Revolutionary Road

April and Frank Wheeler are a young, ostensibly thriving couple living with their two children in a prosperous Connecticut suburb in the mid-1950s. However, like the characters in John Updike's similarly themed Couples, the self-assured exterior masks a creeping frustration at their inability to feel fulfilled in their relationships or careers. Frank is mired in a well-paying but boring office job and April is a housewife still mourning the demise of her hoped-for acting career. Determined to identify themselves as superior to the mediocre sprawl of suburbanites who surround them, they decide to move to France where they will be better able to develop their true artistic sensibilities, free of the consumerist demands of capitalist America. As their relationship deteriorates into an endless cycle of squabbling, jealousy and recriminations, their trip and their dreams of self-fulfillment are thrown into jeopardy.

I finished reading this novel on the plane to Honolulu. Then early last week, I watched Estela's "bootlegged" copy of Sam Mendes' adaptation of Revolutionary Road. Having read the book, I actually thought it stayed true to the book. . . . since I've finished school, I'm really enjoying reading "fun" books or at least anything that isn't remotely anesthesia related! . . . feel free to let me know what you're reading . . .