My favourite books have always been the ones where certain characters give me a lasting impression. I tend to be drawn to characters who fall into the ‘grey area’ – complicated characters that we, as readers, can’t quite decide whether to like or not. For me, Heathcliff immediately comes to mind.
Eleanor, who is the main character in Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, is no exception. But even though Eleanor is an interesting character, I struggled to warm up to her. I presume that this, of course, is something intended by author Gail Honeyman and yet, I can’t help question why I am so intrigued and entertained by Eleanor herself.
Eleanor Oliphant is, as the title suggests, completely fine … except she isn’t. Eleanor is simply existing. She works five days a week at an office job and on weekends buys 2 bottles of vodka. Though her routine is incredibly monotonous – not to mention lonely – we are also privy to her inner monologues. Here we see into Eleanor’s social awkwardness, her lack of a filter and her inability to grasp exactly how people expect her to behave.
At times, I found myself acting like Eleanor’s work colleagues who cringe or laugh at her social mishaps. But Eleanor’s insensitivity can also be quite off-putting and for that reason, I could never quite relate to her.
Throughout the book we learn that she has been through a traumatic childhood that has inevitably shaped her character. But I’m still left wondering whether she is completely aware of some of the comments she makes. It’s a strange feeling to both sympathise and dissociate with a character.
Ultimately I applaud Gail Honeyman for creating such a complex character. Eleanor is definitely someone I want to unpick a little bit more!
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Loved loved loved this book. Quirky. In some ways I grew to love Eleanor and found myself wanting to protect this strange little character.
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