( #JeffreyEugenides, #MarriagePlot )
When I found out that Jeffrey Eugenides released another book, I was excited to read it. His previous novel, the Pulitzer Prize winning “Middlesex” was (obviously) very good, with rich character history and unique plot. “The Marriage Plot” is a much different book in tone and story than “Middlesex” and not for the better.
Set in the early 1980’s, the book centers around a girl named Madeleine who is about to graduate college. She just broke up with her boyfriend and there is another guy that likes her. This love triangle makes up the entire plot of the book. The problem is that Madeleine is so unlikeable that you don’t want to read about her with either guy. You don’t want the guys to succeed in getting her, and I really couldn’t envision this girl being happy with anyone unless she changes (spoiler: she doesn’t). The whole love triangle was not enough to maintain the primary narrative of the book… what I am saying is that the book was boring.
Madeleine starts off as a self-centered over-privileged little snot and makes absolutely no progress in becoming a better person. One can argue that her caring for her depressed boyfriend Leonard during most of the story would count as growth, but I would counter that by saying she was just living up to social expectations. Her treatment of every other character in the book is horrid.
The other participant in the love triangle is a religious studies student named Mitchell. He spends most of the book traveling around Europe and India learning about religion and avoiding Madeleine’s relationship with Leonard. I would say he is the character you want to win in the story, but his attraction to Madeleine makes him suspect in my view.
I am not sure what the book was trying to accomplish. Perhaps it was a critique of expensive liberal arts colleges not preparing students for real life. Or it could be debunking the expectation that 21-year-old people should be treated like adults rather than children. Or perhaps it could be that relationships are complicated, but I would argue that is well covered grounds and this book didn’t add much to the conversation. My final thoughts on “The Marriage Plot” is that I found it to be a disappointing follow-up to an excellent book from a talented writer. The amazon reviews seem to disagree with my assessment, so feel free to make up your own mind.
