Sameer Vasta
Orbital is more than a book; it is a meditation. The plot is unimportant; what’s remarkable about this novel is just how moving it is as it explains the mundanity of the extraordinary. You would think that living in a space station orbiting the earth would be astounding—and it is, at moments in this story—but the real narrative driver here is the interiority of those astronauts, their every-orbit lives that are filled with science and domesticity and so much room to think and reflect. And because of this, the novel forces us to reflect along with them, to grapple with the enormity of our own lives while embracing the everyday mundane. Quite simply one of the best books I’ve read in a long time.
Orbital is more than a book; it is a meditation. The plot is unimportant; what’s remarkable about this novel is just how moving it is as it explains the mundanity of the extraordinary. You would think that living in a space station orbiting the earth would be astounding—and it is, at moments in this story—but the real narrative driver here is the interiority of those astronauts, their every-orbit lives that are filled with science and domesticity and so much room to think and reflect. And because of this, the novel forces us to reflect along with them, to grapple with the enormity of our own lives while embracing the everyday mundane. Quite simply one of the best books I’ve read in a long time.
This is a controversial book because of its final essay, but when you take the book as a whole you realize that it is more than just about politics, but instead about the way narrative and storytelling shapes the world around us. Coates’ writing is mesmerizing as usual, and there is an incredible lucidity to his arguments. This book is a deft narrative about the power of narrative.
This is a controversial book because of its final essay, but when you take the book as a whole you realize that it is more than just about politics, but instead about the way narrative and storytelling shapes the world around us. Coates’ writing is mesmerizing as usual, and there is an incredible lucidity to his arguments. This book is a deft narrative about the power of narrative.