Bennington Girls Are
Easy by Charlotte Silver
With a title like that how could I not have been interested
to give this book a try? I went into reading this thinking I would be getting a
trashy, girly fun read. Like a chick flick but in book form. As I started
reading it, though, I found that I was getting a lot more than that.
Bennington Girls Are
Easy follows two young girls, Syvlie and Cassandra, who have just graduated
from college – Bennington College – and are trying to figure how to now be
adults in New York City. Which unlike girls from Bennington is anything but
easy.
Bennington College is known for having free-spirited
students and as the book portrays, a lot of rich, artsy, “hipster” kids. Sylvie
and Cassandra definitely fit in that world. If you are hoping to read a book
about likable, mature, self-aware characters then this is not the book for you.
That doesn’t sound like a very good selling point, but for me I think it works
for this book. It reminds me of the HBO series Girls, in its following of self-absorbed, flawed young women. It is
the honesty of these depictions that I find enjoyable and compelling.
Bennington Girls Are
Easy seems to me to have two major themes. The first theme explores life
after college. The struggle of finding a job, dating mistakes, and figuring out
what the rest of your life is going to look like without the comfort of
academic structure. Life isn’t as glamorous as these women hoped it would be.
The second theme I see from this book is that of friendship.
I feel it is a very accurate depiction of friendships between girls. What
happens to you and your BFF when you’re both failing and making mistakes to try
to make it in life? The difference of where these girls were at the beginning
of the book and the end of the book is utterly fascinating.
It is blunt. It is dark. It is funny. It is honest and
unapologetic. I definitely recommend.
Leah,
ReplyDeleteYou had me at the title. You also had me at the reference to Girls on HBO. I am definitely interested and I appreciate how simple but thorough your review seems to be. It isn't giving away too many details, but it hits on the main points that really drew me in. What I love about Girls is the fast pace, clever-but-not-too-clever, banter and dialogue. I hope this book has the same appropriate wit. Being an imperfect, young adult, who wants glamour but eats ramen, I feel like I will love this book and look forward to reading it. Thanks for the review!