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Eileen A Novel Ottessa Moshfegh 9781594206627 Books

Download As PDF : Eileen A Novel Ottessa Moshfegh 9781594206627 Books

Eileen A Novel Ottessa Moshfegh 9781594206627 Books

I found this book hard to review. I'm quite sure 3 stars is an unfairly low rating. I'll do my best to explain.

Let me start with what I liked about the book. Number 1-Eileen's character and voice. She's dark and brutal and, in her own way, honest. There are too few female protagonists out there that talk about their bathroom habits or masturbatory fantasies or violent desires in such a straight forward, unabashed way as Eileen does. She feels so authentic, even if much of what she says can't be taken at face value. All in all, I loved this character. Number 2-The town of X-ville. Moshfegh creates a dark little corner of America reminiscent of one Shirley Jackson might have imagined. With, at least imaginatively, the boys prison at its center, X-ville radiates a sad, tragic kind of provincialism that makes the reader feel for Eileen and her sense of claustrophobia. And Moshfegh makes it clear that for all its smallness and casual cruelties, Eileen still has a kind of love for the place, much like, despite the wretchedness of her father, she can't help but love him too, even as she thinks about killing him. Her desire to leave but inability to do so create the primary conflict of the first half of the book.

Ok, my main problem with the story is its length. Not that it's a long book, but the entire first half of the book merely serves Eileen's voice. Yes, It introduces her character, situation and home, but that could all be cut down to less than fifty pages (perhaps far less). To me, it felt that the author, in her pure joy of writing Eileen's voice, luxuriated in and indulged that pleasure far too long while striving to find her plot. She almost gets away with it (or, in many people's opinion, does get away with it) because the voice is so compelling. My other issue, which I think stems from the first, is that I felt, as I just mentioned, that I could feel the author searching for her plot. As if Moshfegh knew she wanted to get Eileen out of X-ville, but didn't figure out how to accomplish this until half way through the novel. Then she introduces Rebecca and this very odd plot twist (which I liked) that comes out of the blue. In my very humble opinion, I think that the author, once she discovered Rebecca and her usefulness, could have gone back and streamlined the first half of the story, cutting about 100 pages. This sense of groping also came through in Moshfegh's instance on pointing the reader's attention to certain objects throughout the novel. For instance, she refers to icicles over and over again, imagining them as murderous and threatening. I said to my wife about 1/3 of the way through that something better happen with these icicles, or I'd be pissed. Well, something does, but it's minor and feels like an afterthought. She does the same thing with the car and its exhaust issues, though this gets more consequentially used.

So, all that's to say I thoroughly enjoyed Moshfegh's writing. She crafts a compelling character that fascinates and disturbs at the same time. However, it takes over half the book for the plot to actually kick in, which, for me, meant too little tension in the first part of the book. All though she has Eileen constantly assuring the reader that consequential happenings wait just around the corner, I became impatient, feeling that the character's repeated "little did I know this would be my last Christmas in x-ville" acted as stand ins for actual suspense. When the plot does kick in, its pace picks up and I did find the conclusion, for the most part, satisfying. I would recommend giving the book a read, if for no other reason than the quality of the writing and the uniqueness of the character's voice. I'm for more character's like this in fiction. (less)


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Eileen A Novel Ottessa Moshfegh 9781594206627 Books Reviews

This will be a difficult book to write a review for. Moshfegh has a wonderful writing style and she is very talented. This is the sad, odd and unsettling tale of Eileen Dunlop. The story is set in the early 1960's. It's winter in a New England seaside town. Eileen and her father live in a big rambling Colonial that is filthy on the inside. Her reclusive, alcoholic father, a former policeman, whiles his days away drinking bottle after bottle of gin. Eileen is tasked with going to the liquor store for him. She herself works in the office of a boys prison/reformatory. Eileen is a repulsive character. She chronicles her usage of laxatives, her affinity for not showering too often, and so forth. She is mentally distant and emotionally stunted as well. She has no real human connections, and daydreams about escaping her small town, her small life. This tale was atmospheric, really evoking the bleakness of winter, snow banks, icicles, frigid air. I read most of the book just waiting for something to happen. IT did, in the last two chapters or so. The story ramped up, changed course and then ended. The ending was a bit abrupt. I do like this author, and will seek out her other books.
Having admired "My Year of Rest and Relaxation," I wanted to love "Eileen" as well. Unfortunatelly, while Otessa Moshfegh has written some beautiful passages, the novel falls flat in two major ways. The first is Eileen herself, a pervy 24-year-old virgin with terrible habits and morals. A classic erotomaniac, Eileen uses her job in a boy's prison to spy on the inmates, spread germs (she never washes her hands, and at one point decides to shakes hands with a co-worker after scratching her genitals) and fantasize about a guard, the warden, and one of the prisoners. On her own time, Eileen shoplifts, stalks, lies, and drinks until she blacks out. She lives in a filthy house with her father, a raging alcoholic and retired cop who is such a danger to others than Eileen confiscates all his shoes to prevent him from wandering. While I'm fine with unsympathetic protagonists, I found Moshfegh's obsession with squalor and bad hygiene so gut wrenching that I put down the novel repeatedly. The other problem is technical though the novel takes place in a Massachusetts town in 1964, there are no regional colloquialisms and few cultural references. Worst of all is Eileen's voice, which is not that of a provincial, unintellectual working class New Englander of fifty years ago but an arch, grammatically perfect, present-day MFA recipient--i.e., Moshfegh herself. These factors are more than an irritation; they undercut the novel and expose Moshfegh's immaturity as a writer. If I had read "Eileen" first, I doubt I would have bothered with "My Year of Rest and Relaxation." I'm glad it was the other way around.
Went to a David Sedaris reading, where he said John Waters recommended this book to him. Sedaris then read a bit from the opening of Eileen, in closing he recommended the audience members buy copies of that novel and not his own in the theater lobby. I didn't do that -- even to get an express line signing from Mr. Sedaris, but I did come home and immediate got a copy of the novel sent to my Fire. It turned out to be all I had hoped for -- one of those rare occasions when I could not put the book down. The protagonist's life and feelings were so real to me -- the book became my life for length of time it took to read. After it was finished, It haunted me for nearly a week. It simply does not get better than that -- and it happensis all too infrequent.
I found this book hard to review. I'm quite sure 3 stars is an unfairly low rating. I'll do my best to explain.

Let me start with what I liked about the book. Number 1-Eileen's character and voice. She's dark and brutal and, in her own way, honest. There are too few female protagonists out there that talk about their bathroom habits or masturbatory fantasies or violent desires in such a straight forward, unabashed way as Eileen does. She feels so authentic, even if much of what she says can't be taken at face value. All in all, I loved this character. Number 2-The town of X-ville. Moshfegh creates a dark little corner of America reminiscent of one Shirley Jackson might have imagined. With, at least imaginatively, the boys prison at its center, X-ville radiates a sad, tragic kind of provincialism that makes the reader feel for Eileen and her sense of claustrophobia. And Moshfegh makes it clear that for all its smallness and casual cruelties, Eileen still has a kind of love for the place, much like, despite the wretchedness of her father, she can't help but love him too, even as she thinks about killing him. Her desire to leave but inability to do so create the primary conflict of the first half of the book.

Ok, my main problem with the story is its length. Not that it's a long book, but the entire first half of the book merely serves Eileen's voice. Yes, It introduces her character, situation and home, but that could all be cut down to less than fifty pages (perhaps far less). To me, it felt that the author, in her pure joy of writing Eileen's voice, luxuriated in and indulged that pleasure far too long while striving to find her plot. She almost gets away with it (or, in many people's opinion, does get away with it) because the voice is so compelling. My other issue, which I think stems from the first, is that I felt, as I just mentioned, that I could feel the author searching for her plot. As if Moshfegh knew she wanted to get Eileen out of X-ville, but didn't figure out how to accomplish this until half way through the novel. Then she introduces Rebecca and this very odd plot twist (which I liked) that comes out of the blue. In my very humble opinion, I think that the author, once she discovered Rebecca and her usefulness, could have gone back and streamlined the first half of the story, cutting about 100 pages. This sense of groping also came through in Moshfegh's instance on pointing the reader's attention to certain objects throughout the novel. For instance, she refers to icicles over and over again, imagining them as murderous and threatening. I said to my wife about 1/3 of the way through that something better happen with these icicles, or I'd be pissed. Well, something does, but it's minor and feels like an afterthought. She does the same thing with the car and its exhaust issues, though this gets more consequentially used.

So, all that's to say I thoroughly enjoyed Moshfegh's writing. She crafts a compelling character that fascinates and disturbs at the same time. However, it takes over half the book for the plot to actually kick in, which, for me, meant too little tension in the first part of the book. All though she has Eileen constantly assuring the reader that consequential happenings wait just around the corner, I became impatient, feeling that the character's repeated "little did I know this would be my last Christmas in x-ville" acted as stand ins for actual suspense. When the plot does kick in, its pace picks up and I did find the conclusion, for the most part, satisfying. I would recommend giving the book a read, if for no other reason than the quality of the writing and the uniqueness of the character's voice. I'm for more character's like this in fiction. (less)