Ponder: Eleanor Oliphant

Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine ©2017 by Gail Honeyman is the author's first novel. I thoroughly enjoyed it and laughed out loud several times while reading it, even sharing real time some of the passages to my husband. Eleanor is a thirty year old single woman working in an office as a finance clerk. Reference is made early on to a mysterious scar on her face. She was raised in the foster child system. She is very much a loner with a quirky attitude about the world and a clueless view of social norms, doggedly dedicated to her Excel spreadsheets. As a reader I was amused by her foibles and attitudes while feeling sad for her lonely life – a loneliness she is aware of but considers inevitable and seems to take in stride as par for the course. Imagine going home from work on a Friday evening and having no human contact whatsoever until returning to work Monday morning. The novel is written in first person from her point of view, exposing the reader to the humor in her often sideways reasoning for her actions. In the office she is isolated, eats an unchanging lunch alone every day with her crossword puzzle, and has no-one with whom to share her feelings. Any nerds out there? Sound familiar? Can you identify to some degree? How can such a drab life spark so much chuckling in its telling? The author manages to achieve the seeming paradox with remarkable skill. This book is like A Man Called Ove (post dated 10/31/17) about a curmudgeon the reader learns to love in time. Eleanor is weird, but puzzlingly so, and my affection and empathy for her kept building. Hints accumulate, leading to understanding her better; there is an undercurrent of some childhood tragedy she'd endured.

I particularly enjoyed this passage, exemplifying her personality, where she is standing in line in front of Raymond, an IT guy from her office at branch of a café chain.

We queued, and I asked for a grande mochaccino with extra cream and hazelnut syrup. The young man asked my name."Why do you need to know my name?" I said puzzled. "We write it on your cup," he said, "so the drinks don't get mixed up." Ridiculous. "I haven't heard anyone else order and identical drink to mine, so far," I said firmly. "I'm sure I'm more than capable of identifying my chosen beverage when the time comes." He stared at me, the pen still poised in his hand. "I have to write your name on the cup," he repeated sounding firm but bored, as people in uniform are wont to do. "And I have to maintain a modicum of privacy by not sharing my given name with all and sundry in the middle of a cafeteria," I said, equally firmly. Someone further back in the queue tutted and I heard someone else mutter something that sounded like "for fuck's sake". It appeared that we had reached something of an impasse. "Fine, all right then," I said. "My name is Miss Eleanor Oliphant." He boggled at me. "I'll just put, eh, Ellie," he said, scribbling. Raymond was silent but I could feel his large shoulders and misshapen body quivering with laughter. It was his turn next. "Raoul," he said, and then spelled it out.

The book is in three parts: the first 25 chapters comprise Good Days, chapters 26 through 40 are labeled Bad Days, and the final 41st chapter is titled Better Days. When I started the Bad Days section I initially though,"Oh, no. This book was great up to now... what a bummer." In chapter 26 Eleanor muses to herself

The scalp massage at the hairdressers, the flu jab I had last winter – the only time I experience touch is from people whom I am paying, and they are almost always wearing disposable gloves at the time.

But I stuck with it. The mysteries of her scar and the background explaining the evolution of her personality are revealed. Life does improve for her, her acquaintance circle does expand, and I was glad I had persisted to envision the potential of a rosy future for Eleanor, for whom I had grown quite fond. If you loved Ove, you will love Eleanor. They both earned five stars from me.