State of Wonder: A Novel
By: Ann Patchett / Narrated By: Hope Davis
Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
Suspend Disbelief All Ye Who Enter Here
I have to admit that I went into State of Wonder kinda sorta worried. After all, the luminous Bel Canto had me groaning in agony at what-all was done to the characters at the end. Plus, this is narrated by Hope Davis and A Wrinkle in Time has been one of precious few audiobooks I’ve ever returned, partly cuz it didn’t age well, and MOSTLY because the danged narration made me wanna scratch my ears off. 12 hours and 22 minutes of that?! Good cow!
But I went in fairly open-minded, a few knee-jerk spasms aside.
Anders Eckman is dead; a missive has just been received at the pharmaceutical company he and the heroine work(ed) at. Right away, dude, suspend Disbelief because an untried researcher, Marina Singh, is chosen to traipse over to the Amazon to gather more information, and p’raps some of his possessions (The former decided by the boss she’s sleeping with, the latter decided by Eckman’s widow who is feeling mighty ticked off and bereft).
Seriously, they have nobody else they can send?
Okay okay okay. Disbelief Suspended. And then things get muuuuuch better as Ann Patchett’s descriptions of the Amazon, of its people, takes over. What a sense of language!
The reason Anders was there in the first place, and why it’s important someone go right away? A woman, Dr. Swenson, had been sent to the region eeeeeeons ago, and nobody has heard from her since. Not a peep about how far along elements of a new drug are being discovered, and where the danged heck is all the money we sent? and Big Daddy Pharmaceutical company wants results, dang it all.
Marina can’t turn her lover/boss down, and she CERtainly canNOT disappoint the widow of her colleague, so it’s off to the Amazon she goes, in the wrong clothes, and in the wrong shoes. Almost immediately, Dr. Swenson is found, and tho’ it doesn’t seem like Marina will be allowed to stay, she eventually is, and she comes to understand just how many modern-day miracles of nature are occurring for a particular Amazonian tribe. Women, elderly women, are capable of conceiving and carrying a child even in their 70s. If the secret to their fertility could be discovered, imagine: Costly IVF treatments would become a thing of the past. Big Daddy wants it NOW!
So I found maaaany plot holes, and maaaany convenient contrivances throughout, but good grief, I love it when the environment becomes a character in its own right. I saw that Patchett went to the Amazon (Loved it for four days, but she tragically was there for ten…), and it most definitely shows in how each scene was crafted. The heat, the pounding sudden rainstorms, the humidity, the bugs bugs bugs/insects that harass and cause misery (Not to mention the practically psychotic dreams a person has whilst taking antimalarials). A hammock is better than sleeping on the ground, but oh how easily a snake can drop from a tree.
Further, the characters were multi-dimensional, and most were likable. Even the surly and gruff Dr. Swenson had her motives, and her knowledge-base was sound. The dilemma between helping a little boy have a better life (EVERYone wants the young deaf boy, the precocious Easter, to have a chance) and removing one’s self and being a scientific observer was well-structured. Sure, the tribe is still living as they did a hundred years ago, but they’re surviving. Industrialized countries are near the brink of ruin, unable to sustain their lifestyles. And is it right to interfere in ANY case?
I’m soooo happy to say that Hope Davis was pheNOMenal. Not for an instant did I wanna jam an ice pick into my ears, and I can only surmise that it miiiight be that there are no child characters as part of the story (Aside from little Easter, the deaf, also nearly mute, boy). Things start getting tense with the passing of Listening hours, and when all builds to (You got me again, Ms. Patchett!) the conclusion, I was a trifle gutted by the various Fates as narrated by Ms. Davis. She captivated from the get-go, and then she proceeded to NEVER drop the ball. Brava, Ms. Davis (But I still think ya went overboard in Wrinkle…)!
No, this was NOT my listening favorite of the week, but it was a very enjoyable way to spend the time. Women’s health/rights, environmentalism, subtle racism, questions of ethics, a teeeeny bit o’ romance, and some good good friendships; what’s not to like?
The only thing worse than a waste of money is a waste of time.
Fortunately, NEITHER were wasted here…
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