Release date: May 9th, 2017
Page Count: 327
Genre: Contemporary
Blurb on Goodreads:
"No one’s ever told Eleanor that life should be better than fine.
Meet Eleanor Oliphant: She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy.
But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, the three become the kinds of friends who rescue one another from the lives of isolation they have each been living. And it is Raymond’s big heart that will ultimately help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one.
Soon to be a major motion picture produced by Reese Witherspoon, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is the smart, warm, and uplifting story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes. . .
The only way to survive is to open your heart. "
I don't typically read contemporary, I think the last one I did was Me Before You and that was right before seeing the movie. This one caught me unawares with how much I loved it. It was completely and 100% fine, much like Eleanor Oliphant.
I don't know if the name Eleanor was picked because it's kind of like elephant, like the elephant in the room is what happened in her past and she didn't want to talk about it. But much like giant Elephant (Oliphant) room it's over consuming and you can't avoid it, or its eat you alive and you turn out a bit like Eleanor. This joke was actually made within the novel, so maybe that was a factor. Or my other theory for the name Eleanor being picked is because it's the protagonist from The Haunting of Hill House. Another character that has characteristics that one connects to, but not the characteristics we want to see in oneself. It's completely fine, probably comes from how everyone answers "I'm fine", when asked how we are. Apparently in Australia they have a day dedicated to "Are you okay?" to get people talking about mental health. I wonder how many people still answer, "I'm completely fine".
Eleanor is someone that we all know and maybe see parts of ourself in. We all know the lady/man in our office that has a peculiar style, keeps to themselves and have some unusual little habits. She's a little too judgemental (mainly from a place of insecurity) and we all know this person or maybe we were this way at some point. She has a fantasy crush on some guy in a band. And lets face it, we all had this. I defiantly mentally dated Ozzy from Survivor in my head and Seth Cohan/Adam Brody from the OC when I was in junior high. I even had extreme jealousy of Amanda when Ozzy confused his love for her in his FTC jury question. Eleanor is experiencing it later in life, but nonetheless, we all have to experience it. We also all know that person who's a little too blunt, and almost everyone has put our foot in our mouths often, and sometimes failed to dig ourselves back out. Or even just said something and realized the repercussions of it. I mean, if Prince Philip is notorious for this.
Eleanor is very routine orientated; she eats pasta and salad for dinner, does crossword puzzles at lunch. Makes frozen pizza on Friday and drinks 2 bottles of vodka on the weekend. Every Wed she talks to Mummy and has worked an office job for 9 years. She mentions invoices, and how it's so boring no one asks her about it. I had an invoice job, it was boring. I get you there Eleanor. I enjoyed Eleanor's endeavours of her first bikini wax, hair cut and mani/pedi. Her confusion of who Bobby Brown is but loving how the makeup made her look was cute. The realization that people will react to you differently if you change your haircut, dress a little more flattering and wear makeup was a good realization for her.
I think the true strength in this book is Eleanor. She arrives fully formed, relatable and one that you are going to remember and will stay with you forever. The writing was also good, it was sad and I think a true representation of depression and loneliness. It wasn't manipulative or a shallow representation. It's been a long time since I've cried, laughed and smiled out of happiness for the character. It put into words how it really feels to be lonely. Here's a direct quote from the novel about it:
“These days, loneliness is the new cancer – a shameful, embarrassing thing, brought upon yourself in some obscure way. A fearful, incurable thing, so horrifying that you dare not mention it; other people don’t want to hear the word spoken aloud for fear that they might too be afflicted, or that it might tempt fate into visiting a similar horror upon them.”
I like how it addressed and put into words that a lot of times we do feel lonely, even with the connections that we all have. But showed that no one is ever truly alone. Eleanor who truly believed that she was, still had her friend Raymond. And everyone always has someone.
Another thing that I loved is that romance didn't save Eleanor. It may have been hinted at, but it wasn't a focus. It always bothers me in movies/books, where they make the solution a Prince Charming/Princess Charming. This one showed that you can save yourself, but you need to open yourself up. Eleanor's friendship with Raymond the unhygienic IT guy at the office was endearing.
I give it 4.5 wine glasses out of 5. I highly recommend it. This is very much out of my usual reading genres, but I loved it. It's mainly an adult read, but older teenagers would like it too.
Cheers,
Jen.