14. Somebody to Love

The book:  Eleanor & Park
The author:  Rainbow Rowell
The rating:  3.5 stars

My mother always has had one rule for love, and it's this:  never be in a relationship that you need to be in.  If they can't live without you, it's not love.  Love is not wanting to live without them.

I'll admit, my expectations for Eleanor & Park were a mixed bag.  On one hand, I've heard such rave reviews, the novel has been lauded by all sorts of critics and won all sorts of awards.... on the other, I've always found contemporary fiction romances, with few exceptions, to be infinitely more formulaic than any dystopia.  Boy meets girl.  Boy and girl fall deeply and profusely in love.  Tragedy strikes, but there has never been any love stronger than that of boy and girl, even though they are teenagers and have only known each other for months/weeks/days.

In a way, Eleanor & Park proved all my expectations true, despite their contradictory nature.  Eleanor & Park has a plot that runs deeper than the romance, and Eleanor's situation and struggle is harsh, poignant, and real.  The juxtaposition of the lives of Park and Eleanor is the novel's greatest strength, bringing light to that which simmers beneath the surface of the people who surround us in our own lives.  In addition, the choice of a 1986 setting is inspired, and it creates a world that is the same but different, just a twist away from today.  Walkmen and music, fashion and communication... 1986 is the perfect distance into the past to create something unique.

But the romance... as much as Eleanor & Park tries to play with and mock the 'love at first sight' trope, disparaging Romeo and Juliet as too-quick lust, when it comes down to it, Eleanor & Park takes the same route.  Maybe its my mother's well-intentioned advice that has spoiled romance novels for me, but what Eleanor and Park have does not feel like love.  It feels like fear and desperation.  I don't like you, says Park.  I need you.  Eleanor doesn't like him, she thinks she lives for him.  This isn't healthy... this isn't love, and honestly, it left me more creeped out than swooning over their star-crossed relationship.

I suppose an old pattern has been proven true once more:  only John Green can make me fall in love with a contemporary romance.  Eleanor & Park was enjoyable enough, but I doubt I'll be picking up other of Rowell's efforts in the future.