Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

I loved this book. I like quirky characters who fight their way to their own normal – not society’s normal. I can get a bit like Eleanor, and I didn’t have her horrific life traumas to endure. we all have a right to be ourselves – Eleanor just needed to adjust and learn to play nice with everyone. It was Interesting to start off seeing the world around her from Eleanor’s very narrow, intolerant, stand-offish perspective, then realize that with a little understanding a few olive leafs here and there, Eleanor could be induced to find her own place in the world. Loved this book and the positive message behind it. If we all band together and show some tolerance, those who feel marginalized can find their own place.

(This is more of a Book Talk than a review)

Eleanor Oliphant is a young woman, just turning thirty. Since college, she’s worked at the same job, lives alone, values routine drinks 2L of vodka each weekend, and has no friends. Eleanor is okay with that – except that she’s not. Revealed with each new page is the painful depth of her loneliness. Yes, she is alive, but she is not living.

She is content to go living her empty existence until two events change everything. First, she finds the man of her dreams. Second, she and a colleague end up saving a man they see collapse on the street.

What follows is both a sad and funny tale of a woman trying to become “normal” as she tries to attract her soulmate and as she experiences true friendship for the first time. As the story unfolds and we are exposed to the depth of trauma Eleanor has experienced, Eleanor’s quirkiness shows us how the life she has built was out of necessity to simply make it through the day. She is a survivor. Eleanor is Eleanor because the fear of any more emotional pain is too much to handle. But as more time passes, Eleanor realizes she can take steps to move on from her past and that only by opening her heart can she truly begin to heal.

If you enjoy books that take you deep into the protagonist’s psyche, I recommend this book. It reveals the complexity of the human mind as it tries to process deep trauma. Her literal perspective on social behavior reveals a commentary of how social interaction is a convoluted dance encompassing actions that are sometimes illogical (e.g., laughing at a joke you don’t find funny).

While Eleanor at first seems naïve and judgmental, she is actually strong and resilient. You can’t help but root for her.

I read this in my Book Club. Eleanor is an unusual leading character. At first I found her annoying and weird, and then as you learn her story, she becomes sympathetic and endearing. She is worth reading about.

Oh wow. Eleanor is most definitely not fine. Eleanor is one of the most socially awkward characters I have had the pleasure of reading, but she was so endearing. The amount of secondhand embarassment I felt was overwhelming at times, but at the end I am left feeling just plain emotional. The growth that Eleanor expereinced during the course of this story was at the forefront here. At first I was thinking that it was a romance, and there are times in here that you are led to believe that is where it is going, but it is really about Eleanor.
Eleanor is alone. Always alone. She lives alone, eats alone and talks to no one outside of work. She goes to a concert and sees a singer that she feels drawn to and instantly thinks “this is it”. She goes about changing herself in order to meet and fall in love with this man.
Until one day she meets Raymond. The IT guy who is an unkempt smoker, but has a heart of gold. They help to save a man who has fallen and form a friendship bond. Eleanor has never had a friend. It’s the little things he does for her that just make my heart well up. My thought was that they would fall in love and it would all be great, but that isn’t what happened.
Eleanor has so much to work through, her life has been difficult and she has repressed so much from her past that she has a lot of work to do on herself before she can be ready for anything else. Raymond is the friend she needs and opens her up to worlds she never dreamed of fitting into.
I have had this book on my shelf for a while now and I knew I needed to read it. It was adorable, akward, heartbreaking and heart lifting all at the same time.

Very well written and edited, but a terrible story.
Not sure how so many people love this book and think it is “funny”. There is nothing funny about this story. At one point I actually became nauseous because of the story line. And, I didn’t want to finish the book, but kept hoping it would get better.
Some inconsistencies. How can someone who watches television nightly be so stupid about the world? Considering how she dresses and acts, why is she so demeaning of others’ looks and, it never occurs to her that she is also being judged?
This was a thoroughly depressing book. And even though the ending offers hope for Eleanor’s improvement, still a really sad book.
Also, I noticed that mostly other authors were the ones who gave it five stars on Bookbub. Actually, other authors were the majority of reviewers on Bookbub. Why is that?

Not knowing what to expect when reading this book is the best part — so no spoilers. You enter the mind and experience of a character who is suffering in a particularly unique way — and it takes a while to unravel, or for the character to unravel, what that was. Your understanding grows as Elinor learns to love and forgive herself.

Excellent! Loved this book!

A great read with a very original main character. I
enjoyed it very much!

I loved it! Could not put it down.

Loved this book. The characters were so original and unique and the vocabulary had me looking up words on every other page.