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Original poster

Elinor Oliphant is my favourite book ever. What next?

160 replies

thisisnothow · 09/01/2019 06:57

Just finished it and loved Elinor. Don't what to read next but missing a good book. Recommendations please!

OP posts:
alphajuliet123 · 09/01/2019 21:50

Why is everyone spelling this 'Elinor'? Is there a different version with that spelling?

I asked the same question but can't find a copy with it spelled Elinor (I thought maybe it might have been an overseas version). It says Eleanor on every other page not to mention the front cover!

nicoala1 · 09/01/2019 21:52

There is just one book that I read in 2018 that I was SO sad to finish because it was so engrossing, funny, sad, and many other things besides.....

"The Hearts Invisible Furies" by John Boyne. You can thank me when you read it. And please do.

DropZoneOne · 09/01/2019 22:44

Boy made of blocks made me weep at the end. Proper big sobs. Not sure that was quite what the author was aiming for!

Did Gavin Extence write Jonathon Fairfax? I liked that, easy to read and made me laugh. The follow up wasn't as strong IMO.

Another vote for Rosie Project. The map of us is similar.

Interested in this thread?

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Books
U2HasTheEdge · 09/01/2019 22:46

Why is everyone spelling this 'Elinor'? Is there a different version with that spelling?

It says Eleanor on every other page not to mention the front cover!

It has been a while since I read it, I didn't even think about it. Just read OP's title and copied her spelling of it without even thinking.

scissorsandpen · 09/01/2019 23:06

Tattooist of Austwich so moving too

Proseccoagain · 09/01/2019 23:16

I thought Eleanor had ASD as well, but DD disagreed with me.

dombeyandson · 09/01/2019 23:17

No Further Questions by Gillian Mcallister. Heartbreaking and heart making.

chardonm · 09/01/2019 23:22

The Rosie project!

Shopaholiccmum · 10/01/2019 07:23

Lethal White by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) because I'm a fan of crime and thriller. Wink

BlimeyCalmDown · 10/01/2019 07:24

ot quite excited by this thread as I'd just bought Eleanor. On pg 77 and much better than thought. Not too light, thought it might be by comments here, plenty darkness with comedic twists for me :)

Noobmum1 · 10/01/2019 07:42

This reply has been deleted

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Toughtips · 10/01/2019 07:48

Eleanor is completely shite.

I can usually whiz through a good book. Got half way through this and put it down. Won't be picking it back up.

IHeartKingThistle · 10/01/2019 08:25

To those picking apart the character like 'she says this but she does this', you have heard of the concept of the unreliable narrator, surely? We're not supposed to buy into everything she tells us.

Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird tells us that Atticus is old and feeble. We don't believe her because she's an unreliable narrator and we're not supposed to. But no one's calling Mockingbird a pile of shite.

glamorousgrandmother · 10/01/2019 08:30

Iheartkingthistle
Exactly - the unreliable narrator. That's why I recommended Three Things About Elsie which has a similar basis. Girl on a Train is a bit like this too. (The film is quite different apparently)

NicolaStart · 10/01/2019 08:42

Little Fires Everywhere , Celeste Ng

Whisky2014 · 10/01/2019 08:46

iheartkingthistle yep but "To kill a mockingbird" is actually good.

brassbrass · 10/01/2019 09:15

No way you can compare mockingbird with Eleanor. They are leagues apart!Shock

Whisky2014 · 10/01/2019 09:23

Agreed!

ShatnersWig · 10/01/2019 09:29

IHeart Scout is a child. Most children regard a middle aged man as old! Last night on TV a small child guessed Bradley Walsh's age as over 70! So, not unreliable so much as being a typical child.

PleaseLetMummySleep · 10/01/2019 09:33

Roar - Cecelia ahern

Everything I know about love - dolly Alderton

IHeartKingThistle · 10/01/2019 09:36

I'm not comparing the books! But an unreliable narrator can manifest itself in different ways and for different reasons. We're not supposed to take everything Eleanor says at face value, that's my point. So picking apart the fact that she says she likes bland food but eats wasabi peas is irrelevant, is missing the point. A lot of the pathos comes from the fact that we can see her misconceptions, her contradictions and the things she doesn't understand. The Curious Incident does the same thing only more obviously.

But if you just read my post as saying that Eleanor Oliphant is as good as Mockingbird then you'll probably keep missing the point!

brassbrass · 10/01/2019 09:41

Don't be patronising. It was a try hard book. You wanted to give an example of an unreliable narrator and the first example you came up with was Scout?

I think you're missing the point Grin

Aworldofmyown · 10/01/2019 09:43

I have just read 'The Tattooist of Auswitz' and "The Woman in the window' both very good.

Currently halfway through "Little Fires Everywhere' which I am very much enjoying.

Aworldofmyown · 10/01/2019 09:46

I also enjoyed 'The Colour of Bee Larkhams Murder'

IHeartKingThistle · 10/01/2019 09:47

Well that was the example that came into my head, yeah. It's the same literary technique.

I'm not trying to be patronising, I just thought a couple of PPs were being WAY too literal when they were picking stuff apart. It's fairly obvious to me that we're not supposed to believe everything she says, even if she does.

I thought it was a good book. I don't mind if it tries hard! But each to their own!