Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell
St. Martin’s Press
Book Review By Gemma E Mclaughlin
I feel as though there is something uniquely important about this review. I have read this one previously and as I write this all I can think about is picking it up again and losing myself in Rainbow Rowell’s words all over again. ‘Eleanor & Park’ gave me hope for so many things; for love, for friendship and myself. It is the reason I am so deeply enchanted by the genre of romance and why my standards for books of that sort are so unreasonably high.
The story follows Eleanor and Park, two teenagers in the 80s who have found themselves as outcasts for different reasons. Park had mastered being invisible, he got himself through each day, had a few friends and sat alone on the bus, unnoticed, and perfectly content with that. When he met Eleanor, she seemed to make an effort to stand out, like she wanted to be made fun of, didn’t care even slightly about all the negative attention he put so much into avoiding. They soon found themselves sitting next to each other on the bus, barely speaking at first, but finding this genuine, beautiful companionship in each other.
The relationship Eleanor and Park have with each other is subtle and tender at its very core. They’re gentle with each other, understanding in a way that makes the reader long to be known the way they know each other. Every word makes you feel, not quite as though you’re relating to the characters but more as though you know them. The book feels the way it should feel to love someone, you see the way they treat each other, think about each other, and everything fades into that. A lot of the themes in the story are serious and heavy at times, enough to make you throw down the book and cry for people you’ll never have the chance to meet. Although I had some moments of difficulty while reading it, everything about this novel is worth that.
The book is written from the perspective of both Eleanor and Park. I always enjoy a book written in that style as it makes it a lot more difficult to get bored of reading the same person’s thoughts all through but this one is a little different. The perspective can shift at any given time, creating a fascinating structure and effect to the book that I never see. I couldn’t have imagined reading just a few lines, sometimes one, from each character would be so powerful and yet I’ve found myself wishing more books did it.
I would recommend this book to anyone who doesn’t think they like romance. I promise it will prove you wrong in ways that you would have never thought possible.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here