The Virgin Suicides - Blog #1

"Cecilia, the youngest, only thirteen, had gone first, slitting her wrists like a Stoic while taking a bath, and when they found her, afloat in her pink pool, with the yellow eyes of someone possessed and her small body giving off the odor of a mature woman, the paramedics had been so frightened by her tranquility that they had stood mezmerized. But then Mrs. Lisbon lunged in, screaming, and the reality of the room reasserted itself: blood on the bath mat; Mr. Lisbon's razor sunk in the toilet bowl, marbling the water. The paramedics fetched Cecilia out of the warm water because it quickened the bleeding, and put a tourniquet on her arm. Her wet hair hung down her back and already her extremities were blue. She didn't say a word, but when they parted her hands they found the laminated picture of the Virgin Mary she held against her budding chest" (3-4).

This passage, found at the beginning of the novel, immediately grabbed my attention because of the vivid descriptions. The author employs various types of imagery as he describes the Cecilia incident--visual ("yellow eyes of someone possessed," "razor sunk in toilet bowl"), auditory (Mrs. Lisbon's screaming), and olfactory ("the odor of a mature woman"). He also uses similes and alliteration to add color to his writing. These explicit descriptions set a freaky mood right from the beginning of the story that carries throughout the novel. This is strange because though the book is about such a dismal and serious topic (suicide), the book doesn't necessarily have a gloomy feel but more of a freaky, bizarre mood. This makes it quite interesting to read and the uncommon point of view (a group of boys telling the story from some point in the future) gives the reader a unique reading experience.