The Marriage Plot

Probably, perhaps only the first half though to revisit the way ideas interact with story. It was beautifully paced and engaging though, I was pulled along by the narrative tension between the characters, but knowing the ending, I am not sure the novel would have the same thrall on a second listen.

I thought Eugenides did a remarkable job of capturing the urgency of that time in your life (about twenty), when everything feels so weighted and important, when it feels as though every decision you make shapes the person you are about to come, the poesis of self-making. I also really admired the way he blended narrative theory and classical storytelling.

Oh, he is just brilliant! He sculpted each character out of nuance and diction, these people really came to live for me, it was like watching a movie. Perfectly paced. Beautifully read, never intrusive.

I rushed through it pretty quick!

This is certainly not Eugenides' most unique book but he's such a good writer you still want to keep listening, even if the story is just a trumped up 80s nostalgia love triangle.

As for the reading, to put it lightly, character voicing is not Pittu's strong suit. The male characters all sounded like they just swallowed a hairball, and unfortunately Madeline sounded exactly like Candace from the TV show Portlandia (those who know the reference will understand). Essentially, the characters all sounded extremely one dimensional, which is a fairly large failing considering the whole book is about the subtleties and nuances in people and personality.

An easier reading of the book would probably have brought the sense of the story out more, especially since it is such a character heavy book, but I found myself struggling more and more to ignore Pittu's simple characterisations.

I chose The Marriage Plot because I really enjoyed Middlesex, and perhaps if I wasn't aware of the comparison between the two books, I would have enjoyed this one more. However, I just couldn't get away from how boring the plot line was. Clearly, it has been very well researched because Eugenides is able to go into minute detail on a number of disparate subjects, from the behaviour of yeast cells to the Victorian novels. However it is the amount of detail that made the story drag for me. That and the fact that I couldn't really feel any empathy for the main characters, who were mostly annoying. The narrator was very good and he did create unique voices for each character, but his best efforts weren't enough to save the plodding nature of the plot.

Wouldn't suit all of my reader friends but for some of them yes. It's entertaining in a lot of ways but I felt it a little long winded at times.

He characterises so beautifully, I laughed out loud a some bits. Great narration makes a book for me and David's reading kept me going where if I'd read the book myself I might have given up in the more boring bits!

Although I felt the book too long, I still kept with it to the end, partly due to David's narration. It's still a good read, I've yet to read Middlesex but I have it in paper form so we will see if that works for me better as a novel (however, won't have the assistance of a great narrator though will I).

Have read Eugenides Middelsex and yes to David Pittu

all equally weird and despondent

a better understanding of the characters

read something more cheerful

too long