Eleanor and Park: Original Review

Rainbow Rowell made her first appearance for Orion Fiction in late 2011, releasing the wonderfully offbeat, romantic-comedy Attachments. Listed as one of Kirkus’ outstanding debuts of 2011, Rowell soon established her role within young-contemporary literature, attracting the attention of many celebrated authors, notorious tabloids and an abundance of passionate Amazon users.  In 2013, Rowell published a further two young-adult novels; one of which being Eleanor and Park.

Behind the cliché of its “romantic-comedy” label, Eleanor and Park realises deeper issues within 1980’s America. The story follows both Park; a second generation Korean despairingly fond of eyeliner, and Eleanor; a somewhat chubby red-head whom can only be described as eclectic. The two misfits tell the account of their teenage years- which, similar to other rebelling teenagers, involves a rather large dose of love and humour.

The book is a new take on an old tale. Although many aspects the plot encounters are new and taboo for the books period, they are now much more acknowledged and understood. It is this insight the book provides that makes it so possible to empathise, even sympathise, with Eleanor and Park. The book openly approaches topics such as domestic violence, bullying, poverty, and how it feels to be in an ethnic minority, as well as just being different.

As for adhering to genetic genre conventions, Rowell does not follow the usual pattern of boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love under mildly amusing circumstances, and boy and girl live happily ever after, but opts to create a more realistic formation of the relationship. To begin with, Park sees Eleanor as everyone else does- large, strange and out of place. However, much to Park’s initial dismay, the two ends up sitting next to each other on the school bus- thus begins Eleanor’s “wearing down” of Park.

Rowell also narrates the book from both perspectives, whereas most rom-coms tend to be voiced from the female’s view-point. This insight as to how Park feels gives the reader greater understanding of their relationship- making them root for the characters more as well as providing a deeper sense of escapism. Most romantic comedies, admittedly more so in films, do not have such an ability to remove the reader from their everyday lives.

Eleanor and Park offers a similar form of satire, quite often self-deprecating humour that is somewhat counterbalanced by the hope between Eleanor and Park. The plot, more so than the writing style, could be likened to that of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and We Were Liars.  

I think the reason I, as so many others, enjoyed this book is because of the dismal setting such a heart-warming story takes place. The book appreciates the brutality of the “real world,” while making the reader very aware that the characters still find a spark of hope and safety within each other. Regardless of what I thought to be an unfulfilled ending, the story and characters more than make up for it- giving the reader a look into another life at another time.