I believe that
books come to us in magical ways, but perhaps none so much as Eleanor Oliphant
is Completely Fine. A dear friend of mine from college, knowing I'm a
bibliophile, and sharing some other similarities such as our mutual hatred for
butterflies and love of spiders, one day sent me a message telling me that I
absolutely needed to read this book and that she was going to send it to me
(which also ended up including a TON of lipstick, lip exfoliant, and Chapstick samples, courtesy of the company she works for). I was so touched that I
couldn't wait to dive into it, and so I did. And then I did again. And then one
final time, and that was the time I got hooked. I kept getting distracted by
other books, but I ended up reading this at the exact right time in my life.
Eleanor Oliphant is
fiercely intelligent and sophisticated, though also blunt and socially awkward,
and deeply entrenched in her routine: work, home, radio program, frozen pizza,
vodka, and Wednesday chats with Mummy. She is, by every definition, completely
fine, unapologetically navigating the world as best she knows how. Then she
meets Raymond, the large man from IT with a penchant for t-shirts that are just
a bit too small, and for chewing with his mouth open, who inadvertently
enlightens Eleanor to the simple, often taken for granted, pleasures of life.
Turns out that living is more than just existing.
The writing is
heavy and wordy, but in a cheeky way, with a very much Eleanor-driven plot. She
is awkwardly loveable, with a Seinfeldian take on the world, and the way she
tells a story is charming and completely disarming; a certifiable
scene-stealer, resulting in many pages of laugh-out-loud moments. Sure, there
is the childhood trauma that she is suppressing with said vodka, and the social
interactions that would make even Michael Scott squirm, but she is charmingly
ridiculous, and this book is tragically hilarious. It feels wrong to call this
book delightful, because it has its fair share of tragedy and trauma - the
ending, in particular, is the cutest, yet most horrifying, ending ever - but
you can't help a warm feeling that carries you through this book and Eleanor's
story, proving just how important it is to have at least one good friend.
Settle in with a nice big cuppa because you can read Eleanor Oliphant is
Completely Fine in one sitting. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
