REVOLUTIONARY ROAD by Richard Yates - may include spoilers
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thus19
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REVOLUTIONARY ROAD by Richard Yates - may include spoilers
Blurb:
Revolutionary Road is the story of Frank and April Wheeler, a bright young couple who are bored by the banalities of suburban life and long to be extraordinary. With heartbreaking compassion and clarity, Richard Yates shows how Frank and April's decision to change their lives for the better leads to betrayal and tragedy.
Plot:
Set in 1955, the novel focuses on the hopes and aspirations of Frank and April Wheeler, self-assured Connecticut suburbanites who see themselves as very different from their neighbors in the Revolutionary Hill Estates. In the opening scene, April stars in an embarrassingly bad amateur dramatic production of The Petrified Forest.
Seeking to break out of their suburban rut, April convinces Frank they should move to Paris, where she will work and support him while he realizes his vague ambition to be something other than an office worker. Unfortunately, Frank (from whose point of view most of the novel is told) is a weak reed, doing the minimum to get by at work without developing any alternative self, in contrast with April's taking concrete steps to accomplish their move. When April conceives their third child, their plan to leave America crumbles, not least because Frank is flattered by praise from his supervisors at work and beginning to identify with his mundane job. April realizes that she doesn't know herself any more and that she doesn't love Frank and performs an abortion, as the result of which she dies (whether she commits suicide or her death is an accident remains open). Frank grieves, but soon becomes absorbed by the work he had once despised, and "dies" an inward death.
I think this is an amazing book because there is not one specific lesson to be learned or one truth that it conveys. There are so many different things to think about, so many themes it touches upon - as for example the role of women, the purpose of life, finding yourself (whatever the cost?), (happy) relationships, to name only a few.
If you've read it, i'd love to know your thoughts and impressions!
Revolutionary Road is the story of Frank and April Wheeler, a bright young couple who are bored by the banalities of suburban life and long to be extraordinary. With heartbreaking compassion and clarity, Richard Yates shows how Frank and April's decision to change their lives for the better leads to betrayal and tragedy.
Plot:
Set in 1955, the novel focuses on the hopes and aspirations of Frank and April Wheeler, self-assured Connecticut suburbanites who see themselves as very different from their neighbors in the Revolutionary Hill Estates. In the opening scene, April stars in an embarrassingly bad amateur dramatic production of The Petrified Forest.
Seeking to break out of their suburban rut, April convinces Frank they should move to Paris, where she will work and support him while he realizes his vague ambition to be something other than an office worker. Unfortunately, Frank (from whose point of view most of the novel is told) is a weak reed, doing the minimum to get by at work without developing any alternative self, in contrast with April's taking concrete steps to accomplish their move. When April conceives their third child, their plan to leave America crumbles, not least because Frank is flattered by praise from his supervisors at work and beginning to identify with his mundane job. April realizes that she doesn't know herself any more and that she doesn't love Frank and performs an abortion, as the result of which she dies (whether she commits suicide or her death is an accident remains open). Frank grieves, but soon becomes absorbed by the work he had once despised, and "dies" an inward death.
I think this is an amazing book because there is not one specific lesson to be learned or one truth that it conveys. There are so many different things to think about, so many themes it touches upon - as for example the role of women, the purpose of life, finding yourself (whatever the cost?), (happy) relationships, to name only a few.
If you've read it, i'd love to know your thoughts and impressions!
