Ian

Not much I can add here - you know the score on this book already. It still feels fresh and prescient, even decades after its publication. The pages of Goldstein’s book could have been someone reading the current news.

I started with the physical book, but switched to the audiobook version on Spotify. This was the first time I ever listened to an audiobook as I was doing a lot of driving. It won’t be my last (although I guess it might depend on how one likes the narrator). BTW, 1984 is free on Spotify because the copyright has expired.

It felt a little bit like a list at times. A list of English seaside villages where usually there were too many people, many of whom were objectionable; few places to camp and all the time being threatened by angry gulls. While it’s an emotional and at times beautiful story, it certainly didn’t inspire me to walk the path.

I felt that the writing developed through the pages, with the text being far more descriptive by the end. I bought her next two books so will see if that development continues…

A beautiful, thoughtful analysis of mankind and us individuals that make up the whole.

The book’s construction is fascinating in that pretty much all plot has been removed to give space to this contemplation of the planet and its place in the universe. The use of repetition is also really striking - putting us in the position of the astronauts and their 16 sunrises each day.

I’d have preferred more a storyline I think, but maybe that’s just out of habit…