State of Wonder

I really enjoyed this but did not feel the need to go back & finish it after the book club meeting. It's been a bizarre, non-reading spring.

Freaking abysmal ending, and not just because of Easter. But really enjoyed listening to it (Hope Davis was a great narrator and Patchett knows how to create a compulsive narrative), so it gets an extra star.

Read this in its entirety on the two flights from Baton Rouge to Salt Lake City. My memory of reading Bel Canto quite a few years back is somewhat hazy, but I think it's safe to say that Patchett is a master of fantastical plots just short of magical realism. My quibble here is that the plot lines get all tied up (and you want them to–hence my reading speed), but the relationships between characters are left sort of frustratingly unresolved. Not in the sense that I want the characters to make amends and love one another, but we see the protagonist's feelings about the complex cast of others evolve only in fits and spurts throughout, and in no way that comes close to keeping pace with the Amazonian adventures. Still, certainly an enjoyable read.

I love this book so much I want to study it and re-read it to pick up on all the nuances I've missed. One of those great books that is both literary and readable. It has great descriptions of the jungle, a good plot with the element of the unexpected and well-written characters who develop throughout the story.

I think this book was all over the place, I still don't know what the point of the book was. Like what?

Listened to this audiobook last month while working on big knitting project. Hope Davis is excellent and really brings the story to life. Loved it.

Read this for our library book club & I'm sure that I'm going to have a hard time not taking over the conversation with astute observations like “Seriously, anti-malaria meds FUCK YOU UP.”

Anywayyyyy I'm always nervous about the narrative of ‘Mericans voyaging into the Jungle for Research. This did not do the world's best job of humanizing the Lakashi people. Whatever, though, they're only there for the doctors to learn from! Truths about medicine and motherhood and what it means to be a human!! (I'm only like 50% sarcastic here.)

Overall, this was fast-paced and enjoyable. The ending felt a little... contrived... and there were some concerns that I just mentioned in the last paragraph.

I withheld disbelief as long as I could, and enjoyed most of the book, but the ending felt rushed and totally improbable. I wanted to like it more than I did.

Read 25 percent but had to return to the library. I will have to renew later and read the rest

It starts off like some modern day corporate thriller that sees our pharmacologist protagonist Marian Singh sent to the Amazon at the behest of her corporate masters. Vogel Pharmaceutical needs someone to rein in and report back about rogue scientist Annik Swenson and ferret out the mystery of their first emissary's death. From there it's all Heart of Darkness. Sycophants, anaconda wrestling, cannibals, psychedelic fungi, addictive tree bark, fertile octogenarians, a mute native boy and lots of lost luggage - worst road trip ever. It's a far meatier story than I would have expected.

I loved the first half of the book and the ending ... really gave me the sense of what it would be like to be in the jungle along the Amazon – definitely something I do not want to do – and absolutely loved the writing.

I love being in a book club, because it makes me pick up books I wouldn't normally read on my own. After reading the book jacket and seeing that this one was about scientists in the Amazon researching a new drug, I really didn't think it was going to be my cup of tea. You know, since I don't like thinking about illness or medicine. But I really really liked this one.

Dr. Marina Singh travels into the Brazilian jungle not only to find out the truth of what happened to her co-worker — who passed away during his own trip into the Amazon — but to also check on the progress of the new fertility drug that her boss is funding. This drug is meant to allow women to put off having children indefinitely, while still allowing them to reproduce naturally into their 60s and 70s. It was very interesting reading about Marina's journey and self-discovery. I almost wanted to go to Brazil myself.

This is a new favorite! Also, my first Ann Patchett novel. Not the last, oh no, not the last...The book starts out with some definite [b:Heart of Darkness 4900 Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328698658s/4900.jpg 2877220] undertones. Dr. Marina Singh and her boss/lover Mr. Fox receive a letter from a rogue scientist studying deep in the Amazonian forest. Mr. Anders has died from a fever. Mr. Anders was a friend and many-year colleague of Dr. Singh, and Mr. Fox and Mrs. Anders convince her to go investigate the rogue researcher Dr. Swenson.And so opens up a fantastic story of Brazil, of medicine, of bohemians, and of love. Add in a few pinches of difficult ethical and moral decision-making, and you've got a recipe to keep you up at night, in terror and awe.Patchett's writing in this novel (and it seems, her other novels) is so musical, so poetic. There are several sentences or paragraphs that I would read over and over because of how they made me feel, sort of like listening to a favorite melody or reading a favorite snippet of poetry. She is an incredible wordsmith.I was never once bored, even though very little action takes place in the book. And the denouement is completely unexpected yet not unbelievable.I'm going to say it: I'm in a state of wonder after reading this novel.