The Marriage Plot

By: Jeffrey Eugenides

Narrated by: David Pittu

Length: 15 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

A New York Times Notable Book of 2011

A Publisher's Weekly Top 10 Book of 2011

A Kirkus Reviews Top 25 Best Fiction of 2011 Title

One of Library Journal's Best Books of 2011

A Salon Best Fiction of 2011 title

One of The Telegraph's Best Fiction Books of the Year 2011

It's the early 1980s—the country is in a deep recession, and life after college is harder than ever. In the cafés on College Hill, the wised-up kids are inhaling Derrida and listening to Talking Heads. But Madeleine Hanna, dutiful English major, is writing her senior thesis on Jane Austen and George Eliot, purveyors of the marriage plot that lies at the heart of the greatest English novels.

As Madeleine tries to understand why "it became laughable to read writers like Cheever and Updike, who wrote about the suburbia Madeleine and most of her friends had grown up in, in favor of reading the Marquis de Sade, who wrote about deflowering virgins in eighteenth-century France," real life, in the form of two very different guys, intervenes. Leonard Bankhead—charismatic loner, college Darwinist, and lost Portland boy—suddenly turns up in a semiotics seminar, and soon Madeleine finds herself in a highly charged erotic and intellectual relationship with him. At the same time, her old "friend" Mitchell Grammaticus—who's been reading Christian mysticism and generally acting strange—resurfaces, obsessed with the idea that Madeleine is destined to be his mate.

Over the next year, as the members of the triangle in this amazing, spellbinding novel graduate from college and enter the real world, events force them to reevaluate everything they learned in school. Leonard and Madeleine move to a biology Laboratory on Cape Cod, but can't escape the secret responsible for Leonard's seemingly inexhaustible energy and plunging moods. And Mitchell, traveling around the world to get Madeleine out of his mind, finds himself face-to-face with ultimate questions about the meaning of life, the existence of God, and the true nature of love.

Are the great love stories of the nineteenth century dead? Or can there be a new story, written for today and alive to the realities of feminism, sexual freedom, prenups, and divorce? With devastating wit and an abiding understanding of and affection for his characters, Jeffrey Eugenides revives the motivating energies of the Novel, while creating a story so contemporary and fresh that it unfolds like the intimate journal of our own lives.

©2011 Jeffrey Eugenides (P)2011 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“The sound of silk drawn across fine-grain sandpaper best describes David Pittu's voice in THE MARRIAGE PLOT, by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jeffrey Eugenides...The talented Pittu rises to the occasion of this challenging work, rewarding the listener with a sense of satisfaction reserved for great works of literature.”—AudioFile magazine, An Earphones Award Winner

“David Pittu brilliantly narrates this audio version of Eugenides' complex novel, whether he's rattling off quotes from Jacques Derrida and Roland Barthes or creating unique voices for the book's many characters. Among the standouts are his renditions of the slow and reflective Mitchell and Thurston, the star of the semiotics seminar who speaks in a falsely laconic and disinterested fashion to impress his classmates and professor… [Pittu] never runs out of voices for this large, global cast. The result is one of the best audiobooks of the year.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“No one's more adept at channeling teenage angst than Jeffrey Eugenides. Not even J. D. Salinger . . . It's in mapping Mitchell's search for some sort of belief that might fill the spiritual hole in his heart and Madeleine's search for a way to turn her passion for literature into a vocation that this novel is at its most affecting, reminding us with uncommon understanding what it is to be young and idealistic, in pursuit of true love and in love with books and ideas.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“This is a story about being young and bright and lost, a story Americans have been telling since Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. Our exceptionally well-read but largely untested graduates still wonder: How should I live my life? What can I really believe in? Whom should I love? Literature has provided a wide range of answers to those questions—Lose Lady Brett! Give up on Daisy! Go with Team Edward!—but in the end, novels aren't really very good guidebooks. Instead, they're a chance to exercise our moral imagination, and this one provides an exceptionally witty and poignant workout.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post

I loved it well enough to endure the reader

Where does The Marriage Plot rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

In the top ten.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Mitchell, who is most like me.

What didn’t you like about David Pittu’s performance?

When male readers do prissy for every female voice it makes me want to spit.

If you could take any character from The Marriage Plot out to dinner, who would it be and why?

The Nobel Prize winner.

Decent

The story sort of fizzles towards the end. I sort of felt like...was that the end? Is there more, hmmm...I guess that was a good book.

Less Than Likable Characters

Three characters dominate this story, and they are exquisitely developed through the course of a couple of years by the brilliant writing of Eugenides. Each is flawed or challenged, some more so than others, and each spends the novel's time overcoming those challenges or learning to live with those flaws. That said, I kept waiting and hoping that at some point for any of these characters to become truly likable. It never happened.

There are many literary references throughout this book that would probably add another dimension if you researched them all further. But the basic story line of "the marriage plot" is one that has been told many times over. This was a new opportunity to breathe some life into it, writing about it from a more contemporary perspective. However, Madeleine never really springs to life. The men still seem to be living far more interested lives, and she's reacting to them more than creating her own. Perhaps the point of the story might have come off better written by a woman?

The narration was excellent, and the narrator created with skill a believable woman in Madeleine and the critical differences between Leonard and Mitchell.

I chose this book because I've read Middlesex and was impressed with what Eugenides could do with such a unique and challenging topic as hermaphroditism. In this book, he's tackled a more universal problem, taken fewer words to accomplish his goal, and made a good attempt to turn out an excellent novel. I simply wish that by the end I had cared more about what happened to the characters.

Portrait of a marriage

Would you listen to The Marriage Plot again? Why?

I would listen to this story over again.

Who was your favorite character and why?

All of the characters were well developed and likable. I did not want the story to end. I liked the way Marshall came to seer Leonard.

What about David Pittu’s performance did you like?

He did a nice job with the voices of the characters.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The ending is very touching.

Any additional comments?

I have recommended this book to so many people. I am so happy to be living in a time with so many great writers and the opportunity to listen to books as performance art.

Excellent

The characters were interesting, and learning about views of literary analysis added to the story.

Bipolar In The Bedroom

What did you love best about The Marriage Plot?

I think it was spot on in many respects especially if you live with a depressed person.

What did you like best about this story?

It is accurate and brings in facets of the "educated" from rich to unrich in their personal and imperfect lives.

What about David Pittu’s performance did you like?

I thought he did a great job.

If you could rename The Marriage Plot, what would you call it?

I wouldn't rename it.

Any additional comments?

If you live with a depressed person, be prepared to explore your own marriage.

Loved The Marriage Plot!

Would you listen to The Marriage Plot again? Why?

I loved the story and narration of The Marriage Plot. Best novel I have read in a long time. I would definitely listen to it again.

What other book might you compare The Marriage Plot to and why?

The Marriage Plot reminds me of other novels written by Jeffrey Eugenides and Jonathan Franzen. They are depressing at times but overall an honest representation of America.

What about David Pittu’s performance did you like?

I enjoyed Pittu's performance and his depiction of each individual character.

If you could rename The Marriage Plot, what would you call it?

I love the title of the book, I don't think I would rename it if I had the chance.

I Totally Enjoyed the Story and Narrator

What did you love best about The Marriage Plot?

The story and characters were wonderfully drawn. This book grabbed me from the beginning. A modern twist on an old theme, quirky contemporary love relationships.
You could see where the story was going but the characters where so compelling I loved listening. The narrator was perfect in the voices, the inflection and the timing.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Marriage Plot?

All of it was good. I even loved the descriptions of the places that the characters traveled to.

What does David Pittu bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His voice for Madelines mother was just so perfect. It conveyed her attitude and demeanor that I don't think I would have gotten just reading from the book.

If you could rename The Marriage Plot, what would you call it?

???

Any additional comments?

This is not a book I would normally choose. My daughter highly recommended it,so I decided to listen just to see what she likes. It surprised me how much I liked it. I usually like mysteries and suspense or historical romance.

Nooooooooo!!!!!

This is what I screamed out loud in my car when the book was over. Loved it so much, story was incredible, writing was incredible, narrator was the BEST.

Disappointing

Detailed descriptions that just didn't seem to go anywhere....

I often re-listen to audiobooks in my library, but not this one. I was looking forward to another book from this author that was as good as Middlesex, but this book fell far short. I would not recommend it.