Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates

haven't seen the film version of this yet, though thanks to a fellow reviewer, I did already know how the story ended before I read the book. Still, despite this, it was still an excellent read. Revolutionary Road tells the tale of a couple in their late twenties, April and Frank Wheeler, and their two children. The pair have already been married for several years when the story begins, and are living the American Dream, which I'm sure is familiar to us all by now- the middle class suburbia with the white-picket fences and the water sprinklers that start up seemingly in synch every evening in ... more

I love to read outside of what I am used to, so I was initially pleased when my book group recommended Revolutionary Road. I found it really hard to gel with, though, for the following reasons. I found the story to be surprisingly unengaging. Although Revolutionary Road was a revolutionary book in its time, capturing the essence of the changing scene of the 50s and the changing roles between suburban men and women, I felt that the plot was bland and simplistic. In a way it was too easy to read. It did not feel challenging, I felt like I learned very little, and somehow the drama seemed staged ... more