E+P 2

Eleanor & Park: Pages 115-219

Even though author Rainbow Rowell’s prose gets to be a bit arduous at this point (I frankly dislike the alternating voice thing; it becomes tedious), we are definitely in the thick of the plot at this point. I wouldn’t have to point this out if I didn’t find it to be turtle-paced for so much! I guess some aspects definitely pay off easily. For instance, all of the talk of Eleanor’s physical atrophies gets so annoying to read. However, the big fight between Steve and Park, where we finally get to see these Kung Fu skills that we were promised since the beginning. I get that this book isn’t really trying to accomplish that, but I find Rowell’s degrading of Eleanor to be far from endearing. Sure, it is nice to see her character blossom, but the way her physical and emotional instability is described with each stanza simply makes me dislike her, in turn. I know that may sound shallow, but I feel like it could’ve been handled much better by addressing her appearance in the exposition, and not having to mention how much she looks like a grandfather one-hundred and fifty pages in. Honestly, the fight posed the first tasteful dilemna in the story so far.

The part where Eleanor sneaks over to Gil’s was a highlight of this section for me as well! In my own life, something I have always been rather scared of having to do is a police call. It causes so much drama, and if she already feels that her stepfather is a sketchy man, this instigating could put her in far more places of terror than it actually does (so far, at least!) Also, the corniness I discussed in their solely emotional relationship lets up a bit. You can start to tell Park is looking past her physical and economic flaws when it describes him swooning over her at the end of the passage.