{"id":1736,"date":"2016-05-01T19:35:46","date_gmt":"2016-05-01T19:35:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sometimesraw.com--precise\/?p=1736"},"modified":"2016-05-01T19:55:17","modified_gmt":"2016-05-01T19:55:17","slug":"the-book-review-revolutionary-road-by-richard-yates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sometimesraw.com\/?p=1736","title":{"rendered":"The Book Review: Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates."},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hello and Happy Sunday!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cNow you\u2019ve said it. The hopeless emptiness. Hell, plenty of people are on to the emptiness part; out where I used to work, on the Coast, that\u2019s all we ever talked about. We\u2019d sit around talking about emptiness all night. Nobody ever said \u2018hopeless,\u2019 though; that\u2019s where we\u2019d chicken out. Because maybe it does take a certain amount of guts to see the emptiness, but it takes a whole hell of a lot more to see the hopelessness. And I guess when you do see the hopelessness, that\u2019s when there\u2019s nothing to do but take off. If you can.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I would like to share a book review of one of my favorite books. I don’t even know why I haven’t written it so far. It is a beautiful, eye-opening story that is also very thought-provoking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How does the perfect life look? Does the perfect life even exist? The story takes place in suburban America in the 50s. April and Frank met and fell in love almost instantly. They are both intelligent, beautiful and talented and the relationship moved at a very fast pace. Maybe too quickly. Not long after they first dated they decided to get married. Both wanted to have kids and dreamt of a big house in the suburbs with a white picket fence. The American Dream. April realized one day while she took out the garbage that this is not the life she wanted and visualized; that this just cannot be everything. She wants to move to Paris with Frank. They both agree to do something out of the ordinary. However, their plans changed. April became pregnant.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I describe this book as very wise, yet tragic and a bit depressing considering that many out there might still have dreams out of the ordinary but are afraid to take the final steps simply because of this need of routine, security or comfort. How many are out there and frustrated on a daily basis but keep working at the same job for years upon years because eventually they will retire and then they plan doing all these awesome things. “As soon as…..!” \u00a0<\/em>The author does not want to dissect the suburbs or the traditional family life. If people love this type of lifestyle, good for them. Yates focuses more on the fact that April and Frank are both painfully aware of their shallow surroundings and try to escape this routine. There both think that there must be something else to life than just taking the train to the city every morning, working from 9 to 5, coming home exhausted and sad to just do it all over again the next day. They want to change because they are unhappy and frustrated and feel the need to\u00a0accomplish something else in their life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When I read the book a couple of years ago for the first time, I realized that many scenes were just so familiar to me. I have been stuck too at points. \u00a0Stuck in relationships, stuck in jobs that I did not like, you name it. This is why I loved the part when I found out how Frank got his job. A job and financial stability that seems oh! so! important. Well, it is but it is not everything. The reader will also find out about April’s disappointment and sadness while doing the housework to a perfection because this is all she has. Cooking, cleaning and tending the house – waiting for her husband to come home in the evening. And in the meantime \u00a0dreaming about Paris.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My favorite scene.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n