Eleanor really is completely fine, and I think herein lies the problem.
This is an interesting enough story. We see Eleanor struggling to get by in life following an incredibly traumatic childhood. She’s socially awkward, odd and standoffish. She has no friends, no family except the omnipotent ‘Mummy’, and tends to live on the fringes of society. Then she meets Raymond, a new coworker, and they bond over helping an elderly chap recover from a broken hip. We see Eleanor learn that it’s ok not to be ok, what is it to feel affection from and for others, and she slowly grows into herself.
However, I just couldn’t warm enough to Eleanor. I found her incredibly irritating and unrealistic. She’s overly critical of pretty much everyone, while seeming to stumble through life in a dead end job that requires minimum mental stimulation. She does herself no favours by being cold towards everyone she meets. Her manner of speaking throughout the novel was over the top, and often at first detracted from the story. She also goes from feigning ignorance over various cultural references (ie SpongeBob Squarepants, Deal or No Deal), to comparing someone to the Unabomber - which didn’t feel realistic. Over time, as we learn her backstory (the blunt way she explains her time with Declan did make me feel for her) I began to warm to her personality, and sometimes she does have some funny moments, but mostly it was too little too late.
One redeeming quality was her blossoming friendship with Raymond. From abject disgust over his smoking and eating habits, this feeling changes overtime to reflect a little bit of a kindred spirit in such an incredibly warm hearted individual. His feelings of horror on learning how Eleanor has been treated by everyone just demonstrated what a lovely, gentle soul he is. To grow up in a loving environment and have a mother who so obviously adores him, it’s interesting to reflect if this is how Eleanor could have been if she were ‘normal’.
I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy this - I did, but I’m not enamoured the way others seem to have been. The plot is relatively sedate, and to be honest this feels distinctly more like a character piece rather than story driven. And when you’re not keen on the protagonist that’s always going to be a problem for me. I just can’t get into a book when I don’t enjoy the main character. I’ve read a couple of novels along similar lines lately (Convenience Store Woman and The Kiss Quotient) and I think in both cases, those protagonists were more interesting and better developed than Eleanor. I think that perhaps this novel suffered because of my recent enjoyment of those books, because it became too easy to compare them.
So yes, Eleanor, you really are completely fine.
This is an interesting enough story. We see Eleanor struggling to get by in life following an incredibly traumatic childhood. She’s socially awkward, odd and standoffish. She has no friends, no family except the omnipotent ‘Mummy’, and tends to live on the fringes of society. Then she meets Raymond, a new coworker, and they bond over helping an elderly chap recover from a broken hip. We see Eleanor learn that it’s ok not to be ok, what is it to feel affection from and for others, and she slowly grows into herself.
However, I just couldn’t warm enough to Eleanor. I found her incredibly irritating and unrealistic. She’s overly critical of pretty much everyone, while seeming to stumble through life in a dead end job that requires minimum mental stimulation. She does herself no favours by being cold towards everyone she meets. Her manner of speaking throughout the novel was over the top, and often at first detracted from the story. She also goes from feigning ignorance over various cultural references (ie SpongeBob Squarepants, Deal or No Deal), to comparing someone to the Unabomber - which didn’t feel realistic. Over time, as we learn her backstory (the blunt way she explains her time with Declan did make me feel for her) I began to warm to her personality, and sometimes she does have some funny moments, but mostly it was too little too late.
One redeeming quality was her blossoming friendship with Raymond. From abject disgust over his smoking and eating habits, this feeling changes overtime to reflect a little bit of a kindred spirit in such an incredibly warm hearted individual. His feelings of horror on learning how Eleanor has been treated by everyone just demonstrated what a lovely, gentle soul he is. To grow up in a loving environment and have a mother who so obviously adores him, it’s interesting to reflect if this is how Eleanor could have been if she were ‘normal’.
I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy this - I did, but I’m not enamoured the way others seem to have been. The plot is relatively sedate, and to be honest this feels distinctly more like a character piece rather than story driven. And when you’re not keen on the protagonist that’s always going to be a problem for me. I just can’t get into a book when I don’t enjoy the main character. I’ve read a couple of novels along similar lines lately (Convenience Store Woman and The Kiss Quotient) and I think in both cases, those protagonists were more interesting and better developed than Eleanor. I think that perhaps this novel suffered because of my recent enjoyment of those books, because it became too easy to compare them.
So yes, Eleanor, you really are completely fine.
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