State of Wonder

Ann Patchett's State of Wonder was the refreshing breeze that followed my reading of Joseph Conrad'sHeart of Darkness. Yes, there are certainly parallels, but this novel is so much more hopeful.

Dr. Marina Singh ventures into the Amazon for two purposes, one professional, the other more personal. Professionally, Marina is obliged to find Dr. Annick Swenson and report on the research she is doing for the pharmaceutical company they both work for, and personally, she feels compelled to learn the details of a coworker's fate. Marina's memories of Dr. Swenson are not pleasant, in fact, she is a bit frightened of her, and the reader is lead to expect her to be the worst kind of person. It's not that easy, of course; Dr. Swenson is a complicated person, and the evolution of the Singh-Swenson relationship is as intriguing as anything else in the story.

Patchett does not reveal all about any of these characters and does not over-write the ending, either. It's up to the reader to imagine how Marina will live out the rest of her life. (I've not mentioned many characters here so as not to give anything away--there are a couple twists.)

Obviously, I enjoyed this immensely.

What a magnificent story. I loved what another reviewer referred to as the "meaty pile of ethical questions", the richly-painted setting, the transformation that Marina goes through during the book, and the ending - which made me both happy and miserable and yet had what felt to be the requisite balance. I wondered early in the book if I would ever entirely warm up to Marina, and I was glad to find that I did; on the one hand, I wish it had been earlier, but I'm not sure the overall story would have worked for me any other way. I found Dr. Swenson loathsome until well into the book, but she redeemed herself eventually. Patchett does a fantastic job describing the Amazon forest - I felt I was there the whole time. Really a great read.