The Marriage Plot

By: Jeffrey Eugenides

Narrated by: David Pittu

A New York Times Notable Book of 2011

A Publisher's Weekly Top 10 Book of 2011

A Kirkus Reviews Top 25 Best Fiction of 2011 Title

One of Library Journal's Best Books of 2011

A Salon Best Fiction of 2011 title

One of The Telegraph's Best Fiction Books of the Year 2011

It's the early 1980s—the country is in a deep recession, and life after college is harder than ever. In the cafés on College Hill, the wised-up kids are inhaling Derrida and listening to Talking Heads. But Madeleine Hanna, dutiful English major, is writing her senior thesis on Jane Austen and George Eliot, purveyors of the marriage plot that lies at the heart of the greatest English novels.

As Madeleine tries to understand why "it became laughable to read writers like Cheever and Updike, who wrote about the suburbia Madeleine and most of her friends had grown up in, in favor of reading the Marquis de Sade, who wrote about deflowering virgins in eighteenth-century France," real life, in the form of two very different guys, intervenes. Leonard Bankhead—charismatic loner, college Darwinist, and lost Portland boy—suddenly turns up in a semiotics seminar, and soon Madeleine finds herself in a highly charged erotic and intellectual relationship with him. At the same time, her old "friend" Mitchell Grammaticus—who's been reading Christian mysticism and generally acting strange—resurfaces, obsessed with the idea that Madeleine is destined to be his mate.

Over the next year, as the members of the triangle in this amazing, spellbinding novel graduate from college and enter the real world, events force them to reevaluate everything they learned in school. Leonard and Madeleine move to a biology Laboratory on Cape Cod, but can't escape the secret responsible for Leonard's seemingly inexhaustible energy and plunging moods. And Mitchell, traveling around the world to get Madeleine out of his mind, finds himself face-to-face with ultimate questions about the meaning of life, the existence of God, and the true nature of love.

Are the great love stories of the nineteenth century dead? Or can there be a new story, written for today and alive to the realities of feminism, sexual freedom, prenups, and divorce? With devastating wit and an abiding understanding of and affection for his characters, Jeffrey Eugenides revives the motivating energies of the Novel, while creating a story so contemporary and fresh that it unfolds like the intimate journal of our own lives.

©2011 Jeffrey Eugenides (P)2011 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“The sound of silk drawn across fine-grain sandpaper best describes David Pittu's voice in THE MARRIAGE PLOT, by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jeffrey Eugenides...The talented Pittu rises to the occasion of this challenging work, rewarding the listener with a sense of satisfaction reserved for great works of literature.”—AudioFile magazine, An Earphones Award Winner

“David Pittu brilliantly narrates this audio version of Eugenides' complex novel, whether he's rattling off quotes from Jacques Derrida and Roland Barthes or creating unique voices for the book's many characters. Among the standouts are his renditions of the slow and reflective Mitchell and Thurston, the star of the semiotics seminar who speaks in a falsely laconic and disinterested fashion to impress his classmates and professor… [Pittu] never runs out of voices for this large, global cast. The result is one of the best audiobooks of the year.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“No one's more adept at channeling teenage angst than Jeffrey Eugenides. Not even J. D. Salinger . . . It's in mapping Mitchell's search for some sort of belief that might fill the spiritual hole in his heart and Madeleine's search for a way to turn her passion for literature into a vocation that this novel is at its most affecting, reminding us with uncommon understanding what it is to be young and idealistic, in pursuit of true love and in love with books and ideas.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“This is a story about being young and bright and lost, a story Americans have been telling since Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. Our exceptionally well-read but largely untested graduates still wonder: How should I live my life? What can I really believe in? Whom should I love? Literature has provided a wide range of answers to those questions—Lose Lady Brett! Give up on Daisy! Go with Team Edward!—but in the end, novels aren't really very good guidebooks. Instead, they're a chance to exercise our moral imagination, and this one provides an exceptionally witty and poignant workout.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post

A Great Deal More Than Meets The Eye

I repeatedly disregarded this selection, worried it would be a trite romance story that would have little to engage me. I was wrong.

The year is 1982, and three young people are graduating from Brown University. They have qualities that are often found in young graduates; very sure of their own opinions, very proud of their own intellect, and perhaps a bit unaware of their own self-indulgence. Most of us have been there; it's easy for the world to appear "black and white" when you're young.

For me, this book was a beautiful, smart, and effective novel of how people transition from those qualities, to adults that better understand the difficult, complicated realities of the "real world". The story is everything the characters are not; it's self aware, humble, and honest. It took situations that are often glossed over or romanticized, and instead presented them in realistic terms; addressing mental illness, poverty, and the unexpected consequences that so often follow rash decisions. It was refreshing to see these presented as they really are.

This could sound like a depressing topic; but the book was far from it. It was funny, sensitive, and insightful. The story begins at Brown, but travels to France, Monaco, Greece, and India. The unique way the narrative moves backwards and forwards in time highlighted how often we work off of partial information; having you form one opinion of an event, only to go back later and provide more information that may make you re-think your opinion.

I loved this book. For me, it's one of those novels that makes it hard to pick the next book, because you don't want another one - you want more of this story, of these people. I'm so glad I finally gave it a chance.

Fantastic Comtemporary Twist on the Marriage Plot

If you could sum up The Marriage Plot in three words, what would they be?

Expectant. Youthful. Attraction.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Marriage Plot?

The description of the the alums lining up on graduation day reminded me of my daughter's graduation from a similar school. One old alum is described in Madeline's mind as a 'bog person" and it made me laugh out loud. Since I attended college during this exact time period, the book felt very nostalgic. I think he captured the era, the late 70's early 80's perfectly.

What about David Pittu’s performance did you like?

I adore David Pittu. I avoided reading this book due to the mediocre reviews it received. What a shame! Yet, I loved David Pittu's reading of the Goldfinch SO MUCH, I decided to try this one just because I enjoy him so much. He reads Northeastern charachters so well and I enjoy his interpretation of women more than so many other male readers. I love Mitchell's voice and Madeline's mother.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"What if Mr.Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett really weren't meant for each other after all..."

Any additional comments?

I loved this book. I loved it more than Middlesex. I think many of the tepid reviews are a result of intellectual jealousy and bias. I found this book to be incredibly thought provoking and the author's ability to convey the inner turmoil and intellectual struggles of young, newly graduated twenty somethings was moving and something I found myself remembering about my own post graduate experience. I am an amateur Victorianist myself and great lover of Jane Austen, Eliot and Trollope. This novel is perfectly constructed as a 'marriage plot" novel. It reminded me at times of Middlemarch. The twist comes at the end and is quite real and very human. I also loved the refreshing exploration of spirituality the character Mitchell indulges in. It was not gratuitous in the least. I really did enjoy this book and listened to it in two sittings.

I loved this book!

I have enjoyed other books by this author and this one did not disappoint. It is a well constructed plot with sympathetic, complex characters and refreshingly different than any fiction I've read recently. And well narrated too.

Surprising

Don't let the title fool you. There is so much depth and many layers to this book.

It's a true 5 star book

Where does The Marriage Plot rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This book is at the top of my list

Who was your favorite character and why?

Mitchell - he had the most to learn

Which character – as performed by David Pittu – was your favorite?

Mitchell

Who was the most memorable character of The Marriage Plot and why?

Leonard and his manic depression was extraordinary

Any additional comments?

I loved this book - kept my attention each and every minute.

realistic

I enjoyed listening to this book probably because I am living a little bit of this story with my 3 adult children right now. Eugenides describes them and their peers to a tee, their lifestyle, their behaviors, their beliefs that by being privledged and intellectual they have somehow reinvented life, love, sex, relationships, marriage, work, etc..... I think he did a great job of updating the marriage plot and I was neither bored nor disapointed. This is not, Middlesex, but it has its own merits and I think he succeeds.

reframing marriage plot, post industrial, post mdn

Like one of the 19th Brit masterpieces centered on the marriage plot, you can get lost in this listen just through the characters, story and gentle social comedy of manners; however, instead of examining an ISSUE through its plot, it's a bit Orlando-like in examining the state of narrative fiction (post-post modern in disguise?).

Though set in the 1980s, it seems really to be about narrative fiction today, much like the traditional masterpiece referents were often written slightly out of the timeframe they address. I rated it overall as a only 4 star listen because I did not think the narrator the best voice for all three major characters, and at my age, narrative fiction (even at its best) about 20th century 20- something Ivy Leaguers, WASP and otherwise, is not my first choice of subject matter.

Long live the novel, and the marriage plot, however they emerge in western postindustrial, post modern society. Both are worth the journey in this listen.

Feels like a book you'd read in school

The Marriage Plot is an easy read. It's one of those books though that reminds me of something you would read in school. Filled with symbolically significant bits that reflect on each character, the book takes on, at least for me, a very scholastic demeanour.

If you like a plot-centred book, this might not be for you. There is a lot of character development but action is slow. Too slow, at times...

Still, an enjoyable listen and an interesting portrayal on how marriage and sexuality is dealt with these days.

Forgettable

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Not really. None of the characters was all that memorable. I didn't identify with anyone or root for them. I kept listening wanting it to blossom into something. But it didn't.

Would you be willing to try another book from Jeffrey Eugenides? Why or why not?

I loved MIDDLESEX.

Any additional comments?

Literally, I can't remember any scenes as my favorites because it all seemed so forgettable.

No puede compararse con Middlesex, pero engancha

Would you listen to The Marriage Plot again? Why?

Aunque está bien, no, no es para escucharlo dos veces.

What did you like best about this story?

Me gustó la frescura de los tres personajes principales. La descripción del paso de la adolescencia al mundo de los adultos.

What does David Pittu bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Sus voces son buenas, y su pronunciación del inglés fantástica :) Yo estoy aprendiendo y me gustó.