Customer Reviews

State of Wonder

5 star:		(178)
4 star:		(95)
3 star:		(63)
2 star:		(55)
1 star:		(44)

 

 

When one leading publication says to "expect miracles", a book has a lot to live up to. And indeed, in many areas, State of Wonder does meet its hype. Its vivid sense of place, for example, is truly magnificent. One can almost feel hear the buzzing and ravenous mosquitoes, feel the oppressive heat, recoil from the floating snake heads, and feel the power of the storms.

But at the end of the day, I was torn between one crucial question: is a book that is realistic also authentic? How do the two concepts merge...and how do they differ?

Ann Patchett, in State of Wonder, revisits the contemporary adventure story genre, with a provocative tale of an emotionally crippled doctor - Marina Singh - who embarks on an odyssey to the Amazon after learning that her pharma colleague Anders died there. His wife doesn't believe it...and her boss and love interest, Mr. Fox, entreats her to go there to find out what is going on.

He is, after all, invested in the outcome of the research that is going on there. Dr. Annick Swenson - formidable and inscrutable - has been there for years, reportedly working on a new drug that will have a massive effect on female fertility, with the prospect of making his company very rich. Dr. Swenson was Marina's former mentor and her associations with her are fearsome. As a result, the journey to the heart of darkness for Marina is also a plunge into her own emotional terrors.

The exploration of these terrors - along with the world of the Amazon and the Lakisha tribe - are masterfully done. But for me, in the end, the characters became sacrificed to the plot, pacing, and setting.

I did not believe in the relationship between Marina and her widowed older boss, Mr. Fox; neither seemed capable of sustaining it. Nor was the relationship between Marina and her doomed colleague fully developed. There were a number of missteps. For example, Marina must take a drug called lariam - a malaria preventative that can have major emotional side effects. She chooses to dump the lariam in the trash, exposing herself to almost certain malaria. As someone who has traveled to the region, I know that doxcycline can be used (not quite as effectively) for those who cannot take lariam.

Dr. Swenson comes across as very one-dimensional - uncompromising and rigid. Yet (no spoilers), she eventually produces a part of the puzzle based on supposition - which does not fit her character and beliefs. There are many examples of ways in which the characters did not react in an authentic manner, but to enumerate all of them would create spoilers.

It is always a little disconcerting to me when I am at odds with a majority of reviewers whose opinions I respect. I DO recommend State of Wonder for those who love plot-driven adventure stories that are well-written and have a strong sense of place. But for those of us who err towards characters, I can recommend only with qualifications.

I am amazed by Ann Patchett's ability to write such riveting books about such a breadth of topics. Bel Canto (P.S.) is one of the most beautiful books I've ever read, and I never thought she'd be able to match that. With this book, I think she has come close.

State of Wonder is the tale of an epic journey. After an employee of a pharmaceutical company dies in the Amazon, a fellow researcher is sent to find out exactly what happened to him. She is also tasked with clarifying on the company's behalf exactly how much progress has been made on the drug being studied there. The visual picture of the Amazon painted by Patchett is vivid and captivating and the characters are very well-defined and sharply rendered. The plot moves along at a nice pace, though admittedly it does slow a bit in the middle.

As for criticism, the science in the book is a little vague and seems slightly "off". However, the experiments are a sort of backdrop and not the main focus so it's not that big a deal. And Patchett does manage to cover an awful lot of political and ethical issues related to drug development and reproduction that are so nuanced as to appear to occur using sleight-of-hand.

Overall, another very strong book from Patchett and a definite recommend.

I read "State of Wonder" before looking at reader reviews and was surprised by the overwhelmingly positive response to a book that I found to be average. Patchett takes on the ambitious task of bringing Marina's significant ambivalent relationships ~ with her dead father, medical school professor, office mate, employer-lover ~ along with the ethical issues of pharmaceutical R&D with indigenous cultures, into a cohesive whole. While the premise was good, the turn of the phrase distinctive and the socio-economic topic timely and important, there was something off with the total picture. The characters were flat and unlikeable, transitions frequently vague and despite the abundance of scientific information (questionable though some might be) and a vivid sensory image of life in the jungle, it did not draw me in. Patchett was successful in creating the heavy blanket of disconnect and ambiguity that defined Marina's personal and professional life, but on a whole, this was not a particularly memorable novel.

Impressed by early reviews and excited at the prospect of another Bel Canto, I bought State of Wonder the day it hit the market only to find it as disappointing as Bel Canto was rewarding.

Why? Too many disconnects: a brilliant woman flying off to the jungle puts a rare GPS-equipped telephone, her only link to civilization, in a checked bag? A major pharmaceutical firm shovels money to an employee for years without any oversight or progress reports? Committed medical researchers find a cure for malaria and don't disclose it? A female physician never considers the negative aspects of old-age fertility until she's pregnant at 73? A 42-year-old woman has a problem calling her lover by his first name? A medical professor reputed for high standards lies about the death of a colleague?

This novel demands more `suspension of disbelief' than is possible for an intelligent reader.

I am an armchair escapist and that is why I love to read. I am thrilled whenever a novel can transport me to another reality...and I was indeed transported, as well as held suspended in a state of wonder, by every single page of this highly emotional and understatedly intelligent novel by Ann Patchett ~ State of Wonder.

With soaring prose that is raw yet elegantly constructed, Patchett penetrates a world of science and adventure, human connection and personal discovery. Patchett's storytelling is unfailingly compelling and her rapport with her subject matter is stunning. The science with which she propels this exciting and suspenseful plot is so highly believable and plausible, I never for a single moment thought it could be anything but true and authentic.

Patchett is meticulous in realizing her deep and complex characters and resolute in dissecting their values. The nuances and surprising angles of observation Patchett brings to bear upon her characters and on the situations in which they find themselves are constantly surprising and always provocative.

Her treatment of the indigenous cultures of the primeval jungles of Brazil is sensitive without being pandering. The oppressive atmosphere and the brutal reality of the Amazon rain forest which they inhabit, and where the pharmaceutical researchers are conducting their field studies about them, are all felt fully and intimately. Patchett's portrayal of these native Amazon tribes who are so central to her story is realistic and tender without being clichéd and exploitive.

Marina Singh, the novel's protagonist, is a lovely and very believable leading character. She is warm, loving, caring and complicated. She is also intelligent, skillful, trepid and troubled. Her journey to the Amazon is suspenseful and frightening but at the same time sensual and moving. It is a mission to uncover the details about the death of a friend; it is a field expedition for pharmaceutical research; and it is soul searching exploration of the intricate, heartrending ways she must seek her self-identity.

Rather than summarize the plot in more detail, I want to encourage other readers to experience this rich and vivid narrative for themselves. State of Wonder offers so very much! This is a novel of powerful and luminous writing, so fluid it is easily absorbed, yet every page is still profound. It is both a page-turner and a lyrical meditation about the difficult choices that must be made for love.

State of Wonder is a magical story that sings from every page, "holding up their burning sticks above their heads, pouring their souls up to heaven in a single voice of ululation." The impact is so intense and lasting, this story will most assuredly not be forgotten.

I have become an absolute Patchett enthusiast!

I can't be the only reader completely astonished by the gushing reviews for this book. The lead character, Marina, is frustratingly, irritatingly passive. If you really examine her scenes she almost never makes full statements, while other people talk in long long passages at her. She does things because people tell her to, she has no spine until the last moments. She is haunted by nightmares that add nothing to the story. On top of all that, the natives (named, I learned on NPR, after Patchett's favorite breakfast cereal) are not humanized at all. We don't get to know any one of them -- not a one -- as a real human being. Basing them on a breakfast cereal is almost offensive. Lastly, the medical aspect of this is just absurd. Chewing on trees?! Really?? And if this wasn't enough, Patchett has added a further discovery besides life-long fertility, an anti-malarial component, that results from all the bark-chewing. How many miraculously implausible medical discoveries can one book take? The ending is bewildering, giving us no clue as to what to make of Marina by the end. Did Patchett mean this story to be comic? (She speaks often in interviews of thinking herself funny, although no one seems to get her humor.) A very frustrating read, perhaps more satisfying to critics than to a regular reader.

I am amazed that neither Ann Patchett nor her publisher, Harper Collins, bothered to spend 5 minutes fact-checking State of Wonder. I am a fan, enjoyed Bel Canto and then read her other novels. Reviews of State of Wonder were gushingly positive, and since I am an OB GYN, I had a connection to the subject-- search for a fertility drug in the Amazon, missing scientist, I couldn't wait!

With both main characters being OB GYNs, I would have expected Ms Patchett to know that the residency is 4 yrs long, not five. The description of medical education is like nothing I have seen. Third year medical students and residents would not be attending the same lectures. Grand Rounds does not involve putting a trainee on the spot, it is a lecture by an expert. A fertility specialist would not publish articles about gyn surgery. There is no such thing as a "classic T incision" in a c section; the list of errors goes on. You don't have to be an MD to know that an epidemiologist does not give a traveler vaccinations; he studies disease outbreaks in populations. Scientific words and terms are sprinkled in as if for "seasoning", in a nonsensical fashion.

I don't know what to make of the characters addressing each other as Dr., or Mr., in the most intimate of relationships, personal and professional. I don't know anybody who is that formal with colleagues or students.

I did not expect science fiction when I read this novel, so I will not comment on the impossibility of the fertility drug and quest for eternal youth at the heart of the story. But what could the reason be for not making any attempt to frame the story authentically, and not to bother with basic fact checking? All of these errors were like little pebbles in my shoe as I read the book. From the interview above, I see that Ms Patchett prepared for writing the book by visiting the amazon for 10 days, and hated it. She might have spent an hour talking with a physician and scientist, even if she hated it.

I assume that Ms Patchett and her publisher were in a rush to get the book published, and they thought the readers would not notice factual errors. Well I noticed, and I am insulted by their lack of respect for their readers.

Years ago I read Ann Patchett's "Patron Saint of Liars" (5 stars!) and ever after made a point of reading all her novels. Many writers tend to write the same type of book over and over, but Patchett isn't one of them. Her stories run the gamut; from a home for unwed mothers, to the life of a magician, to an opera singer held by terrorists, and now to the jungles of the Brazilian rainforest.

In Patchett's latest novel, "State of Wonder", Marina, a doctor and scientist working for a major pharmaceuticals company, finds herself propelled to the Brazilian rainforest to extract a renegade scientist who has been out of contact with the company for over 2 years. Sure, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" comes to mind, but it's much richer and more interesting than that trite comparison. Marina's quest, Dr. Swenson, believes she has found a version of the Fountain of Youth; a substance that when ingested prolongs female fertility indefinitely. She has found a tribe where the women have babies well into their 70s. Imagine what a huge amount of money a pharmaceutical company could make with a drug like that in this society of delayed childbearing and infertility! But is she brilliant or is she crazy?

The English Major in me also enjoyed all symbolism in the novel; jungles, and bugs and lost luggage, fathers and missing father figures, and native dresses and too-tight evening shoes. I suspect this will be a popular book club selection yielding some great discussions on all kinds of topics such as medical ethics, the pharmaceutical industry and the fertility industry and the blessings of menopause. (Oh thank heavens for menopause!)

I found "State of Wonder" to be a real page-turner with plenty of surprises right up to the end to shake my assumptions (I like that). In the end Patchett left a little "maybe" about Marina's future that each reader can extrapolate as he or she wishes. I could describe this book as a combination of all that is great about stories such as "The Mosquito Coast", "The African Queen", "The Heart of Darkness" and any good old fashioned Tarzan movie. Patchett does it again; I predict a best seller!

How could this second-rate book get such good reviews?

Marina has Ph.D. and MD. degrees, but she is so self-effacing that her boss/lover is referred to throughout the novel as Mr. Fox instead of by his first name. She lives in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, and her character is as flat and affectless as the plains of the Midwest. Frankly, she seems too dumb to hold two advanced degrees, but she's about to change - right? - because she's going to be thrust into a hair-raising adventure deep in the heart of the Amazon.

Well, no. We have anacondas, magic blue mushrooms, poisoned arrows, and Marina remains throughout all this excitement flat as a pancake and dumb as a stump. Marina could make a wrestling match with King Kong boring. I think we're supposed to understand that Marina changes, because, really, how could you not be changed by an anaconda?, but the character seems to be the same plodding zombie at the end of the book that she was at the beginning.

I first really began wondering about the direction of the book when we arrive in Manaus. Marina meets the Bovenders, Dr. Swenson's gatekeepers, and - guess what? - the two of them are just as dull as Marina. These three boring people have many boring conversations. It's like Night of the Living Dead. Seriously, I was quite puzzled. What is Patchett playing at here? Is this intended to be a comedy of manners, but - alas - somehow the comedy was left out? Things do not improve when we reach the jungle. For one thing, it becomes harder and harder to ignore the inherent implausibility of the entire book. A group of scientists has essentially gone rogue in the jungle and the drug company funding the whole thing doesn't care? Yeah, right. It doesn't help at all that the characters in the jungle are, once again, boring, boring, boring. In fact, Dr. Swenson is the only character among the researchers who even has a personality, and the personality she has seems to have been borrowed from old TV medical shows.

The last straw for me was when the disappearance of a character was misreported. Was there some good reason to lie about this disappearance? Well, no, it was convenient for the plot, and Patchett doesn't even bother to make it plausible. Grr. Whenever an author does something like this the entire book is ruined, at least for me.

But, you know, Elizabeth Gilbert is right. The cover of the book is quite beautiful.

This book was recommended to me. My friend was sure that I would love it. I was very disappointed and struggled to finish it.

First, the good in the book is that the author spins a reasonably suspenseful story. It's not edge of your seat suspenseful but it's typical for middle of the pack fiction. When I think I know the ending of a book, I write down my guess and I guessed this ending by the time the main character got to Brazil.

Now, the bad and there's lots of bad. A recognized science fiction author writing this book would be laughed off the planet. So many elements of the "science" in this story are wrong and bizarre and it's not bizarre in a good way. The author has no clue what would be required to do the science she describes in the book. Since this is mainstream fiction and not science fiction, I guess you don't need to do the research. Without 10 tons or more of diesel generators, you could not outfit a lab to do what this author suggests these folks were doing in the jungle. The dropped comments about the FDA are plain wrong. The author doesn't seem to understand what a vaccine is. The errors are endless.

There is a very heavy handed bigotry in this book. The author drops comments here and there suggesting that scientists are without creativity. The main character lost her imagination when she took inorganic chemistry. Please. Scientists and engineers are the most creative people around. Discovery and imagination are their life. And, by the way, let's jot a little post-it note about the "scientists" in this story; they were not practicing science. They were just nuts.

Spoiler Alert!

A major political point in the story is that pharmaceutical companies will not fund vaccine research on malaria because they can't make big money on it since it is largely a disease of the third world. There is no doubt that making money is the primary goal of the pharmaceutical industry and, guess what, there IS big money in a vaccine for malaria. For example, our military desperately wants an effective vaccine and they are willing to pay big bucks for it. The reason there is no vaccine for malaria is not for lack of trying. It's because it is a very difficult beast to tame.

Finally, the prose, the descriptions, the basic tools of the novelist were not well used in this book. I did not feel the jungle. It was like reading a so-so travel piece in an airline magazine.

I don't like writing bad reviews. I want every book I read to be wonderful but this book was a poorly researched and boring and bigoted.