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Quote by Jeffrey Eugenides

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The Virgin Suicides: A Novel

Set in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, during the 1970s, the story follows the five Lisbon sisters: Cecilia, Lux, Bonnie, Mary, and Therese. Raised under the strict and watchful eye of their overprotective parents, the sisters lead a sheltered existence that becomes increasingly isolated from the outside world after the youngest sister's first suicide attempt. The narrative is told from the collective perspective of a group of adolescent boys who live on the same street, who watch the sisters from afar and become fascinated by them. Through fragments of memory, secondhand accounts, and artifacts collected over the years, these now-grown men attempt to reconstruct the events that led to the sisters' eventual fates. The novel explores themes of suburban disillusionment, the mysteries of adolescence, the limitations of memory, and the distance between observers and the truths they seek to understand. Published in 1993, it was later adapted into a film directed by Sofia Coppola. more

Author

Jeffrey Eugenides
Jeffrey Eugenides

Jeffrey Eugenides is an American novelist known for his unique narrative style and profound portrayal of complex family relationships. His works often explore identity, genetics, and human emotions. more

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“If you look at history, even recent history, you see that there is indeed progress. . . . Over time, the cycle is clearly, generally upwards. And it doesn't happen by laws of nature. And it doesn't happen by social laws. . . . It happens as a result of hard work by dedicated people who are willing to look at problems honestly, to look at them without illusions, and to go to work chipping away at them, with no guarantee of success — in fact, with a need for a rather high tolerance for failure along the way, and plenty of disappointments.”