Who Would Like This Book:
Eileen is a dark, atmospheric character study crafted with razor-sharp prose and an unflinching dive into the mind of its deeply flawed anti-heroine. If you love books that explore the most uncomfortable corners of human psychology, appreciate unreliable narrators, or enjoy bleakly humorous literary fiction in the vein of Shirley Jackson or Patricia Highsmith, this one will keep you fascinated (and a little creeped out). The story crackles with tension and builds to an unexpected, noir-ish climax, making it a perfect pick for those who love their thrillers more psychological than action-packed.
Who May Not Like This Book:
Some readers may bounce off this book due to its slow pace, relentless bleakness, or the off-putting nature of its main character. Eileen isn’t your typical sympathetic protagonist, and her obsessive thoughts, poor hygiene, and harsh self-loathing can feel claustrophobic or even repellent. The plot takes its time to get moving, and much of the narrative is focused on uncomfortable introspection and gritty details rather than action. If you need a likable lead, fast pacing, or uplifting themes, this probably isn't for you.
About:
'Eileen' by Ottessa Moshfegh is a dark and weird novel that follows the story of the titular character, Eileen, as she navigates her unhappy life living with her alcoholic father and working at a juvenile prison. The book is character-oriented, delving deep into Eileen's psyche and odd thoughts, creating a mysterious and uncomfortable atmosphere. The plot, although loose and non-linear, keeps the reader engaged by revealing Eileen's inner life and her impending departure from her small town.
The narrative style of 'Eileen' is described as absorbing, weird, and unsettling, resembling a psychological thriller with a strong focus on character development. The book explores themes of loneliness, obsession, and transformation, with unexpected twists and dark alleys that lead the reader through Eileen's disturbing journey towards self-discovery.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include themes of abuse, alcoholism, mental illness, self-harm, and unsettling imagery related to bodily functions.
From The Publisher:
Shortlisted for the 2016 Man Booker Prize and chosen by David Sedaris as his recommended book for his Fall 2016 tour.
So here we are. My name was Eileen Dunlop. Now you know me. I was twenty-four years old then, and had a job that paid fifty-seven dollars a week as a kind of secretary at a private juvenile correctional facility for teenage boys. I think of it now as what it really was for all intents and purposes-a prison for boys. I will call it Moorehead. Delvin Moorehead was a terrible landlord I had years later, and so to use his name for such a place feels appropriate. In a week, I would run away from home and never go back.
This is the story of how I disappeared.
The Christmas season offers little cheer for Eileen Dunlop, an unassuming yet disturbed young woman trapped between her role as her alcoholic father's caretaker in a home whose squalor is the talk of the neighborhood and a day job as a secretary at the boys' prison, filled with its own quotidian horrors. Consumed by resentment and self-loathing, Eileen tempers her dreary days with perverse fantasies and dreams of escaping to the big city. In the meantime, she fills her nights and weekends with shoplifting, stalking a buff prison guard named Randy, and cleaning up her increasingly deranged father's messes. When the bright, beautiful, and cheery Rebecca Saint John arrives on the scene as the new counselor at Moorehead, Eileen is enchanted and proves unable to resist what appears at first to be a miraculously budding friendship. In a Hitchcockian twist, her affection for Rebecca ultimately pulls her into complicity in a crime that surpasses her wildest imaginings.
Played out against the snowy landscape of coastal New England in the days leading up to Christmas, young Eileen's story is told from the gimlet-eyed perspective of the now much older narrator. Creepy, mesmerizing, and sublimely funny, in the tradition of Shirley Jackson and early Vladimir Nabokov, this powerful debut novel enthralls and shocks, and introduces one of the most original new voices in contemporary literature.
Ratings (129)
Incredible (19) | |
Loved It (47) | |
Liked It (31) | |
It Was OK (19) | |
Did Not Like (10) | |
Hated It (3) |
Reader Stats (287):
Read It (128) | |
Currently Reading (7) | |
Want To Read (121) | |
Did Not Finish (8) | |
Not Interested (23) |
4 comment(s)
not into it!!
Eileen is such a stone cold weirdo, just an unflinchingly blunt narrator and grossly dysfunctional young woman. So many of her most neurotic and twisty thoughts rang true to my ugliest reactions and insecurities, it made my skin crawl in a good way, like picking a scab. I really got tired of the hinting of how this was her last few days in X-ville that old Eileen kept up throughout the narrative, I wish she just told the story.
Honestly, I just found it so unappealing/monotone/too sporadic I understand that many characters will contradict their actions via what they’re actually thinking but in this case, it was just a mine numbingly boring even with the actions going against social norms
This is an ugly and dark book. Uncomfortable and imaginative, a truly unlikable narrator from an author who truly understands the mechanics of storytelling. I don't think I've ever read a book with a more self-loathing character than Eileen. I would say this Book is not for everyone.
What can you read after
Eileen?
About the Author:
Ottessa Moshfegh is a fiction writer from New England. Eileen, her first novel, was shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Man Booker Prize, and won the PEN/Hemingway Award for debut fiction. My Year of Rest and…
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