Revolutionary Road (Modern American Fiction) (Modern Fiction)

by Richard Yates

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

Revolutionary Road is a beautifully crafted debut novel by Richard Yates, which tells the story of Nick and April Wheeler trying to break out of their suburban rut. To me this novel is about the desire from something better, something exciting, something to break the boredom, but Yates once said that "If my work [Revolutionary Road] has a theme, I suspect it is a simple one: that most human beings are inescapably alone, and therein lies their tragedy."



Without giving anything away, this book is a small glimpse into the lives of a standard suburban family, looking for adventure, trying to save a marriage and the effects of their own lives. I started reading this book with no idea where this book would take me, but ended up really enjoying the journey. But I have to admit, if the ending was any different (if there was a Hollywood/happy ending) I would have ended up hating this book. Yates wrote this book with such skill that I was fully invested in this book, hoping that he would not destroy it in any way and worrying that it was heading for a fall but never actually falling.