Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman Review

Book Summary

Eleanor Oliphant has learned how to survive – but not how to live

Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend.
Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything.

One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself. Now she must learn how to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted – while searching for the courage to face the dark corners she’s avoided all her life.

Change can be good. Change can be bad. But surely any change is better than… fine?

My Thoughts

I was fine, perfectly fine on my own, but I needed to keep Mummy happy, keep her calm so she would leave me in peace. A boyfriend - a husband? - might just do the trick. It wasn't that I needed anyone. I was, as previously stated, perfectly fine. 

We were introduced to this book with Eleanor doing her usual day. Her boring simple life as back-office employee who spends her Monday to Friday, eight-thirty to five-thirty doing her usual work. On weekend, she will spend alone with the company of one or two bottles of vodka waiting Monday to arrive. She has regular fifteen minutes phone-call with her mommy on Wednesday night. She doesn't know her father and doesn't have friend to share her life or just chit-chat through phone. She just completely alone in this world.

To some extent, I could totally understand her thoughts. Gail Honeyman is doing a great job bringing Eleanor as the main character. Eleanor is rarely thinking about her feeling. I feel sad and funny watching her struggle in the social life. For some time, I've been wondering how Eleanor's life will turn out throughout this book.

You don't miss what you've never had. 

This is a unique book. The story just flowing itself. It presented trough Eleanor's daily life, we only follow her day to day basis until I was realizing myself the story has brought us into the very deep level of Eleanor's life. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is kind of funny book, yet behind of those funny scenes, you understand there's a thick layer of sadness.


My personal favorite phrase that summarizes my own real-life struggle:

I would need to consider the risk/reward ratio carefully. Would the increase in salary compensate adequately for the increased amount of tedious administration work I'd be required to undertake, the augmented levels of responsibility for the successful functioning of the office and, worse still, for the significantly increased degree of interaction that I'd need to undertake with my colleagues? 

My rating for Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is 4 out of 5 stars.