Alright, let’s talk about “Virgin Suicides.” It’s a book that really sticks with you, you know? I picked it up a while back ’cause I heard so much about it, the movie, the whole shebang. So, I dove in.
First off, the writing style is something else. It’s like you’re right there in the 70s, in this sleepy Detroit suburb. The story is about these five sisters, the Lisbon girls – Cecilia, Lux, Bonnie, Mary, and Therese. They’re like a mystery to the neighborhood boys, who are basically the narrators of the whole thing. It’s all told from their perspective, years later, like they’re still trying to figure out what happened.
I started reading it, and at first, it was just this nostalgic, dreamy vibe. You’ve got these teenage boys watching the girls from afar, collecting little bits of their lives like they’re sacred objects. They watch from afar, they collect the girl’s diary. The whole book, I was getting the impression, they are collecting evidence. But, honestly, it’s a little creepy, but also kinda fascinating, like watching a car crash in slow motion.
Then, things start to get dark. The youngest, Cecilia, she’s the first to go. She tries to kill herself, and then, well, she succeeds. It’s heavy stuff, man. The parents, they’re super religious and strict, they start to clamp down on the other girls. No more school, no more going out, it is like being isolated. They are like prisoners in their own home, especially Lux, she was stressed because her parents who were over protective to her. Lux is kind of wild. She starts sneaking out, meeting boys, and there’s this one guy, Trip Fontaine, who’s like the high school heartthrob. They have this intense thing, and then he just dumps her. It’s brutal. I felt this part was important.
As I kept reading, the tension just builds and builds. The girls are slowly withering away, and the neighborhood boys, they’re trying to understand, but they can’t really do anything. It’s like they’re watching a tragedy unfold, and they’re powerless to stop it. This reminds me, there was a theory online saying, “The ending finally brings us to the present, where we find that the narrators are now middle-aged men rather than teenagers.” This makes sense, cause they are still obsessed with the sisters.
- I tried to figure out the clues, like, why did they do it?
- Was it the parents?
- The isolation?
- Just the pressures of being a teenager?
It is like a puzzle I need to solve. There are so many little details, like the diary entries, the things the girls left behind, and the way the house starts to fall apart. It’s all symbolic, you know?
And then, the ending. Man, the ending. It’s so abrupt and shocking. All the remaining girls, they kill themselves. It’s like a gut punch. I finished the book, and I just sat there for a while, staring at the wall, trying to process it all. Some people say, the ending leaves readers puzzled. I was puzzled too. I went online and tried to find some clues. It’s one of those books that stays with you, that you keep thinking about long after you’ve finished it. Some guy online also says “From a general summary to chapter summaries to explanations of famous quotes.” I should probably check it out later, but for now, I am still digesting the book.
It got me thinking about a lot of things, like, how well do we really know the people around us? And how sometimes, the most beautiful things can be the most fragile. It’s a sad story, for sure, but it’s also strangely beautiful, in a haunting sort of way.
I’ve talked to some friends who’ve read it too, and everyone seems to have a different take on it. Some think it’s about the loss of innocence, others think it’s about the dangers of repression. I don’t know, I’m still not sure what I think it’s “about”, but that’s what makes it so interesting, right? It’s like a conversation piece.
