Revolutionary Road

There is nothing more human then the raw emotional validity experienced when reading `Revolutionary Road'; a novel so steeped in what makes us a society you almost forget your reading a work of fiction on not the monologues of your own existence.The novel introduces us to Frank and April Wheeler, a young family living in Connecticut in the mid-1950s. Frank works an office job he loathes and doesn't even completely understand, but the pay is good and that makes up for it. April, once a free spirit, has become trapped in her suburban life with children she didn't plan on having and friends she can't remember liking to begin with. Both Frank and April are living the American Dream, but that `dream' is not their own but the one forced on them by the consensus of society. It's what everyone around them aspires to for reasons they can't even finger. The apathy and frustration brought on by this unhappiness has begun to fray their marriage and so when we meet the Wheelers they are really at their breaking points. In fact the first few pages bring about an explosive and violent argument that sets the tone for the rest of the novel.`Revolutionary Road' is the type of story that reaches to the pit of a person because it is so real and so believable that you find yourself instantly relating to the premise. No relationship is perfect or `holy' and so when you read of the Wheeler's problems and concerns you realize that many of them are your own. Their regrets and longings can be found in many of us and so that helps make this novel all the more `important'.At times `Revolutionary Road' can read like a black comedy for there are many details that play quite humorous, but like I've seen in novels like Tom Perrotta's `Little Children', it's the humor that ends up being the most heart breaking. Most of life's humor is just a mask to hide the pain and frustration of reality.As Frank and April tackle the decision to pick up and leave this life behind, escape to a life that is better suited to their own dreams they find that this life is not so easy to leave behind. As much at it repels them it refuses to let them escape and they find themselves enslaved to it in a way, prisoners of their own existence. No one they talk to understands their motives for leaving everything behind. They look at them like they are crazy; but most of these reactions are selfish in themselves. As Frank and April seclude themselves their relationship becomes misleading as they appear to draw closer to one another; but unhappiness always leads to bitterness, and bitterness can only be masked for so long before it bares itself in disastrous ways.The ending of `Revolutionary Road' is as stunning as it is horrific, as fitting as it is unmercifully unjust. It will leave you speechless yet elicit much debatable conversation.What makes truly great literature is the ability to connect with a person, and Richard Yates obviously understood that. `Revolutionary Road' borrows beneath the skin and exposes our deepest darkest secrets. It becomes a part of us, or we become a part of it; and that, my friends, is what a remarkable treat.

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates is an easy book to read, but a difficult book to review. With effortlessly beautiful writing and incredibly vivid characters, this book sucks you into the world of 1960s suburbia with all of its subtleties and quiet dramas. It is, in fact, the skill with which Yates develops his characters that makes this book so difficult to review and to completely enjoy.Revolutionary Road is the picture of perfect character-building. From the very first chapter, the use of dialogue and short, clear passages of description give the reader an incredibly strong sense of who Frank and April Wheeler really are. Right away, I felt like I knew these characters, like I had met them a thousand times before. While this is itself a rare accomplishment, Yates takes this book to the next level by subverting the reader's first perceptions of the characters. By slowly adding chapters from the perspective of characters other than Frank, Yates gives the reader a different angle on Frank's character, his marriage to April, and his relationship with his neighbors and friends. Slowly, the reader discovers more depth to both April and Frank's already round characters, and not everything that is discovered is flattering.It is this evolution of the reader's perception of the characters that makes this book so difficult to review or even completely enjoy. The truth is that there is one character who I absolutely hated more than I have hated any other character in any book, and possibly more than I've hated anyone in real life. I spent the whole book torn between wanting to know what happened next and wanting to throw the book across the room out of sheer anger and frustration with that character. In short, I wanted him to die in a fire. While I'll admit that it takes incredible skill to make a character so believably unlikable, and while I understand that the absolute horribleness of that character was crucial to the theme and plot, it also makes the book difficult to enjoy, or at least it did for me. I'm usually ok with unlikable characters, but this one hurt and frightened me on a deep emotional level, possibly because he was so real. Maybe I'm particularly sensitive to portrayals of spousal abuse and manipulation, but there were times when I considered just not finishing it, even though the writing was incredible. If it hadn't been required reading for a class, I might not have. That has never happened to me before, and I honestly don't know what to make of it.To be honest with you, I still don't know how I feel about this book. The writing was beautiful, easy to read, and incredibly enjoyable. The characterization was among the best I've ever seen. But, despite those two amazing qualities, that one character and all the horrible things he did to another character made reading this book difficult. Because of that difficulty, I cannot recommend this book to wholeheartedly. While I think that a lot of people would greatly enjoy it, there are people I know who would find this book too disturbing and emotionally intense, and because of that I cannot recommend it to everyone. If you don't mind reading a book that has abuse, manipulation, and a seriously messed up character in it, then I would recommend this book as one of the best examples of writing and characterization I have ever read. If you think reading about those things would bother you, then you should definitely skip Revolutionary Road.Rating: 4 stars?Trigger warning for domestic abuse and emotional manipulation.

I don't read much, but I really enjoyed this book. read it before the film was made.

A perfect example why you should live by your own rules. Fulfilling society's expectations isn't the key to success, let alone your personal happiness. People who judge you in the end don't really care about you. So it's better to succeed or even fail on your own terms.As a quote from the book: Nobody thinks or feels or cares anymore; nobody gets excited or believes in anything except their own comfortable mediocrity.Words to really think about.

Als ich mit der Lektüre von Richard Yates erstem und berühmtesten Roman begonnen habe, dachte ich, eine Schilderung des amerikanischen Mittelstandes in 50er Jahre würde mich erwarten. Daß die Handlung in und in der Nähe von New York spielt, erhöhte für mich den Reiz noch mehr - war dies doch einer der spannendsten Abschnitte der Musik u. Literatur im 20. Jahrhundert.Meine Erwartungen wurden nicht nur erfüllt, sondern um ein Vielfaches übertroffen. Sicher, der Roman spielt in den 50ern, aber die wirklich zentralen Themen des Werkes sind zeitlos. Das Ehepaar Wheeler lebt in einem Vorort von New York, in die sich diejenigen zurückziehen, die nicht wohlhaben genug für ein Leben in Manhatten oder weit draußen auf einem "Landsitz" sind. Dementsprechend langweilig und steril ist das Leben dort. Nachbarn stehen in einem ständigen Konkurrenzkampf um das größte Ansehen, das sie auf lächerliche Art z.B. durch Schilder am Haus mit Inschriften wie "The Millers" erlangen wollen.Frank Wheeler und seine Frau April haben zwei kleine Kinder, ein in den Augen der Immobilienmaklerin (Mrs. Givings) eher schäbiges Haus (Anwesen). Frank fährt täglich nach New York, um einen durch und druch langweiligen Job auszuüben - in der Knox Company. Er schaltet sein Hirn um 9 Uhr ab und um 17 Uhr wieder an. Zu tun hat er kaum etwas - er fällt nicht auf und vegetiert ilusionslos vor sich hin. Das für ihn aufregendste an seinem Job ist die Affaire mit einer arglosen Sekretärin. Sein Frau lebt das monotone Leben einer Vorstadt-Mutter. Ihr Versuch, durch die Teilnahme an einer Laienschauspielgruppe etwas Farbe in ihr Leben zu bringen endet in einem Fiasko. Ihr Resignation ist allerdings nicht so starr wie die ihres Mannes. Sie schlägt Frank einen radikalen Wandel ihres gemeinsamen Lebens vor: Die gesamte Familie soll nach Frankreich auswandern und sie verdient Geld als Sekretärin - Frank soll sich Zeit nehmen und herausfinden, was ihn wirklich interessiert. Frank stimmt diesem Angebot zögernd zu und die beiden leiten alles in die wege, um das "Aussteigen" zu schaffen.Ab hier beginnt das eigentlich Drama des Romans. Die Umwelt reagiert befremdend - nur der in der Psychiatrie lebende Sohn der unsäglich seichten Maklerin Mrs. Givings zollt Annerkennung. Nach und nach gerät der Traum ins Wanken - bis er schließlich aufrund einer ungewollten Schwangerschaft komplett kippt.Viel wurde darüber geredet, daß Yates einer der großen Realisten in der amerikanischen Literatur sei. Sinn und Unsinn dieser Annahme erörtert Richard Ford in seinem sehr fachkundigen und interessanten Vorwort zu dieser Augabe. Sicher haben viele Vertreter dieser Literaturform von Yates gelernt (zuletzt sehr deutlich Jonathan Franzen in seinen "The Corrections"). Die Hauptfiguren sind vielschichtig und lebensecht. Gerade der Weg der beiden Eheleute heraus aus der Leere und einem unendlich langweiligen Dasein läßt den Leser mitfiebern und es gibt viele Gelegenheiten, in denen der Roman dem Leser Reflektionsflächen bietet. Diese Art von Realismus ist tatsächlich sehr wirkungsvoll, und das Buch bietet weitaus mehr als nur einen gekonnten Umgang mit Sprache und Plot - Figuren aus Fleisch und Blut, die einen (zumindest mich) lange nicht loslassen.Ein aufwühlendes Buch, voll sprachlicher Eleganz und Direktheit, satirischem Witz (überspitzte Ausgestaltung der Nebenfiguren) und einem spannenden und überraschenden Verlauf.

interesting story

A++