American Beauty (Madeline Kacen)

American Beauty, Sam Mendes, Little Brown & Co.

I found the book at my neighbor’s house and wanted to read it.

One of the main characters Lester is going through a mid-life crisis so to speak. This crisis affects his family which consists of his wife Carolyn and a rebel daughter Jane who dislikes her father strongly. Everyone has something new and changing going on in their lives. Lester’s wife sells real estate; she works too much and ends up having an affair. Jane also has her own thing going on, she is falling in love with the boy who lives next door. This boy’s name is Ricky and he is very mysterious. While Lester is going through his crisis his life changes around a lot he ends up quitting his job and working at a cheap fast food joint. He tries to start impressing one of his daughter’s friends by working out. Her friend Angela brags about sexuality to Jane every weekend. The characters lives change dramatically and not for the best.

This would be for a more mature audience, just because of its content and adult topics.

“Janey, today I quit my job. And then I told my boss to go fuck himself and blackmailed him for almost $60,000. Please pass the asparagus.”
He writes in a very humorous manner. It’s somewhat serious, but you know it’s not just in the way he has the character’s say things. He brings his characters and dialect to life with speaking that way.

“There is nothing worse than being ordinary?” p.134
This passage really stuck with me the most from the novel. It’s saying how if you are ordinary then you are boring. Everyone has something special or interesting about them, even if it doesn’t strike my fancy it may strike someone else’s.
“I had always heard your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die. First of all, that one second isn't a second at all, it stretches on forever, like an ocean of time... For me, it was lying on my back at Boy Scout camp, watching falling stars... And yellow leaves, from the maple trees, that lined my street... Or my grandmother's hands, and the way her skin seemed like paper...” p.231

This is saying that the most important things in life or in general are the things we take for granite or don’t see until later or when it’s too late to realize them at all.

“There's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst... And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life... You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry... you will someday.” p. 78

It’s saying how beautiful the world really is and sometimes you need to stop a minute and just take it all in, it’s a very powerful message.

I did relate to this book. It was somewhat inspiring, creepy, and weird all at the same time. Sometimes that’s how life is, life isn’t just little boxes on a hillside and people with perfect lives. People do mess up and make mistakes while having their fantasies getting the best of them, while reality is very harsh and rash. The quote that still strikes me is the first one I wrote above. It’s just so true; the more I think about it the more it can relate to everyone in daily life.