While reading Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell, I found it almost impossible to put this book down! Being a person who is not particularly interested in young romance novels, I am very surprised about how much I am enjoying this love story.
Although this book is set in the 1980’s, while reading it I was never focused on the time period. Other than the fact that the Eleanor and Park trade tapes for their walkmans and read comic books together, I feel like these two characters can be very relatable to the current teenage generation. Books often appeal to people more if they can relate to them, and that is one of the reasons why I'm sure a lot of people would love to read this.
As I read this book, I am very wound up with emotions. I love that the book switches back and forth from the perspectives of Eleanor to Park. I think it really helps us feel what each character is going through. Getting to read about Eleanor's life makes me feel so much sympathy for her, especially due to her poverty stricken background. There are many tragic factors to her life. Her dad doesn’t care about her and is, for the most part, un-involved in her life, her step dad, Richie, acts like a dictator, and her mom never stands up for her when she is getting harassed. On top of it all, she has to share a room with her little brothers and sisters in a tiny house. Imagine a 16 year old girl having to share a room with a bunch of little kids and not having any privacy at all. The saddest part is that she feels uncomfortable sharing details about her life with Park. As readers we know that based on how he feels and cares for her, none of this would make him love her any less.
That last thought is my favorite of the ones you mentioned - that Eleanor and Park like each other despite their physical differences. And, as far as engaging, if we were assigned all of it I probably would have read all of it in one sitting. It is definitely engaging and relatable :-)
ReplyDeleteI didn't really notice the difference in time periods either. However when you consider that it takes place in the 80's Eleanor's style choices don't seem quite as weird!
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't till after I read 114 pages that I realized the book took place in the 80's, after doing some research. In my opinion the time period isn't really important to the story line and it doesn't have to be.
ReplyDeleteI also really liked how the perspectives would change between Eleanor and Park. To see what each of them were thinking or worrying about in the same situation, I sometimes found humorous.
ReplyDeleteI really love how you talk about how different they are. That's why I think it makes the story special. Both of the characters don't fit into any type of mold.
ReplyDeleteThey are both incredibly different. I find it hard to understand how they fell in love over 2 interests they had which were music and comic books. These two must be the least picky people in existence.
ReplyDeleteI really like your physical description of them. I never noticed how similar romantic characters seem to be in romantic YAL. I think it strikes a chord with reality which I think is INCREDIBLY important.
ReplyDeleteI think Park might see part of his grandmother/grandfather in Eleanor, hence why he is attracted to her. As it is mentioned he is only half Korean and aside from his mother he is the only one in his family to look that way.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading the book I had to keep reminding myself that this was set in the 80s and not modern day. It could very easily pass as today. Its sad to know that things mentioned in the book like poverty and bullying are still around and I hope that one day they will vanish.
ReplyDelete