“Eleanor was right. She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn’t supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.”
It is difficult to pull quotes from this book that don’t sound cheesy out of context. But that’s the point. Eleanor and Park are sixteen; this is their first love. This is when they understand butterflies, this is when they feel disintegration upon touch, sleepless nights, sneaking first kisses, always stumbling for words that aren’t yet there, because they never will be.
Eleanor gets on the bus, the first day of her new school and all the seats are taken. The strict hierarchy of adolescence is already in play and she is a disruption to the strict pecking order. And Park is angry with her, embarrassed for her. And he gives up his seat for her.
This is not a pretty story of boy-meets-girl. Eleanor is messy, she’s from an abusive home and much of her life revolves around surviving; at home, on the bus, at school where she is the new target for bullies. Park struggles with ideas of masculinity imposed on him by his father and he struggles with being Asian in a predominately white community.
And so this story is never pretty; it lacks closure, it closes its eyes to obvious problems and tries really, really hard to stay in the love story between Eleanor and Park. But the story can’t stay there; Eleanor has an abusive stepfather and teenage love is not forever.
I suspect many people read this and hope for a different ending. They read it and they form an obvious opinion of what the three words were – and I’ll admit that was my immediate, gut-reaction to it. As I think about it, however, I’m not Sure Eleanor would write that – that she would have healed enough in just a year to love a Park that was far away in years and in distance.
Nothing ever ends.
Just finished this and am happy to have a review to jump in on :)
I’m a parent and this book at me in knots. I had a hard time embracing the romantic aspects of the story because of the ever-present threat of the evil stepfather. I kept wanting to bring her back to my house, buy her a tooth brush, and put batteries in her walkman. And mostly, just to keep her safe.
So more than trying to stay in the love story, I struggled to stay out of the abusive stepfather story.
As for the ending – it’s hard. 16 year old’s don’t stay together forever. Eleanor has got a lot of loss and baggage to deal with. Park loves her, no doubt, but could she be ready to accept that love after a year? Maybe not. But I like to believe so. She’s lost so much already. Maybe she can keep this one, great shining thing to outweigh everything else (her childhood, innocence, Dad, Mom) she’s had taken away. We can hope anyway.
That’s such a great point; a teenager, an adult, a parent all come away with different stories from the same book. I really liked how even the parents, mostly Park’s, had different personalities and backstories that played into the story of Park and Eleanor, because when you are 16 your parents will be part of the story.
(I see that I’ve lost some of my review in publishing it?) Anyways, my point with “it never ends” was not so much that their love was eternal, but that the relationship they had would stay with them forever and be a part of who they were – even as they evolved. Another reason I am against the “I love you,” while it would be a beautiful ending it is not faithful to the story – they loved each other, but they will grow from there, as most teenage loves do.