Review: Gail Honeyman – Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

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3.5 stars, books, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, first time read, Gail Honeyman, library book, read in 2019, reading, review

Title: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
Author: Gail Honeyman
First published: 2017
Dates read: 3.-6.04.2019
Category: first-time read, library book
Rating: 3.5/5
The book in five words or less: charming, but makes me uncomfortable

My thoughts:

Eleanor Oliphant, in her early thirties, is – for want of a better word – a very odd woman: friendless, antisocial, slightly old-fashioned, eloquent, and very particular about her habits and opinions. She has made herself comfortable in a world where she has a boring job and no friends and spends the weekends alone and usually drunk. She also gets weekly calls from her – rather unpleasant – mother that tend to leave her badly shaken up, and has recently developed an obsession with a local musician, whom she is desperate to meet because she considers him her soul mate.

As a reader, one can tell very early on in the novel that with Eleanor, all is not what it seems. How exactly Eleanor’s history, her social peculiarities, and her choice to remain friend- and relationship-less are connected, however, is something that the reader only discovers slowly over the course of the novel. And yes, there is a connection, but telling what it is would definitely spoil the book.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is a rather slow and quiet book. Nothing much happens, even though Eleanor is very actively moving forward her project to ‘make over’ herself in order to attract the attention of her intended, the musician. Things only really change by chance, and chance appears in the form of her new colleague, Raymond the IT guy, and a random old man whom they rescue from an accident on the street. Slowly, Eleanor develops a friendship with both that has a much more lasting impact on her life than any bikini waxes or hair cuts could ever have.

Overall, I would say Eleanor Oliphant masquerades as a charming book with some serious undertones. It is definitely a quick read, and one where the mystery of Eleanor’s past compels you to keep reading. However, the longer I think about Eleanor Oliphant, the more uncomfortable I become.

I think, some of what makes me uncomfortable is the book’s humour. I just didn’t think Eleanor’s more awkward moments were funny; I rather thought them sad. Plus, if one assumes (as other reviewers have done), that Eleanor is severely traumatised and/or on the autism spectrum, then those ‘funny situations’ where she doesn’t quite know how to interact with people leave behind a rather bitter taste.

Related to this issue, I’m also unhappy with how most of Eleanor’s makeover serves the purpose of making her more ‘socially palatable’. Granted, part of that is prompted by her obsession with the musician, but the fact remains that her colleagues only start being nicer to her once she wears nicer clothes and makeup and generally conforms more to society’s expectations of femininity.

As for the other side characters (the ones who are not her mean colleagues), they are all incredibly nice, but also incredibly flat. One might put that down to Eleanor’s perspective as the narrator, but I do believe it’s not just that. None of them really get a chance to become more three-dimensional, and maybe that’s because the book is dealing with a lot of issues at the same time (Eleanor’s past, her relationship with her mother, her trauma, making friends, social expectations, etc.).

Moreover, the reread potential of this book is rather low: Part of what makes the book such a compelling read is the mystery surrounding Eleanor’s past and her relationship with her mother, and the main plot twist doesn’t have nearly as much impact if you know what is coming.

Overall, I believe Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine can be an enjoyable read – it’s certainly a compelling one – but it’s perhaps a book that is better borrowed from the library than bought.

 

Read if you like: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (disclaimer: I really didn’t like that book), stories with strong narrative voices, ‘unfeminine’ female characters, books that deal with trauma and mental health