50

Still, only one book this week. I'm in a slump brought on a recent flurry of creative energy and some decent orange soda.

The Virgin Suicides: Jeffrey Eugenides -This one is a re-release. I found it on the dreaded "new releases" section of the library and had been meaning to pick it up for years, but just never got around to it. I never saw the movie.

I liked it. The Virgin Suicides deals with obsession, angst and the unseen pressures of a traditional home life. It's funny, touching and shocking.

The story revolved around the five Lisbon sisters, their parents and a group of teenage boys fascinated by the girls, whom they watch and secretly worship. The five Lisbon sisters are like fish in bowl or hamsters in cage, continuously observed by the outside world and controlled by their environment. They're virtual prisoners and grow desperate and weird under the weight of the strain to be all those things they're supposed to be to all people.

Oddly, the girls don't seem particularly depressed, just under siege, a little annoyed and disappointed. Suicide becomes their method to rebel against their parents, the community and even their admirers. It becomes their particularly twisted and sadistic revenge.