroit within a 13 month period during the Vietnam War. The center conflict was with Cecilia’s suicide, the sisters would struggle to live the same way they had before since Cecilia was basically their leader. Also, with each of the sisters deaths the neighborhood boys wanted to figure out what the cause of it was and why. The main protagonist’s were the five Lisbon sisters: Cecilia, Lux, Bonnie, Mary, Therese, but especially Cecilia and Lux. I was intrigued by the little summary of the book I read due to the mystery it had in just that little paragraph. I believe that many young adults would enjoy this book due to its creepy, mystery like style. I would not recommend this to younger teens due to them not being old enough to understand what is happening in this book.

Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

sara ostensen

The author does a wonderful job in making the uncomfortable topic of suicide seem ...

April 9, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The Virgin Suicides is one of those books I wish I could erase from my memory just to read it all over again. The author does a wonderful job in making the uncomfortable topic of suicide seem not so vile and to bring some beauty out it. Eugenides writes the story so well it is impossible for you not to appreciate it. The mix of dark humor and melancholy passages throughout this story definitely keeps it tasteful. What drew me into the story the most was the plural narration. Eugenides used “we” and “us” to narrate the story, which made it very unique. He makes you feel as if you are one of the neighborhood boys being obsessed over the lives of the Lisbon girls. It is impossible to express the beauty of this story just through a review.

Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

Izzyreader

Hilarious and horrifying

May 16, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I love this man's writing style. I actually read this, his first novel, after having read both Middlesex and The Marriage Plot. I found this book both hilarious and horrifying. As a satire on the stultifying effects of the suburbia of the 50's and 60's, it is superb. The use of third person plural to narrate was a stroke of genius. Although I would have appreciated more character development, I appreciate that a first novel cannot do everything. I think this book firmly establishes his unique writing style. I read this in hopes I would find out how teenage boys' minds work. However, Eugenides wisely narrates the work from the vantage point of these boys after they have matured and are looking back over the years at this unique time.

Comment 3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

J. Lopate

Interesting Subject Matter, Well Written And Kind of Haunting

November 29, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

What a concept! Five sisters who all commit suicide. This could have been a maudlin story, or totally unbelievable, but it was neither of those things. I saw the movie, which I really liked because I thought that Kirsten Dunst nailed it as did Josh Hartnett as did Kathleen Turner....as I read the book, I could not help but imagine their faces as the characters. That is the down side of seeing the movie before reading the book. But I think the book was very unusual in the subject matter and it made for a fascinating read. I would recommend so long as you are not personally suffering from the death of a child or sibling or have someone very close to you commit suicide. This book might be too intense of a read for those people. That would be my only caveat. Otherwise, read on!

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Naomi

Stays with you even beyond the final page

February 12, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I have to admit that I'd seen the film years before I even knew it had been based on a novel. I'm very glad I discovered this title, as while the film was haunting and atmospheric, the book version offers a far greater depth and background to the events and people in the story. I highly recommend reading it if you enjoyed the movie (or even if you didn't), as the novel is altogether more compelling.

For example, the film version never quite had the same sense of heavy despair from the Lisbon girls and gradual degradation of the house and the girls' health that is apparent in the book. I found the plural point of view to be interesting; drawing me in to join in their observations of the girls, and to try to answer the questions they presented.

While the novel allows for more insight into the Lisbons, it is effective in that you never truly get to know them; only the boys' interpretation of them. Like the boys who are narrating, they remain at a distance, which enhances the mystery of the girls' true thoughts and experiences inside that house. Did they know that Cecilia would attempt suicide? If the boys would have acted on their concerns rather than simply observe, would that have helped the girls? Would they still have killed themselves if Lux had not come home after curfew, causing Mrs Lisbon to isolate them inside the house?

While I may have my own thoughts on the reasons for their suicides, many others will have different views, or not understand why they even did it at all. I liked that the novel didn't give any clear-cut answers as to why - as with the boys who are narrating the story, most readers will be left with more questions than answers.

Comment 3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes