The Midnight Zone
Ratings3
Average rating4
15
Ratings3
Average rating4
A taut and electrifying novel from celebrated bestselling author Lauren Groff, about one spirited girl alone in the wilderness, trying to survive.
A servant girl escapes from a colonial settlement in the wilderness. She carries nothing with her but her wits, a few possessions, and the spark of god that burns hot within her. What she finds in this terra incognita is beyond the limits of her imagination and will bend her belief in everything that her own civilization has taught her.
Lauren Groff’s new novel is at once a thrilling adventure story and a penetrating fable about trying to find a new way of living in a world succumbing to the churn of colonialism. The Vaster Wilds is a work of raw and prophetic power that tells the story of America in miniature, through one girl at a hinge point in history, to ask how—and if—we can adapt quickly enough to save ourselves.
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A short story published by the New Yorker, which I listened to in the audio version. I am not much of a fan of audio, as I find the readers pace and pronunciation, and accent distracting (not a criticism of the reader, just how it effects my listening to the story), but as it is a short story, I managed.
Without giving too much away, a woman with her two young sons is staying in a remote cabin, her husband having needed to return to the city for a couple of days. She has an accident, is knocked out for a few hours, and is then incapacitated, although conscious and able to communicate.
The story plays out, taking us into her thoughts, and how her children react, awaiting the return of her husband.
I found the story a little over-written - sentences like “I made scrambled eggs with a vengeful amount of butter and Cheddar, also cocoa with an inch of marshmallow, thinking I would stupefy my children with calories, but the calories only made them stronger.” or “I'd been a soccer player in high school, a speedy and aggressive midfielder, and head trauma was an old friend. I remembered this constant lability from one concussive visit to the emergency room.”
Just a bit wordy for a simple fellow like me, although the sentences don't look so bad, perhaps it was the audio effect...
2.5 stars - rounded up to 3.
