Book Review: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
More of a written expression of my feelings while living this story than a book review xD
It took me exactly an year and a half to finish this book.
During my constant back-and-forth with this book/world, a lot happened. I read other books. I changed cities. I made new friends and commenced the second phase of my life. I started reading this book right after I graduated from high school. I finished this book once I was through with my first year at college. I evolved. Needless to say, I’ve spent enough time with this book to be writing about it.
Well, as mentioned before, I delved into this world of Eleanor and Park right after I finished my high school examinations and was waiting for college admissions to begin. Back then, I had to travel twice to Delhi for college admission formalities and could not read at a pace I would have preferred. Eleanor, the new girl in town, was an outcast in her new school. She couldn’t blend in. Read the previous two sentences taking cognizance of the context I supplied you before and it’s a simple inference, THAT I WAS SCARED (!!).
While I pride myself in being a bookworm, I don’t actually have a very diverse reading list. The books I read most belong to either of these three categories: Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Science Fiction. I barely read contemporary novels and while I appreciate a romantic element mixed in with the above-mentioned genres, the thought of reading a contemporary romance book isn’t that easily digestible to me. Before Eleanor and Park, I had just read three contemporary romance novels and could manage to call only one of those a ‘satisfactory’ read. [no offence, contemporary lovers ;)]
Coming back to Eleanor: while I’m not as quirky as Eleanor was described, I have my own insecurities and this next-level introverted-ness that render me an awkward bunny in parties and during conversations with strangers. I felt sorry for Eleanor initially but then, towards the end of the book, I just felt sorry for those who made fun of her and missed out on her awesome-ness. Perhaps, it was the book or it was just my evolved thought, but even if others made fun of Eleanor for her outfits and hairstyle choices, Eleanor wasn’t even minutely at fault. On the contrary, she, though in a constant state of hyper- paranoia, was a stellar protagonist. The events and the people in her life explain a lot of her paranoia, but regardless, she is a survivor- despite living in a humble dwelling with more siblings to take care of than their parents can afford, a suppressed mother, a brutal wife and child-beating father. She goes about her day living on scraps, wearing scraps of old dresses but she manages to smile and love wholeheartedly. And that is the beauty of Eleanor.
Then there is Park (I swooned over him throughout xD), fighting his own battles, trying to conform to societal notions of masculinity. He’s caring and he’s humble. He loves Eleanor deeply and that love is something worth hoping for. He does what he feels is right and ‘manned up’ in his own beautiful way. Breaking stereotypes, he is an amazing male protagonist.
Eleanor and Park end up finding solace with each other. The poignant ending of this book made me cry and smile at the same time. It was wholesome experience reading this book.
A major part of my first year of college was about just looking for love and acceptance. You see, that’s what happens when you come out of your little shell of a hometown and meet new people, visit new places, make new experiences. However, what I failed to understand is that friendships and love can’t be forced, you can’t find them per se, you just form them and it is the most natural and organic thing. You don’t need to change yourself if you don’t feel like it. You just need to be yourself to find true love and friendship.
Just like Eleanor and Park did.
I hope you enjoyed reading my experience of this book. Let me know about your experiences in the comments down below xD
