Review Summaries

• The response often centers on how the book turns Eleanor's social awkwardness into humor while treating pain and recovery with care. Its balance of lightness and hurt leaves a warmth that many readers remember.

Reviews

• Brilliantly written!

  It's a wonderful, funny read! It brings out the best and the worst in humans. I enjoyed every page.

• Hilarious deadpan black comedy, but...

  ...somehow (yeah, I know, fabulously specific) the ending didn't work with the rest of the story. I haven't enjoyed a novel this much in a long time. I thought the author's approach was fascinatingly original. The gradual peeling away of the protagonist's layered defenses, told in a wonderfully deadpan style that conveys the depth of her self-imposed isolation via her cluelessness about other people's behavior, makes this a page-turner of rare power. I read the entire book with breaks only for sleep and food because I had to find out what her story was. Yet at the end of the book I felt...let down. It just didn't seem to follow from what had gone before, as if the author, after a virtuoso display of originality, felt constrained to go with a pat happy (more or less) ending. I expected a finale with more ambiguity, something less unreservedly upbeat, after learning all about her heartbreakingly tragic past.

• Lovely book

  Great, original story. Makes you go through a rainbow of emotions, a really well written book.

• This book makes you happy

  I can't believe this is the author's first novel. Touching, entertaining, consistent, I mean really well written. As I read how the warm-hearted man heals Eleanor, I was healed in some way too. I would recommend those who needs healing!

• 切ない

  はじめは退屈な小説かなと思いながら読み始めましたが、だんだんエレナーに惹かれていきました。 ストーリーのスピードも上がっていき、涙なしには読めなくなっていきました。 全体を流れる暖かいユーモアが効いていて、読後感は最高です。

• Lackluster ending

  久しぶりにおもしろい小説に出会った。 予想外の展開で読ませるが、最後、失速して月並みなエンディングでがっかりした。

• Hilarious and Endearing

  An absolute delight. Thank you Eleanor Oliphant!

• なかなか読み応えあり

  なかなか読み応えがありました。主人公が口語的な表現をしないので、途中馴染みのない英語表現が難しくて、挫折しそうになりましたが、ストーリーを追う内になんとか読み終えました。心がホッコリするシーンやかき乱されたりと、エレノアの生い立ちを通して人間の心理の複雑さと繊細さに興味深い気持ちになりました。自分を取り囲む周りの人達や環境を改めて振り返ったり…、最後まで気になりながら読めてなかなか良かったです。

• Do you want to read a book that will make you fall in love with a character, stay up late to read ‘just one more chapter’, laugh hysterically one moment and cry the next? You do? Then the sublime Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman is for you. This book has had lots of great press this year, it is shortlisted in the Costa First Novel Award for 2017, WHSmith have recently named it their Fiction Book of the Year for 2017 and more importantly it is November’s read for the book club I attend and we have really high standards! Whilst I can’t comment on what the general consensus will be as I’m writing this a few days before we meet I can give you my thoughts. There is always a worry with a much-hyped book that it won’t quite live up to expectations (so disappointing when this happens) and I did start reading with some slight trepidation. I needn’t have worried though as I absolutely adored Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine from the very first page. This book reminded me in some ways to A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman and The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion as these books also feature a protagonist who is socially awkward but I really think that Gail Honeyman’s novel has so much more depth and compassion. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is a wonderful novel which, through its strong characterisation and powerful storytelling drew me in to Eleanor’s world. We meet her when she is working for a design agency filled with cool, hip people and is the butt of their jokes and subject of their gossip. She works in accounts and whilst she says she is fine, she really, really isn’t. Her life is empty, she drinks two bottles of vodka every weekend, has a weekly phone call with her mummy, eats the same meals every day and her only friend is a plant in her living room. Eleanor has met a man and having decided that he is The One, she sets about making him fall in love with her – the only problem is he has never met her before and has no idea she even exists. Whilst this makes it sound like this book is some kind of rom-com it isn’t – this is an example of Eleanor’s lack of social awareness and I found it totally endearing. Gail Honeyman has created a wonderful character in Eleanor, I fell head over heels in love with her, I loved her quirks, I loved her thought processes and there were moments of complete overwhelming sadness where I wanted to climb into the pages and comfort her. This book is filled with moments of beautiful sweetness, particularly her friendship with Raymond which I thought was honest and believable. It would be easy for these moments to be saccharine and cloying but they’re not at all – his genuine regard for her and compassion was realistic and heart-warming. Gail Honeyman has a deft touch and avoids veering into mawkish territory. Eleanor’s past is hinted at – there are dark shadows lurking at the edge of the page and when the truth unravels it is heart-rending and brutal. This book absolutely destroyed me – I think the last book that affected me so much was A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (if you haven’t read this, please do, it is a masterpiece). I keep thinking about it and I really want to talk about it (I can’t wait to get to book club!) because it is funny, sincere, thought-provoking and utterly, utterly devastating. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine deserves all the plaudits it is getting and I am stunned that this is Gail Honeyman’s debut novel. Accomplished and assured I can’t wait to see what the future holds for her. I’ll be giving this book a 10 at book club – something which doesn’t happen very often.

• Eleanor Oliphant is an accounting clerk who works all week, stays at home every Friday night enjoying her supermarket pizza and vodka, and wait for Monday to come. She’s fine keeping her distance from the people around her until she finds her “soulmate” and at the same time, forms an unlikely friendship with one of her colleagues. Eleanor is a fascinating and definitely a very memorable character. This book is written in her perspective which I really loved. We get to see what she sees and know what she thinks. She can be off-putting at times but still very relatable and realistic. I loved her humor and honesty. Her relationship with Raymond was so sweet and enjoyable to read. The author’s writing is compelling and beautiful. I can’t believe that this is her debut novel. This book is sad and painful to read at times but the author still managed to tell Eleanor’s story in a lighter way (if that makes sense). There’s also a mystery surrounding Eleanor’s past which is slowly revealed throughout the book. I appreciated how the author handled mental health issues in this book. It’s raw and very moving. I know that this book is not for everyone because you might love or hate Eleanor. But I’m pretty sure that you can relate to her in some ways. This book is about loneliness, unspoken sadness, friendship, and kindness.

• A beautiful story about trauma, self discovery, and love.

• Não é fácil definir resenhar este livro. Antes de começar a ler, esperava que ele fosse completamente diferente, que fosse mais leve, mais engraçado, menos pesado. A verdade é que ele é muito triste desde o começo. Essa é a melhor palavra para ele, triste. Até mesmo quando parece que a protagonista não percebe o quanto sua situação é triste, o leitor percebe. Antes mesmo de saber tudo que aconteceu, isso já fica claro. A solidão de Eleanor é palpável e dolorosa. Apesar de não ser um livro alegre, tem algumas partes divertidas, sim. Ver o atrito que o jeito literal e de falar tudo que pensa da Eleanor causa em situações que, para a gente, são bastante simples e comuns é engraçado! Tem partes fofas também, personagens amáveis, como o Sammy, o Raymond e a mãe dele, mas também tem aquelas ainda mais tristes que vão te fazer chorar. Passei o livro todo com vontade de abraçar Eleanor e nunca mais soltar. Ela é preciosa demais para sofrer tanto sem ao menos perceber. A narrativa é bem dentro de sua cabeça, e acho válido mencionar isso, porque tem bastante gente que se incomoda quando o livro não tem tantos diálogos e é mais um monólogo. Eu, particularmente, achei perfeito. A autora é muito boa, deu as informações na medida e parece entender tão, mas tão bem a cabeça da Eleanor, que é até um pouco assustador. E a Eleanor é tão real e única, que é difícil não acreditar que ela existe de verdade. Ela é única mesmo, com sua mentalidade literal, seu jeito direto de falar tudo que vem à cabeça e sua falta de tato em situações sociais, a ponto de beirar o autismo. Mas ela é tão maravilhosa também, não merecia nunca ter que passar pelo que passou, e eu só queria poder protegê-la do mundo. Eleanor Oliphant é definitivamente uma personagem marcante! Fico bem feliz de que a autora não tenha transformado esse livro em um romance, porque ele é sobre Eleanor e sua solidão, suas causas, consequências e solução, e transformar um romance em solução milagrosa tiraria toda a credibilidade e o valor da luta dela. Mas confesso que amo o Raymond e, na minha cabeça, eles ficam juntos no final. Também achei ótimo a autora não ter "curado" Eleanor magicamente, primeiro, porque não seria muito realista, mas principalmente porque o jeito dela não era o problema. Ela definitivamente não precisava mudar de personalidade ou fingir ser como os outros. Ela é o suficiente exatamente como é. E foi só agora, enquanto escrevia sobre este livro que percebi que ele já faz parte da minha lista de favoritos. Ele é marcante, doloroso e emocionante. Se você não se sentir tocado pela história da Eleanor, precisa de um pouco mais de compaixão na sua vida. Eleanor Oliphant marcou a minha, e eu vou fazer questão de dar este livro de presente para muita gente, porque ela precisa marcar a vida de todo mundo!

• First 50 pages was hard to convince me to keep going, but after that, I loved it! It suddenly picks up and becomes a great read.

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