Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

"When people ask me what I do - taxi drivers, dental hygienists - I tell them I work in an office. In almost nine years, no one's ever asked me what kind of office, or what sort of job I do there. I can't decide whether that's because I fit perfectly with their idea of what an office worker looks like, or whether people hear the phrase "work in an office" and automatically fill in the blanks themselves - lady doing photocopying, man tapping at a keyboard. I'm not complaining. I'm delighted that I don't have to get into the fascinating intricacies of accounts receivable with them."

This is the story of Eleanor Oliphant, a 31 year-old woman who lives a lonely life. She goes through the same routine everyday, wears the same clothes, eats the same food, drowns her denial and despair in the same vodka every weekend and has convinced herself that she is "fine". 

On one extremely rare outing at a pub gig she develops a life-altering crush on the singer and decides to make some changes in her appearance and stalk him - innocuously - online to win his heart. On her way to indubitable success with this pursuit, she meets Raymond, the IT guy in her office, who irks our heroin with his countless repulsive habits, such as smoking profusely and chewing audibly, and together they save Sammy, an elderly man who collapsed on the street.

The story isn't centered as much around her secret crush on the singer, who she believes will bring her much desired happiness and end her solitude, rather than driven from her small changes and her tentative attempts to reach out to other people for the very first time in her life. An unlikely, yet beautiful friendship burgeons between her and Raymond and with his help she takes the first step towards facing the horrific ghosts of her past. The pursuit of the singer, eventually and very painfully, becomes the pursuit of Eleanor's elusive happiness. 

Poignant themes of loneliness, depression, trauma, neglect, kindness and friendship are portrayed in a sincere, refreshing and droll manner through Eleanor's unique and endearing perspective and we find ourselves rooting ardently for this character, who we would probably ignore or scorn in real life. This character, who could be anyone of us, wearing the "I'm fine" demeanor daily and letting solitude run its corrosive course, simply because she doesn't know how to reach out. Gail Honeyman challenges the readers to overlook a sullen, alienated, odd exterior and perform small acts of kindness that can go a very long way, indeed.

My ratings:

Plot: 3/5

Conclusion: 4/5

Characters: 5/5

Movie Potential: 5/5

'Who should play them in the movie' :

Daisy Ridley as Eleanor Oliphant




 

Seth Rogen as Raymond Gibbons

Do you agree with my casting? 

Please leave your own suggestions below in the comments.