State of Wonder
Ratings36
Average rating3.7
15
Ratings36
Average rating3.7
As Dr. Marina Singh embarks upon an uncertain odyssey into the insect-infested Amazon, she will be forced to surrender herself to the lush but forbidding world that awaits within the jungle. Charged with finding her former mentor Dr. Annick Swenson, a researcher who has disappeared while working on a valuable new drug, she will have to confront her own memories of tragedy and sacrifice as she journeys into the unforgiving heart of darkness.
Reviews with the most likes.
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.
