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Our monthly book club at the Liverpool Public library met this morning to discuss our reading of Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.
It's about a socially inept woman of about thirty years of age who is physically and emotionally scarred in the aftermath of a horrific childhood and, while proclaiming herself a survivor, gradually reveals that she's actually living her life in anticipation of a drug-induced endgame.
The following are a few quick notes that I jotted down just before leaving for this meeting.
1. The first time I sat down with this book I had a strong feeling that (a) I'd known the protagonist from some previous time or place and (b) strongly disliked her beyond her role as Honeyman's central character.
2. Later, as I debated whether to continue reading the book or not, I realized where we'd previously met. Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant is Fredrik Backman's Britt Marie.
3. Then I pulled out Backman's Britt Marie Was Here, which I'd read a year and a half earlier--and had disliked with similar intensity--and read the following three statements on the inside front cover. "Britt Marie is difficult, demanding, and socially awkward; Britt Marie is loyal, brave and has a bigger heart than anybody knows; Britt Marie is ready for a change--but even she will be surprised by what happens next." Bingo!
4. After that, I noticed some striking similarities in the cover art: the two women are dressed similarly, stand in an arms-crossed defensive posture, and their faces are invisible. Britt Marie's because she is facing away and Eleanor's because, although she's facing towards us, her head is above the area framed by the book cover. The intent, in both cases, is to convey the character's invisibility in the world outside the narrow confines of their own lives.
5. Then I wondered if, as in the cover art, we're being shown two sides of the same character.
6. Decided that this would've made a great paper for Intro to Lit in my freshman year of college. (But probably wouldn't have cut it in sophomore year.)
7. As I continued to puzzle over the intensity of my dislike for these fictional characters, I decided that if I ever published my own story, I'd be standing sideways on the cover with my head sandwiched between their two books.
8. Get it?
LPK
Dreamwidth
8.23.2018
It's about a socially inept woman of about thirty years of age who is physically and emotionally scarred in the aftermath of a horrific childhood and, while proclaiming herself a survivor, gradually reveals that she's actually living her life in anticipation of a drug-induced endgame.
The following are a few quick notes that I jotted down just before leaving for this meeting.
1. The first time I sat down with this book I had a strong feeling that (a) I'd known the protagonist from some previous time or place and (b) strongly disliked her beyond her role as Honeyman's central character.
2. Later, as I debated whether to continue reading the book or not, I realized where we'd previously met. Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant is Fredrik Backman's Britt Marie.
3. Then I pulled out Backman's Britt Marie Was Here, which I'd read a year and a half earlier--and had disliked with similar intensity--and read the following three statements on the inside front cover. "Britt Marie is difficult, demanding, and socially awkward; Britt Marie is loyal, brave and has a bigger heart than anybody knows; Britt Marie is ready for a change--but even she will be surprised by what happens next." Bingo!
4. After that, I noticed some striking similarities in the cover art: the two women are dressed similarly, stand in an arms-crossed defensive posture, and their faces are invisible. Britt Marie's because she is facing away and Eleanor's because, although she's facing towards us, her head is above the area framed by the book cover. The intent, in both cases, is to convey the character's invisibility in the world outside the narrow confines of their own lives.
5. Then I wondered if, as in the cover art, we're being shown two sides of the same character.
6. Decided that this would've made a great paper for Intro to Lit in my freshman year of college. (But probably wouldn't have cut it in sophomore year.)
7. As I continued to puzzle over the intensity of my dislike for these fictional characters, I decided that if I ever published my own story, I'd be standing sideways on the cover with my head sandwiched between their two books.
8. Get it?
LPK
Dreamwidth
8.23.2018
