Revolutionary road

Revolutionary Road, amongst other novels that I have been reading alot in my junior year, was adapted into a motion picture directed by Sam Mendes and starring Titanic actors Leo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. So before I was running into any theatre, I was going to read the book first.

Richard Yates definitely sets the mood in this depressing story of Frank and April Wheeler, living in a 1955 suburbanite Connecticut. Told in the point of view of Frank, we get to see the dreams and aspirations that are put to the test and the love between the two crumbles as April puts more into the relationship that they have. She tries to bring the family out of their mundane life cycle, but Frank, who does not adjust to the changes that April suggests continues to revolve around his ordinary job, and his ordinary life, failing to ovrshadow the typical suburban stereotype. April realizes that she is not in love with him anymore and she is lost within her own identity.

As I read the book, I wasnt sure if I wanted to sit in the theatre and watch a 2 hr movie about this depressing couple. But a visual representation does help the audience get a grip of the vitalities that humans need in order for survival, competition, and an understanding of self.