Eleanor Rigby

by DOUGLAS COUPLAND | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0679313370 Global Overview for this book
Registered by winglauraloo29wing of Edmonton, Alberta Canada on 7/18/2008
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4 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by winglauraloo29wing from Edmonton, Alberta Canada on Friday, July 18, 2008
“The Liz Dunns of this world tend to get married, and then twenty-three months after their wedding and the birth of their first child they establish sensible lower maintenance hairdos that last them forever. Liz Dunns take classes in croissant baking, and would rather chew on soccer balls than deny their children muesli… I am a traitor to my name.”

Liz Dunn is one of the world’s lonely people. She’s in her late thirties and has a boring cubicle job at a communications company, doing work that is only slightly more bearable than the time she spends alone in her depressingly sterile box of a condo. Her whole life, she’s tried to get to the root of her sadness, to figure out what she’s been doing wrong, with little success. But then, one night in 1997, everything changes: while standing in the parking lot of a video store, arms full of sappy movies she’s rented to help her convalesce from oral surgery, she witnesses the passing of the Hale-Bopp comet. For Liz, this streak of light across the sky is a portent of radical change — and for her, radical change means finally accepting her lot: “I realized that my life, while technically adequate, had become all it was ever going to be … No more trying to control everything — it was now time to go with the flow.” In that moment, and for the first time, Liz feels truly free.

A day after Liz makes the decision to seek peace in her life rather than control, along comes another comet, in the form of a stranger admitted to the local hospital with her name and number inscribed on his MedicAlert bracelet. For the new Liz, the phone call from the hospital feels like “the fulfillment of a prophecy”; the young man, it turns out, is her son, whom she gave up for adoption when she was sixteen. Jeremy shows the scars of his years as a foster child and his most recent drug reaction, but is otherwise beautiful and charming. And when he moves in with Liz to recuperate, it’s as if both of them had been waiting for this moment all their lives.

A lost soul and occasional visionary, Jeremy upends Liz’s quiet existence — shocking her coworkers and family, redecorating her condo, getting her to reevaluate her past and take an active role in her future. But he’s also very ill with multiple sclerosis. Her son’s life-and-death battle induces a spiritual awakening in Liz — then triggers a chain of events that take her to the other side of the world and back, endangering her life just as an unexpected second chance at happiness finally seems within reach.

Journal Entry 2 by winglauraloo29wing from Edmonton, Alberta Canada on Sunday, July 20, 2008
Sending out as a bookray. The last person is free to release the book as they wish.

1. Hawkette - Australia (Aus/Intl)
2. Wandering-B - Hong Kong (Europe)
3. Brujula - France (Intl)

Starting its journey on August 11th. Happy travels!

Journal Entry 3 by Hawkette from Sydney CBD, New South Wales Australia on Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Has arrived with me in Melbourne, and will be added to the crazy Mt TBR I have here, of bookrays. Thanks!

Journal Entry 4 by Hawkette from Sydney CBD, New South Wales Australia on Saturday, January 10, 2009
Depressing, maybe only cos I am a single girl in her thirties! A little too close to the bone perhaps! Som engaging discussions, and insights, nonetheless, and I had to finish.

Some bizarre little Coupland twists, unbelievable, and makes you wonder if he grabbed a couple of ideas he had brainstormed at different times, and threw them all into a book.

Will be posted off this week, sorry for keeping it so long.

Journal Entry 5 by wandering-B from Tai Po, Tai Po Hong Kong on Monday, March 30, 2009
Redeived today - going on holiday this week and am debating whether to take it or not as it is a hardback. I'll move it along as quickly as possible. Thanks for sharing!

Liked it? Yes. Loved it? Maybe not. I felt so sorry for Eleanor throughout a large part of the book, and it took a little bit to get used to the changing time sequences. There are some profound thoughts in this one like "I suspect that all human beings have a point where they realize that what they have is the most they're ever going to have, be it love, money, or power. You have to make peace with who you are, and what you've become."

Anyway, enjoyed it and am PMing the next to get an address. Thanks again for sharing.

Journal Entry 6 by wandering-B from Tai Po, Tai Po Hong Kong on Sunday, April 19, 2009
Mailing to Brujula today, 20 April. Thanks again!

Journal Entry 7 by Brujula from Valenciennes, Nord-Pas-de-Calais France on Monday, May 11, 2009
Wow! This book has already travelled all around the world!
It has arrived safely in France. Thank you for sending it, Wandering-B, and for the pretty bookstring!

Journal Entry 8 by Brujula from Valenciennes, Nord-Pas-de-Calais France on Monday, September 7, 2009
I really liked this book. The loneliness, the feeling of transparency of Liz is something many people can relate to. But then all sort of extraordinary things start happening to her, when she finally decides to let things happen, to let things flow. I liked this crazy optimism, where you just stop worrying about what will happen next...

What should I do with this book? Try to make it travel a little bit more, maybe?

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