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Review
Every descriptive page leads the reader through an intriguing plot and ever closer to characters you really care about. It's a wonderful read. --Choce Magazine, June 24, 2011
Review
The best book I have read all year. It made me laugh and weep and left me in a state of wonder: perfect from first page to last ... a masterpiece Emma Donoghue A triumph and Pachett's best book yet Guardian Written with a wry grace and irony that reminded me of The Poisonwood Bible (another favourite). I like Patchett's Bel Canto - but I loved this Joanna Trollope, Sunday Telegraph An absorbing novel, intelligent yet magical, that will keep you wondering until the very last page Sunday Telegraph It pulls you into the book, has you standing in the jungle in the heat and sweat, as realistic as any computer-generated trickery, genuinely wondering what might happen next ... Just read it and be happy that such a writer as Patchett exists The Times Something special and worth considering for all the literary prizes, festivals and reading groups going this year ... exhilarating Daily Telegraph
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
59 of 62 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I found this review quite difficult to write, much as I found parts of the book hard to read. The strange thing is that I'm not sure why I struggled so much with the beginning of this book.
I have read Ann Patchett's famous 'Bel Canto', which I thoroughly enjoyed although I was a little frustrated by the ending. Yet State of Wonder was exactly the opposite. I have seen so many glowing reviews of it over the last few weeks, many of which were by readers whose advice I almost always take. Everyone, it seems, loves this book. So when I picked it up I had high expectations and was looking forward to getting sucked into the world of the Brazilian jungle. Fifty pages later I was getting frustrated, and it felt as though the book was still going nowhere fast.
Although it took me a few days, I persevered, simply because of all the good things I had heard about it. Then, about halfway through, something just clicked into place, and I found myself reading faster and faster as I became engrossed in the story at last. I think part of the problem is that so much of the beginning of the book is taken up by waiting. You know that Marina (the main character) is going to go to Brazil in the end, and that she is eventually going to reach the jungle. The problem is that it takes so long, and while she is bored and irritated, it is all too easy for the reader to echo her feelings. In a way this is testament to Patchett's talent at drawing you into the world of the book, but it does slow the story down.
Nevertheless, despite the disappointing opening, I am so glad that I carried on and finished State of Wonder. Why? Because the second half of the book more than makes up for the first. There is real emotion in the writing, and the characters are well-drawn and more than a little real. The interaction between scientists and members of the local tribes is fascinating, and Easter, a young deaf boy, is my favourite character by far. The story revolves partly around the science and discoveries that Marina is sent to check up on, and partly around the death of her predecessor Anders Eckman, who was her friend and colleague. She has promised his wife that she will find out exactly what happened to him, and the emotion of this storyline was what made the book all the more special.
Soon after his wife hears of his death at the beginning of the story, a letter arrives that he wrote a long time ago in the jungle, and these letters, which it becomes clear he wrote with increasing desperation as he became iller, keep surfacing due to the slow and unreliable post. These letters from a dying man to his wife and young sons at home are so poignant that it is impressive that the scientific side of the story managed to be equally compelling.
Knowing that I hadn't really liked the ending of her previous book 'Bel Canto', I was wary of how this one would end. But in fact I thought it was as close to perfect as it could possibly have been. The last quarter of this book in particular was a masterpiece, so my advice is to read this as soon as you get the chance. If you find the opening as tough as I did then please hang in there - the pace picks up later on, and it's well worth your while to continue to the end. I'm just glad that I had read all the positive reviews and had the courage of my convictions to stick at it all the way through!
I have read Ann Patchett's famous 'Bel Canto', which I thoroughly enjoyed although I was a little frustrated by the ending. Yet State of Wonder was exactly the opposite. I have seen so many glowing reviews of it over the last few weeks, many of which were by readers whose advice I almost always take. Everyone, it seems, loves this book. So when I picked it up I had high expectations and was looking forward to getting sucked into the world of the Brazilian jungle. Fifty pages later I was getting frustrated, and it felt as though the book was still going nowhere fast.
Although it took me a few days, I persevered, simply because of all the good things I had heard about it. Then, about halfway through, something just clicked into place, and I found myself reading faster and faster as I became engrossed in the story at last. I think part of the problem is that so much of the beginning of the book is taken up by waiting. You know that Marina (the main character) is going to go to Brazil in the end, and that she is eventually going to reach the jungle. The problem is that it takes so long, and while she is bored and irritated, it is all too easy for the reader to echo her feelings. In a way this is testament to Patchett's talent at drawing you into the world of the book, but it does slow the story down.
Nevertheless, despite the disappointing opening, I am so glad that I carried on and finished State of Wonder. Why? Because the second half of the book more than makes up for the first. There is real emotion in the writing, and the characters are well-drawn and more than a little real. The interaction between scientists and members of the local tribes is fascinating, and Easter, a young deaf boy, is my favourite character by far. The story revolves partly around the science and discoveries that Marina is sent to check up on, and partly around the death of her predecessor Anders Eckman, who was her friend and colleague. She has promised his wife that she will find out exactly what happened to him, and the emotion of this storyline was what made the book all the more special.
Soon after his wife hears of his death at the beginning of the story, a letter arrives that he wrote a long time ago in the jungle, and these letters, which it becomes clear he wrote with increasing desperation as he became iller, keep surfacing due to the slow and unreliable post. These letters from a dying man to his wife and young sons at home are so poignant that it is impressive that the scientific side of the story managed to be equally compelling.
Knowing that I hadn't really liked the ending of her previous book 'Bel Canto', I was wary of how this one would end. But in fact I thought it was as close to perfect as it could possibly have been. The last quarter of this book in particular was a masterpiece, so my advice is to read this as soon as you get the chance. If you find the opening as tough as I did then please hang in there - the pace picks up later on, and it's well worth your while to continue to the end. I'm just glad that I had read all the positive reviews and had the courage of my convictions to stick at it all the way through!
28 of 31 people found the following review helpful
"The lab [in the jungle] was not unlike a Las Vegas casino. They existed there without calendar or clock."
31 May 2011
Format:Hardcover
Living in the rainforest of Brazil, a group of American researchers, working for a pharmaceutical company, is trying to complete a long research project and ready a new drug for FDA approval. The leader of the project is Dr. Annick Swenson, a tough, seventy-three-year-old woman who has not left Brazil for over a decade. Though the pharmaceutical company is paying for all the expenses, no one at the company can find out the current status of the project-the last person sent to check on it, Anders Eckman, died of fever shortly after his arrival at the lab. The company decides that someone else must return to Brazil, evaluate the progress of the research and bring back Eckman's effects. Marina Singh, who once studied with Annick Swenson and has shared an office with Anders Eckman, is the person who makes this trip.
Within this framework, Patchett creates a novel which appeals on several levels at once. The exotic setting, filled with purple moths, blue mushrooms, yellow-barked trees, and other never-before-seen plant and animal life, captures the reader's imagination, even as the main characters are fighting anacondas, medical problems such as fevers and malaria, and a tribe which shoots poison arrows. Her ability to call forth sense impressions gives vitality to the setting.
As the action evolves, the author develops her characters and themes. Death is a constant threat, and the illnesses, accidents, and animal attacks keep that theme front and center, even as the research project is supposed to be geared to saving lives. Balancing death as a theme, of course, is love. Dr. Swenson had a lover for many years. Eckmann has left behind a wife and three young children, all of whom are devastated by his absence. Marina herself loves Dr. Fox in charge of the pharmaceutical company. Several characters receive ghostly visitations from loved ones during nightmares caused by their anti-malarial drugs, or when they face imminent death. These visions add information about the characters' backgrounds and, at times, provide new directions for the plot.
Ambition, to which all the varied characters have sacrificed years of their personal lives, so dominates the lives of many characters, they often fail to come alive for the reader. Though they are individualized, they do not always feel completely human, and their motivations sometimes seem imposed from without, rather inherent in their personalities. The dialogue conveys information and background more often than it conveys inner feelings. The most life-like character is Easter, a young deaf Indian child, whose fate seems tenuous, at best. Marina Singh, also creates empathy as she faces choices that challenge her to the limit.
These are minor defects, however, in a book that is full of action and interest. Patchett raises many questions about what drives those who give up virtually everything for pure science, questioning how much is done from idealism, how much from naivete, and how much for personal gain. The action speeds along on the strength of a fast-paced narrative full of suspense: What really happened to Dr. Anders Eckman? What is the nature of the drug that Dr. Swenson is working so hard to protect and develop? How will it change modern life as we know it? Ultimately, Marina must make the biggest choice of her life, and I suspect that every reader of the book will weigh the issues as to whether she makes the "right" choice. Should be a popular hit this summer. Mary Whipple
Within this framework, Patchett creates a novel which appeals on several levels at once. The exotic setting, filled with purple moths, blue mushrooms, yellow-barked trees, and other never-before-seen plant and animal life, captures the reader's imagination, even as the main characters are fighting anacondas, medical problems such as fevers and malaria, and a tribe which shoots poison arrows. Her ability to call forth sense impressions gives vitality to the setting.
As the action evolves, the author develops her characters and themes. Death is a constant threat, and the illnesses, accidents, and animal attacks keep that theme front and center, even as the research project is supposed to be geared to saving lives. Balancing death as a theme, of course, is love. Dr. Swenson had a lover for many years. Eckmann has left behind a wife and three young children, all of whom are devastated by his absence. Marina herself loves Dr. Fox in charge of the pharmaceutical company. Several characters receive ghostly visitations from loved ones during nightmares caused by their anti-malarial drugs, or when they face imminent death. These visions add information about the characters' backgrounds and, at times, provide new directions for the plot.
Ambition, to which all the varied characters have sacrificed years of their personal lives, so dominates the lives of many characters, they often fail to come alive for the reader. Though they are individualized, they do not always feel completely human, and their motivations sometimes seem imposed from without, rather inherent in their personalities. The dialogue conveys information and background more often than it conveys inner feelings. The most life-like character is Easter, a young deaf Indian child, whose fate seems tenuous, at best. Marina Singh, also creates empathy as she faces choices that challenge her to the limit.
These are minor defects, however, in a book that is full of action and interest. Patchett raises many questions about what drives those who give up virtually everything for pure science, questioning how much is done from idealism, how much from naivete, and how much for personal gain. The action speeds along on the strength of a fast-paced narrative full of suspense: What really happened to Dr. Anders Eckman? What is the nature of the drug that Dr. Swenson is working so hard to protect and develop? How will it change modern life as we know it? Ultimately, Marina must make the biggest choice of her life, and I suspect that every reader of the book will weigh the issues as to whether she makes the "right" choice. Should be a popular hit this summer. Mary Whipple
18 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I've just been reading scathing comments from a reviewer who both has medical knowledge and knowledge also of that part of Brazil the story is mostly set in. I can then conclude that if you are a doctor and intimate with Manaus and its surroundings you won't like "State of wonder". I have also just finished reading this novel in less than 36 hours, have no medical knowledge whatsoever and would never dream of going someplace unbearably hot and tropical where you have to cream yourself up and down in order not to be eaten alive.If you're more like me than like that other reviewer I was mentioning, then you stand a good chance of liking the book. I enjoyed it a lot, simply because from the moment I opened it I found it slightly difficult to tear myself from it. It won't be the best book you've ever read, or the most literary for that matter but it certainly knows how to hook you and not let go! Flawed it most certainly is (after all experts are experts and they say so) but it didn't spoil my enjoyment of it because I don't know enough to fault it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Wandering around wonder
As several other reviewers have noted, Patchett's earlier book Bel Canto, was very fine indeed, despite a slightly disjointed ending. Read more
Published 16 days ago by Lady Fancifull
Unfulfilled promise...
When her colleague Anders dies of fever while visiting a research project in the Amazon, Marina is persuaded by her boss and Anders' wife to go there herself to find out more about... Read more
Published 1 month ago by FictionFan
A wonderful book!
I was initially put off by the plot description as I don't have any particular interest in the Amazon, medicine, etc. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Pirkko H.
Definitely a good read.
Patchett writes in a beautiful language which immediately ingraciates her with the reader. All her descriptions are filled with sensitivity and sharp peception at the same time. Read more
Published 2 months ago by EwelinaB
Disappointed
Disappointed .I really enjoy reading Anne Patchett I like her characters who are well drawn and believable and i thoroughly I enjoyed 90% of this book. Read more
Published 2 months ago by C. R. Tregidgo
Apply Deet before reading!
There is no denying that Ann Patchett is a brilliant writer so it was with great anticipation that I sat down to read her latest work. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Wynne Kelly
A solid if underdeveloped read with good characters
Some years ago I read Bel Canto by Ann Patchett an unusual but affecting story of a hostage scenario in a government building in an unnamed South American country. Read more
Published 4 months ago by R. A. Davison
High drama in the jungle - something to get your teeth into...
Ann Patchett is a clever, talented, ingenious and lateral thinking writer. Her ideas range far and wide over continents and through wildly differing worlds; her writing style is... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mrs. Katharine Kirby
Loved it
I couldn't put this book down. The author is so descriptive, she really drew me in. Totally recommend it, going to search for more by the same author.
Published 5 months ago by janapana
Wonderful
Loved this book from beginning to end. I've never read this author before and only got this one out of the library because it was recommended as a book of the year in the Sunday... Read more
Published 5 months ago by nickyb
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