Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

Eleanor Oliphant started off well enough. It was funny, witty, and Eleanor is an interesting character. There was a little dark edge there in the form of the flashbacks/ “telephone calls” with Eleanor's mom. The humor was mostly coming from Eleanor's lack of social skills and misunderstanding of other people. Most of us take for granted the ability to navigate a social situation, even though they may be awkward we manage. Also, Eleanor's capacity for self-delusion as she pretends that it's the other people she interacts with, not her, that are foolish, rude, crazy, whatever. The second half of the book is where Honeyman lost me. Once the major catastrophe of the book occurs, Eleanor goes into therapy. This makes sense is completely believable, however these chapters of the book are dull and flat. Nothing new that the reader didn't already guess about her past is revealed. There is a huge tone shift, which I have no problem with as a rule. But if the second half shifts, it needs to be equal to the first half and it wasn't. Sure, I want Eleanor to be truly fine in the end but I still need to be engaged as a reader. Another aspect of the book that I was not too thrilled with is Eleanor's victimization. There were a lot of comparisons of this book to [b:A Man Called Ove 18774964 A Man Called Ove Fredrik Backman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1405259930l/18774964.SY75.jpg 21619954] . The comparisons aren't Honeyman's fault but this draws attention to the fact that Eleanor's loneliness and off-putting behavior seems to be explained by an abusive mother AND a “boyfriend” she had that raped and abused her. Ove had tragedy in his life but there was no feeling that he was a victim that you should feel sorry for or need to protect. I hate to do this, but I admit I'm bringing this up because she's a woman. Making a female character a victim doesn't make her more interesting or likeable. We need to get past that notion. Eleanor's fear and loathing of dealing with people, her insecurity, could have had a more subtle cause.