I must be one of the last to discover and devour Ann
Patchett’s 2011 novel, State of Wonder. What is more embarrassing, however, is that
this is also the very first Ann Patchett novel I have read. And it is not like I did not already know of
Patchett’s name and reputation because the chatter following her immense
success with Bel Canto in 2003 was
impossible to miss. But for whatever
reason, I managed to avoid her work for several more years. I recommend that anyone still doing that find
themselves a copy of State of Wonder
immediately so they, too, can experience one of those literary treats that come
along only every so often.
State of Wonder is
set deep in the Amazon jungle – so deep inside the jungle that communication with
the outside world is a difficult and time consuming process that requires a
long boat ride back to civilization.
Annick Swenson, a doctor working for a large Minnesota-based
pharmaceutical company, is there to head up a research project from which she
hopes to produce a cure for malaria. The
company, already having spent a fortune on supporting the remote project, is
concerned by Swenson’s lack of communication about her project. The 73-year-old doctor refuses to communicate
by cell phone or radio, and delivery of a letter in either direction is only a
few degrees more reliable than tossing a note-filled bottle into the sea.
When word reaches corporate head Mr. Fox that his first
emissary to the Amazon has perished in the process of checking on Dr. Swenson’s
progress, Fox asks Dr. Marina Singh, a former student of Swenson’s, to meet
with her – a much easier said than done project that will see Dr. Singh
retracing the steps of her deceased colleague.
Sing, for personal reasons, and because she hopes her mission will bring
some comfort to the dead man’s widow and children, agrees to go, thus beginning
a masterfully recounted adventure.
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| Anne Patchett |
What Marina finds in the jungle is not at all what she
expects to find. Dr. Swenson, still the
cold and self-righteous woman that Marina remembers from her student days at
John Hopkins, feels no obligation to explain herself to anyone, including those
providing the funding that keeps her in the field. It is up to Marina to unravel the mystery of
her partner’s death and the even greater mystery surrounding the research her
company is funding. What she discovers
in both instances is astounding.
State of Wonder is
heavy on atmosphere and character development, a book that arm chair travelers
will most certainly appreciate. As one
might expect, the unnerving conditions Patchett describes – the utter darkness,
the deadly snakes and insects, the isolation, etc. – are less intimidating (but
remain just as deadly) as time goes by.
Both Patchett’s characters and her readers are lulled into a sense of
complacency that explodes in a scene during which Patchett describes what
surely has to be one of the most exciting battles between man and snake ever
put on paper.
State of Wonder is
one very fine literary novel/ thriller, with the key word being literary. Highly recommended.
Rated at: 5.0
list is permanent. Her other novels are, to me, merely very very good. Now, 10 years later, comes "State of Wonder," another brilliant tour de force that I can't quite bring myself to call "Bel Canto's" equal--but it certainly comes close.
ReplyDeleteThe two novels are alike in some interesting ways: Both are set in South America. Both revolve around a group of a dozen or so highly intelligent, driven, often quirky characters who are, for most of the story's duration, pretty much walled off in a confined space on foreign turf and dependent on the good will and collaboration of natives--the "Bel Canto" characters in a hostage situation, the "State of Wonder" characters in a secret and hidden research lab deep in the Amazon rainforest. Each novel takes its own good time bringing its characters and their situations to life. But as anyone who's read "Bel Canto" will come to suspect, all of this leisurely business of getting us where the author is taking us will eventually lead to a major wallop and jaw-dropper that makes the previous slow-going well worth one's time. And both novels fit well the Washington Post review blurb description on my copy of "Bel Canto," as being "its own universe.