Product Description

The shocking thing about the girls was how nearly normal they seemed when their mother let them out for the one and only date of their lives. Twenty years on, their enigmatic personalities are embalmed in the memories of the boys who worshipped them and who now recall their shared adolescence: the brassiere draped over a crucifix belonging to the promiscuous Lux; the sisters' breathtaking appearance on the night of the dance; and the sultry, sleepy street across which they watched a family disintegrate and fragile lives disappear.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7364 in Books
• Published on: 2002-10-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
Wry and wistful, melancholy yet flecked with a dark thread of humour, Eugenides's novel is a remarkable debut to say the very least. The protagonists of the title are a group of adolescent sisters who kill themselves, one after the other, in a Seventies summer that stays immaculately preserved in the memories of the young boys who hero-worshipped these elusive creatures from afar. Set in suburban America, it's a bizarre story and one that in lesser hands could easily have tumbled into the melodramatic, but everything is handled here with enviable fluidity and the potentially macabre becomes instead gently luminous. It's told retrospectively and collectively by all the boys, represented with a single voice as they look back at their youth two decades on and remember the fascination that the Lisbon sisters exerted over their prosaic lives, endowing everything with a touch of mystery. As they piece together their story from fragments of information presented in the form of exhibits, the lives of these girls become almost a touchstone of youth, a melange of memory distilled into a single bright image. Virtually imprisoned inside their claustrophobic home, not by malice but by sheer ignorance, the sisters find different ways to assert their individuality and Eugenides's description of the ball, their only date, is heartbreakingly poignant in the way it depicts the quartet grabbing every moment of delicious freedom like drowning swimmers gasping for air. Despite the sad subject there are many humorous touches like the image of the brassiere casually draped over the crucifix, but one of the book's most moving moments comes near the end when, desperate for contact and slowly sinking into their final spiralling despair, the girls play snatches of plaintive songs down the phone, the boys responding with cheerful anthems of teenage hope they intend as salve to the girls' loneliness. Beautifully written and intensely poetic in style, this novel may be an acquired taste for some but no one could deny the power of imagination necessary to conjure this haunting vision of a family slowly torn apart by the spectre of suicide. (Kirkus UK)

Independent
"The Virgin Suicides is wonderfully original. It could prove to be the start of an important writing career."

Observer
"One of the finest novels in many years - a Catcher in the Rye for our time"

Customer Reviews

Beautiful
The Virgin Suicides is my favourite book of all time. I read it at least once a year and devour it just as much as I did the first time. Each time I take something else from it. Beautiful, simple and elegant. I recommend this book to everybody.

A Beautifully-written and sad tale
The Virgin Suicides is about 5 teenage sisters who are the fixation of all the teenage males they are encountered by. The story begins with the suicide of the youngest sister, Cecelia, and then charts a gradual disintegration of the girls family life and state of mind.

The prose is exquisitely written, containing some truly memorable and inspired imagery. The story is told from the perspective of a group of teenage boys who are utterly entranced by the Lisbon sisters. Surprisingly, their descriptions of the sisters and their lives is not imbued with lust, but something closer to reverence. Tantalisingly, Eugenides reveals very little of what the sisters are actually thinking, and instead the reader relies on the specualation of the young men who admire them, usually from afar.

The book is a combined commentary on teenage depression and also the power of female sexuality, and the mystery it can sometimes present. The Lisbon sisters always remain enigmatic, both to the narrators and the readers, but Eugenides presents this as appealing rather than infuriating. 'The Virgin Suicides' is overall an eloquent description of how completely a woman can sometimes completely capture the attentions of a male, and how one indelible, lasting impact can stay with someone for life. Naturally, this makes 'The Virgin Suicides' a haunting read, poignant and sometimes sad.

The book culminates in the mass suicide of the other four sisters, a fact which is revealed at the beginning of the story. This in itself is highly unusual and imaginative, but that's unsurprising, since Eugenides' prose is always unusual, and from beginning to end, there's never a dull page, rather a fascinating masterclass in story-telling.

touched for the very first time!
I loved this book, it really touched me. To some people the title is very misleading, and it sounds like a bunch of girls wanting sex so bad they are prepared to kill themselves! This book has heart, and a lot of it. Following the lives of all 5 Lisbon girls, the grieving parents, and the boys who followed their every move, this is a genius piece of detailed work from Eugenides.

I highly recommend this novel to anyone. It leaves you wondering why, but deep down you really know.