Revolutionary Road

Read May 2009.
Photo courtesy Wikipedia.


The Scoop: First novel for Richard Yates (US). Published by Greenwood Press in 1961, adapted for film in 2008 (director Sam Mendes). Finalist for 1962 National Book Award, chosen by Time in the top 100 English-language novels from 1923-present.

The Ingredients: April and Frank Wheeler, a young married couple with kids, live a seemingly pleasant 1950s suburban life. Deal with work and the household, loneliness and friendship, disillusionment and pleasure, love/lust and lack thereof. Mistakes and life-changing decisions are made; relationships are forged (forced or otherwise); and minds, hearts, and spirits evolve and/or are broken.

Serves: Adult audience due to mature content including abortion, adultery, some strong language.

Part One, Chapter One: "The final dying sounds of their dress rehearsal left the Laurel Players with nothing to do but stand there, silent and helpless, blinking out over the footlights of an empty auditorium." [4/5 Creates quite a detailed image in one's mind.]

Result: I read this book because the movie (starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet) got such rave reviews. However, as I can see the value in this novel, the pace was a bit too slow for me (I found myself easily distracted from the text, and often had to reread passages to remember what was going on or try to absorb it) and I had trouble relating to the characters and issues at hand, which I feel has much to do with the 1950s setting and my lack of life experiences, one could say (for example, being married, raising children, the struggles both of those involve, etc.) I found the value in Yates' use of language in illustration, his solid character development, and ability to tie everything together in mood. Yates has been noted as saying, "If my work has a theme, I suspect it is a simple one: that most human beings are inescapably alone, and therein lies their tragedy," and this is definitely evident in Revolutionary Road, which can make it quite a depressing read. So clearly, if you want light-hearted reading with an uplifting message, this is not the book for you. After reading, I am still interested in viewing the film, not for the plot, but more in how they managed to portray and capture all the intricacies of the characters, their relationships, and secrets, and in a limited length of time. [3/5 Solid example of good classic writing, but not the easiest/most enjoyable to get through. But I might have to give it another chance later in my life.]