Eleanor Oliphant is Not Completely Fine

My literary FOMO is growing with each novel I pick up! So, while I review works from the list I mentioned last week; I can’t help but devour the words on the page from new authors I knew nothing about to favourites from another time alike. I’ll start with one of my favourites on the list for today as it was the first story that rekindled the bibliophile within me. Forget about how the novel has won a basket full of awards from being the book of the year to have attained the #1 spot on the New York Times Best Seller list; Honeyman’s debut novel is a gem beyond its accolades. It may be in part due to Cathleen McCarron’s brilliant narration. I was struggling with my vision at the time so I listened to the novel, and while the beginning was a bit slow to get going Cathleen McCarron’s talented narration keeps the story moving along.

  

The Guardian refers to Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine as having “characters [that] aren’t goodies, baddies or plot devices, they just feel like people” which is why this novel resonated with me. Her characters are rich and spot-on which made it was so easy to connect with the protagonist; we all know someone like Eleanor. Perhaps it’s a colleague, an acquaintance or a family member but how Honeyman has created Eleanor in the novel; an unequivocally straight-forward, introverted character who is socially maladroit and carries no pretence captivates the reader’s fascination. The story is steeped in an attention to detail and understanding of the nuance of human idiosyncrasies which Honeyman has infused each of her characters with; that brings the novel to life. Eleanor isn't just a quirky oddball character intriguing the reader, she is well-rounded, and she speaks to the depths of loneliness and will trigger an empathetic response from any reader. 

I won’t give a synopsis of the work as this is a title with a thousand write-ups about it online (One of my favourites). But, I have to agree with most of the reviews which crown it as an insightful novel dealing with loneliness in a very relatable way. There are parts where I laughed out loud and other passages which made me cringe for Eleanor. The story is true to life in how simple gestures and moments can change our trajectory. But, while I enjoyed the story, and I don’t like to give anything away, the ending disappointed me.

*SPOILER ALERT*

I won’t give anything away in detail, but the end of the novel, for me, was like a pedantic tidying-up of minor perceived loose ends. The explanations that come to light were formulaic and predictable. I kept waiting for a great twist but while reading the actual great twist I was thinking, this can’t be it… I think the story got caught up in dysfunction and rather than to allow a natural progression of events and explanations, Honeyman wanted to create something more involved and complicated than she could deliver.  

*SAFE FROM SPOILERS*

With all that said and done, the novel was a wonderful read. If you want a thought-provoking story that will make you laugh, cringe and connect with its characters than you’ll find it with Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine.

Happy reading and see you next Monday!

Summer Reading List

Since early September I have been teaching English. As a result, I have had the chance to re-read the classics and some "new to me" classics. It highlighted how much I missed reading fiction, and so in June, as classes were winding down I gave myself a summer goal. I decided that I was going to "do" a summer reading list as I did when I was a teenager. It was one of the things I really looked forward to as the summer break would approach. Many of my friends groaned about having to read books over the summer break but I was so excited to get my hands on the list our school would assign. I also grew up in a reading household; the shelves were lined with the classics. So my brother and I loved reading, and I have carried that into my adult life.

However, over the years fiction has fallen by the wayside. I never gave up reading, but it became scientific studies and academic articles that that now took centre stage. I have tried to pick up works of fiction here and there but unless they were tied to my career they were soon forgotten on the bedside table. This time though, I had a goal that between July and August I would read at least five books... Now, I don't have a list to work from but I thought, if I can read five as a teenager I can certainly get through five books as an adult... I think I was a bit like a kid in a candy store binging on stories. So far, I have gotten through a few more books than I thought I would read for the entire summer which is really exhilarating for me. I have ten titles already under my belt. And so, I thought it might be nice to take a little moment to step back and absorb the works while I work up the appetite for my next novel binge. A few of the novels were light reads, stories for my own research (Lauren, Hoang & Chbosky) on current genre and style. While other titles I read were solely for pleasure... I won't review them all in this post but I will share the list below.    

Here is the list I have gone through so far. I always love a great suggestion so feel free to drop me a line and let me know about any riveting reads you've enjoyed; or even what you may have thought of the ones I've listed J

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

By Gail Honeyman

My Favorite Half-night Stand & Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating

By Christina Lauren

Less

By Andrew Sean Greer

Supermarket

By Bobby Hall

The Kiss Quotient
By Helen Hoang

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

By Stephen Chbosky

The Nest

By Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

The Japanese Lover

By Isabel Allende

The Home for Unwanted Girls

By Joanna Goodman

I’ll review one of these titles in my post next week!

Have I got a story for you…

E. B. Whyte and Minnie
White Literary LLC [CC-BY-SA-3.0],
via Wikimedia Commons

When I think of how we develop our empathetic beliefs and values about the environment in which we live the stories we are exposed to at a young age are what immediately come to mind. There are various ways in which a story is delivered, but there is nothing like the comfort of a book. Early childhood and middle school years are a significant formative time in our personal history and can be when many of the foundations are developed for one's future conservationist involvement.  

The role storytelling can play an important part in developing, reflecting and shaping the popular perceptions of wildlife concerns, and in young children and middle school aged children this can be delivered through creative non-fiction. If we quickly think of a favourite story most of us may have a childhood book that was read to us, or perhaps we can even recall one of the first books we read on our own. At a young age, the narrative is where children can absorb key concepts and have the freedom to explore their own beliefs by framing the knowledge they consume through their own lens.

The development of a conservation ethic was something that I experienced myself in reading The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. Whyte.  Many of the stories that I read as a child provided a path toward my own environmental education and my insatiable curiosity to learn about all realms of animal studies. The beauty in developing that hunger for reading is that it is an easily manoeuvrable journey upon which the reader can embark at their own pace and at their own level. Creative non-fiction is regenerative in that it can incorporate central educational goals through the enlivened delivery of an imaginative educational approach.

"Andrea Mantegna 038" by Andrea Mantegna -
The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei.
DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202.
Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH..
Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons 

With creative nonfiction, this particular genre of storytelling can introduce children to specific environmental concepts and also help them to become ecologically literate. In particular, stories like Watership Down by Richard Adams fostered in me an increased awareness and understanding for human and nonhuman animal conflict related to habitat loss. I very much attribute the stories that I was exposed to as a child as the catalysts to encouraging my engagement in conservation efforts and my bond with other species of this world. There are many ways to learn about associated organisms, ecological processes, and to develop one’s environmental ethic. But the power of the embodiment of ideas through a great story can never be matched… For a few ideas of books you may want to explore please check out this month’s Top 5 List at ICAS for some wonderful children’s titles.