Revolutionary Road

This book was a real surprise to me. Knowing the premise (dark side of suburbia, cracks in the nuclear family, etc) I felt that I knew what to expect. It was all that, but it does something deeper as well...living in suburbia is arguably not the problem in this book, but rather a backdrop for an exploration of two deeply unhappy people and their simultaneous contempt for one another and attempts to solve one another's unhappiness. Suburbia and disillusionment seem like symptoms of something larger. Of course aspects of the plot are very connected with a critique of 1950s familial expectations, especially for women, but in many ways this book from 1961 feels like it was written now.

For what it's worth it also reminded me of Gone Girl (but better, in my opinion).