State of Wonder
Ratings53
Average rating3.8
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.