Eleanor & Park

two misfits, one extraordinary love

eleanor...Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough....Eleanor

park...He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises...Park 

Those are the sentences on the back of this novel. This novel is written by Rainbow Rowell, by the way. You can visit her website here. 

This is a story about a girl named Eleanor Douglas and a boy named Park Sheridan, obviously. Eleanor is a fat American girl, though I don't know how fat. I imagined her just like a fatter version  of Merida from the movie Brave, because, well, she (Eleanor, not Merida) described as "Betty Boop drawn with a heavy hand" and she also had "bright red, on top of curly" hair. And she wore these kinds of wrong clothes: huge, baggy, men, clothes. Not of her choice but because she had nothing else. And Park. Park is half Korean, with skin colored like "sunshine with a suntan"......which I don't really have idea how it looks like if she didn't also mentioned "sunshine-trapped-in-amber". Great. He was skinny...but well-built because he learned taekwondo since he was kid, and he had straight black hair. Oh. He also wore eyeliner and all-black clothes. Cool.

I am listening to "867-5309" now. Just because Park sang his number to Eleanor in the tune of this song.

I described Eleanor and Park enough, I think. Now to the book. Spoiler here and there. You've been warned (although it is a bit late?).

This is...just another love story book.

Yeah.

I know.

Sorry.

Love story is a love story, no matter how it starts, how it goes, and how it ends. There's an infinite number of ways to tell a love story, and it is still a love story. Okay?

I love this book, nevertheless.

This book depicts two misfits that fit each other. Sweet. Park did everything, like everything, to make Eleanor's miserable life better. He even drove her himself away, in order to save her. And Eleanor? She never ever said to Park that she loved him, more than he should know, but in fact, he knew, more than she ever said. Double sweet.

The story is not about love-in-the-first-sight, nor about hey-i-want-to-have-sex-with-you-because-you-are-so-sexy. It's more like i-finally-figured-out-i-love-you-despite-everything-and-now-that-i-love-you-i-want-to-kiss-you-because-in-my-eyes-you-are-perfect. And it's just like in reality, right? In reality you don't see a cute girl and love her like immediately in that second, nor you will hit a girl, hate her to death, then suddenly loving with her. You go in a process of knowing that person by and by, and then on the road you fall. And I like this kind of relatable story.

Plus, Park had a fine taste of music (and nice voice apparently because he sang a lot to Eleanor). I checked the songs in this book and they're awesome. I really love this Korean guy.

I have this thing about love story book, I always love them...if they're well written, and this one is well written. And this one is tear-jerking, tho it didn't bring me to tears. Maybe because I am on one of the happiest islands in Indonesia? Blah.

Eleanor & Park will do for those who wants to remember what it's like to:

1. be young

2. be misfit and survive

3. be in love, especially with the "wrong" person

4. be (brave to be) yourself

5. have a good taste in music....a taste that's different with your friends

6. sacrify for the bigger good

7. have a book hangover

I am human and I need to be looooveeed......just like everybody else doeeessss~~~~

It's part of a song, anyway, not me.

Lastly, this is a picture of Eleanor & Park that I found in google, which is very close to my imagination. But Park's shirt supposed to be black, of course.

Ah. Almost forgot. According to Rainbow Rowell in her website, they will make a movie based on this book although she does not know yet when will it comes to reality (like, she just started with the initial script).

Happy reading!