Ottessa Moshfegh
Ottessa Moshfegh is a brilliant and incredibly talented novelist who has written so many of what are known today as literary masterpieces. Her works have become subject to compulsive scrutiny and reviewing because of her preferred style of narration and use of the language as a tool to put across her message. Eileen is a perfect example of her contemporary style of writing that people continue to marvel about. It is a captivating story that takes the audience on a whirlwind journey of the life of the protagonist, who is a woman living in the early sixties. Eileen Dunlop is a 75-year-old who narrates how she navigates the world in her twenties, a time with limited freedom and rights for women.
Criticisms of the literary masterpiece do not come as a surprise considering the novel won several nominations and awards. Sandra Newman describes the book as courageous. According to her, Eileen is a rather dull character whose suppressed nature does not allow her to participate in other people’s lives. The portrayal of Eileen as a bleak and oddly unhinged character made her build up all the more enjoyable. Sandra proceeds to acknowledge the introduction of Rebecca, another of the characters who helps change the pace. She applauds Ottessa for giving Eileen the ability to so convincingly bring the audience to a state where they can put themselves in the narrator’s shoes and ‘experience’ what she goes through. “The ocean beyond like a canyon of woe tumbling and icy all day and night was so thunderous; I pictured God Himself emerging from the water, and laughing at us all.” One could imagine the kind of depression going through Eileen’s mind at the time. She also notes that the novel is a floundering attempt at a thriller. According to Sandra, the promise of crime is quickly replaced with a psychological analysis of Eileen. I tend to disagree with this particular notion because there is no development of other characters beyond a single dimension. It, therefore, gave the author leeway to develop the protagonist in any specific direction and allow the novel not to be solely a crime novel.
Lydia Kiesling is most astounded by the pace of the novel and finds it utterly compelling. She sees Eileen as a casual delivery of one of the most outrageous deviations of humanity. Eileen is a sociopath, which I agree with. The portrayal of perversion throughout the novel not only gives me chills, but how it is so casually described makes me believe the previous statement all the more. According to Kiesling, Eileen is almost as unbelievable as a character. She feels like the buildup was towards an unraveling rather than what happened. I tend to disagree with this because the twist of events was a rather welcome ending to the narrative. The author’s use of literary freedom is rather refreshing and keeps readers on their toes at all times. She finds Eileen to be rather disgusting, which would be very hard for anyone to disagree with. She continually describes how she touched herself and failed to wash her hands on numerous occasions. She finds Eileen rather merciless and drawn to ridicule, especially when describing anyone other than herself. Kiesling harshly criticizes the novel for being repetitive and concentrating on the ugly for too long. In all fairness, the narrative crosses the thin line between humanity and inhumanity.
All in all, the novel is marveled to be one an excellent contemporary expression of literature and continues to capture its audience time and again.