Re-reading "The Virgin Suicides"

In the third edition of this series, I re-read Jeffrey Eugenides' 1993 novel, "The Virgin Suicides", and track the decline of suburbia through the misfortunes of a tree.

Welcome to the The Double Take, a semi-regular series in which I re-evaluate books and films that I first encountered long ago.

This year is the 30th anniversary of Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Virgin Suicides, a novel that opens itself up to multiple interpretations. Reading it reveals something new or newly relevant to the man I’ve become each time I open it up. But I hadn’t read it in a few years when this anniversary came around, so I decided now is the time.

I found I had a lot to say about this incredible book. So much that I didn’t want to cram it all into one long essay, so this week is an entry in The Double Take series, and in a fortnight, there will be an essay on one of the more controversial aspects of the novel.