On “The Marriage Plot”

I was looking forward to this one, having liked “Middlesex,” and of course, the story of an English major, incurably romantic, floundering headlong into life, did resonate for me. I had read the same books as she, struggled with the same incomprehensible jargon in certain classes, written similar papers, wondered what to do with my degree – so I felt some affinity for the heroine. Alas, the idea of the marriage plot as a plot element, was slighted by other concerns (mostly anatomical, I think) of the author.  The study of the manic-depressive, Leonard, is certainly well done, and might have made a better book with that as its main purpose (I was almost reminded of Nathan from “Sophie’s Choice”).  I wanted more thinking, examining, shifting perspectives on marriage as a plot element. Instead, it gets an unearned mention toward the end of the book, something Mitchell remembers he and Emily discussing, a discussion which the reader was never privy to, and which comes across as a tacked-on nod to the book’s title, with little real meaning. Eugenides can write and some things were good – the parental relationships, Leonard’s mental state, the classroom scenes. But on the whole, I was disappointed.

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