I heard this was the “It” book of last summer, enthusiastically backed by the legion of Ann Patchett fans that now seem to be everywhere. I was just a tad leery because I didn’t care for her last novel called “Run,” but alas, “State of Wonder” is a whole different can of worms and much better. Like the Amazon world it conjures, “State of Wonder” is teeming with a wide range of issues, layers and characters.
It’s about a pharmacologist in Minnesota, Marina Singh, who is sent to the Amazon to find out the circumstances surrounding her work colleague’s death and the scientist he went to meet, the eccentric Annick Swenson. Swenson is Marina’s former medical school mentor whose research on a new fertility drug in the jungle has been shrouded in mystery. Marina is sent to find her and investigate the progress on the new drug. But once she gets there, her world is turned upside down by the tribulations she faces and the miracle drug she witnesses.
Part “Heart of Darkness” mixed with a little “Island of Dr. Moreau,” “State of Wonder” is influenced by various works, including “Orpheus and Eurydice” and the Werner Herzog film “Fitzcarraldo,” according to Patchett. (In light of this, I’m curious to rent the 1982 Herzog film, which I haven’t seen.) I found the novel to be an adventurous, engaging read; it definitely keeps you going and places your feet firmly in the heat of the Amazon. But I thought the surprise ending a bit abrupt, flung together and sort of dropping off after its initial jolt, leaving one like a wet rag to wonder about the loose ends it leaves.
After wading through its dense jungle and contemplating malaria and the fertility of women over a certain age, I’m sort of Ann Patchett’d out at the moment but will definitely return to her books in the future. For more on her and “State of Wonder” check out her recent appearance on the Colbert Report, the independent bookstore Parnassus she co-owns in Nashville, and her hour on the Diane Rehm show.
As you pointed out, this book has many layers, and one of them was the Orpheus symbolism. I want to see Fitzcarraldo too and have not read or seen the Island of Dr. Moreau. I will probably see more layers to Patchett’s book if I see them. Nice review.
Thanks Harvee. Yeah the Island of Dr. Moreau is definitely a must-see. Apparently there is a 1996 version and a 1977 film. I think I saw the 1996 film. I am curious about Fitzcarraldo which I had never heard of till Ann Patchett mentioned her influences. I must find it somewhere.