The Marriage Plot was my first read of Jeffrey Eugenides and I think I get the hype, now. I feel a little too Goldilocks saying this, but everything was just right. Eugenides created very real characters, much like several I knew in college, experiencing the same struggles I did at that age. He's fair to them, allows them to have foibles (even exceptional character flaws) without condemning them or relegating anyone to a caricature: The Manic Depressive, The Romantic, The Wanderer.This novel is perfectly structured and paced. He moves backward and forward, sometimes revisiting, much later in the story, earlier scenes from another character's perspective. These always advance the story and your understanding of it without being an obvious or annoying tool.And, over the length of the book, it becomes a relevant and thought-provoking study of romance and marriage - how the two interrelate and have evolved since the novels of the Victorians.Tournament of Books note: have now completed seven of sixteen. This is my favorite to win it. It's a modern novel that requires no bonus stars for avoiding crap manipulation - true top marks.
