The College Experience

The Marriage Plot
Jeffery Eugeinides

One of my favorite literary niche genre’s is coming of age stories- specifically that occur during college. It doesn’t take a psychologist to see where my love of this genre comes from. I loved my undergraduate days that I never left college (sorry a little Student affairs professional humor). I enjoyed my college experience but what I really remember were the people that helped mold and guide me both academically, professionally and even personally. I wanted to be that person and so I re-entered the Ivy Tower, pursued a Masters in Higher education Administration and Student Affairs and have been working the field for 5 years in a variety of positions. So when I see a book about a student’s “coming of age” during college I automatically pick it up. That’s what primarily led me to Jeffery Eugeines- the Marriage Plot (well that and the fact the I loved the Virgin Suicides). The Marriage Plot started showing up on all the “Best of” or “Can’t be Missed books of 2011 so I had high expectations going into the story.

The main character in the book is Madeline, a college senior who is graduating from Brown University in the 1980’s (I believe it was the wonderful and exciting year of 1983). The title of the book comes from Madeline’s Thesis and it follows Madeline as she graduates and moves into the “real world” with her group of friends and boyfriend

I enjoyed this book but I also struggled with it. The first part reads like a literature class which was a little difficult for me to follow. I kept wondering if I had reverted back to my undergrad days. I kept slugging through because this is supposed to be one of the best books of 2011 and I wanted to see what all the hype was about.

The book picked up a little and then slowed down (at least for me) and it took me a lot longer to finish it because some parts were tedious to read. I enjoyed most of the characters but fount Mitchell's narrative to be rather slow. I found Madeline a little infuriating, but I'm sure I was too when I was 21.

Overall, I enjoyed the book but, I also have to say that I am glad to be done with it.