Girl Interrupted

The Virgin Suicides: A Novel
$14.00
Granted I had heard of Jerry Eugenides pulitizer prize winning novel Middlesex and Sofia Coppola's movie The Virgin Suicides but never really gave it much thought to sit down and read one of Eugenides' books. Upon shopping for fiction-lover brother this past August, I did some Amazonian research and came up with a list of ten or so titles I thought would fit him and his literary tastes. Eugenides' "The Virgin Suicides," made it to the top of the list. So I did the easy thing and ordered it from Amazon and just before wrapping it I took a closer look at the subject matter...hmmm 5 or 6 sisters all kill themselves and that's pretty much the plot of the book...and had second thoughts about unleashing this black macabre upon said brother. Thus, a second gift purchasing of The Power and the Glory (Penguin Classics) became the substitute stand-in as I kept "The Virgin Suicides," to read and screen first before unleashing such dark subject matter on another.

And on a selfish note, boy, I'm glad I kept it. Good creative writing where sentences are crafted well and language is used uniquely and the narrative is skilled to weave a story wins me over every time, despite subject matter. From a person who has read a few books in his days, Eugenides won me over on the first page. "They got out of the EMS truck, as usual moving much too slowly in our opinion, and the fat one said under his breath, 'This ain't TV, folks, this is how fast we go.' He was carrying the heavy respirator and cardiac unit past the bushes that had grown monstrous and over the erupting lawn, tame and immaculate thirteen months earlier when the trouble began." That's a sentence. In fact its two sentences. In it, along with the book's first sentence, we get pre-announced that this book is going to be about a group of teenage sisters that end up killing themselves and thirteen months time elapsed it will take for the story to unravel. Many authors would think that's putting too much out there in the beginning revealing the big reveal on page 1. It works wonderfully for Eugenides' tale though.

The story is told through a Greek Chorus narrator of a group of nosy pubescent boys who investigate and obsess over the Lisbon sisters to no end. And just like the classic tragedy, this story harkens back to a Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet. We don't blink twice about our teenagers being exposed to Romeo and Juliet's star-crossed love affair ending in suicide and murder but the subject matter of Eugenides' "The Virgin Suicides," can be daunting and vexing. The novel is loosely based on a real life event of which I'm not too sure about the details so these kind of things evidently happen. Eugenides just turns it into a moral tale about the ultimate selfishness of such acts and while doing so spins a yarn so perfectly catching the awkwardness and thrill that comes along with growing up in America that you become a believer that this isn't just a black comedy but a tale that reveals something true of the human soul and psyche...an aim for all good literature.

So there is a pinnacle moment in the book of which I won't tell of as to not give anything away should you read it. I read a lot of Stephen King books as a kid growing up and though "The Virgin Suicides," isn't a horror book, this piece of writing in a few paragraphs achieves a chill in the bones as much as a novel full of King's Pet Cemetaries or haunted Colorado hotels do. Just listen to this writing, "How long we stayed like that, communing with her departed spirit, we can't remember. Long enough for our collective breath to start a breeze slowly through the room that made Bonnie..." And that's all I'll reveal. The rest you just gotta read for yourself, dear readers.

I'll hand off this book pre-screened to the brother now, with a caveat, I want it back to read again someday. Eugenides' "The Virgin Suicides," highly recommended but not for the faint of heart. --mmw

The Virgin Suicides
$9.98
Or something to that effect. Another in the "American Beauty" camp of willfully narrow-minded views of middle America.

Gia (Unrated Edition)
$12.97
I bought it for obvious resones, but was surprise at the fact I thought it was a good movie.

The Camera My Mother Gave Me
$12.00
I'm not going to complain that a book was published that addressed the issue of vulvar pain and the millions of women who are suffering from it - certain not! I'm relieved to see that the issue has been brought up. Unfortunately, the way this narrative was handled completed negates the validation one might feel from its existence in the first place. I'm sure we are all glad someone is telling our story, but I'm resentful of the fact that a previous memoir (Girl, Interupted) made into a Hollywood blockbuster (movie, same name) somehow gives Kaysen the credentials to do it.

Women suffering from vulvar pain are lost - we are given no real reasons why, we are faced with limited treatment options, and we are left with little hope. I can't imagine going about getting my diagnosis and navigating my treatment options with the immaturity that Kaysen did, and I can imagine then being selfish enough to write THE memoir on the topic. Kaysen's objection to surgery, SSRIs/other oral medications, and acupuncture are fine for her personally, but these options can and do work for many women. That women will read this book and take to heart one women's opinions is maddening. Kaysen was irresponsible here.

Perhaps the worst criticism I can make of this book is Kaysen's tendency to dismiss the entire ordeal with the occasional allusion that the issue is psychosomatic. Not only is Kaysen afraid to explore this possibility outright, but also she is not able to explore the opposite possibility. Her refusal to discuss this option is the true failure of this book. The result is a subtle message that yes, you might have some small kind of medical problem but mostly you are blowing it out of proportion and psychosomatically reacting. Kaysen suggests that a new boyfriend and different attitude worked where Western, Eastern, and non-traditional medicine had failed her. I think that is a little too neat for the situation in which we find ourselves.

To women suffering - those who have been diagnosed 10 years ago or yesterday - please do not take this book as a helpful guide, a comforting piece of solidarity, or even an enjoyable read.