Paperback, 195 pages
English language
Published April 16, 2014 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Area X has been cut off from the rest of the world for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide, the third in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of cancer. In Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach Trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition.
The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and of one another, and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.
They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X …
Area X has been cut off from the rest of the world for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide, the third in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of cancer. In Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach Trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition.
The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and of one another, and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.
They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers—but it’s the surprises that came across the border with them and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another that change everything.
Um. I will continue on in the series. It was interesting. But let's see; the prose was... relentless. Like a pressure squeezing my temples. I can't say it was pleasant.
But now I feel obligated to continue. Like in homage to those traveled before.
The movie and the book are both interesting, although they are different enough that I'd say the movie is "based on the back cover of the book". The unreliable narrator and weirdly disorienting story telling makes it a challenge to piece out what (if anything) is real while reading, which is can be an enjoyable experience for some readers.
Also the workplace dynamics of the Southern Reach office is really suboptimal. HR should probably get involved.
One of the most emotionally impactful books I've read, ever. Several times I had to put it down for a moment and just let the feelings it had dug up find their way through my brain to process.
I love to read to learn something, to travel to new places born in the mind of a creative author, or simply to bask in the beauty of the words… I found none of that in this book and, consequently, feel cheated for time I invested in this journey.
I know this is only the first book in a trilogy, but my companionship as a reader in this adventure has to be earned. I simply can’t risk going through another fruitless, plotless, mind-numbing instalment of this story. Even my always-present curiosity to find out what happens next died before the end. So, dear reader, if you have more stamina and desire for self-abuse than me, I wish you happy reading onward in this trilogy. I am getting off this train right here!
Well written and all, but I never quite managed to enjoy the atmosphere VanderMeer has created in this book. At times rather suggestive, but never intriguing, I kept going - hoping for some sort of payoff in the end.
Nope, I won't read the other two books. It doesn't seem worth it.
Mysterious, interesting, even to a certain degree relatable.
I'm eager to read the next one to get some answers.
Felt like I stumbled upon the rambling person at the bar. I can understand most of what he says but I can never get the complete picture.
I don't think I can continue the series... I'm really at a loss for words. 1) The "journal" style writing lacked any depth into the character. Even when she spoke of her past...it remained guarded. 2) Nothing is explained...nothing. She makes assumptions, but the reader spends the entire book not knowing what's going on. If you are truly reading a journal, then you are bound to have context otherwise there is no meaning in the reading... 0 context is given. 3) I feel like the writer is lazy. There were more than one occasions that he specifically makes a statement that he left out context or something actually interesting to the reader intentionally to "ensure the reader sees this as an impartial account", but it is anything but impartial. Her motivations are key but that story is left wanting. 4) Where are we going? It's like I literally found volume …
I don't think I can continue the series... I'm really at a loss for words. 1) The "journal" style writing lacked any depth into the character. Even when she spoke of her past...it remained guarded. 2) Nothing is explained...nothing. She makes assumptions, but the reader spends the entire book not knowing what's going on. If you are truly reading a journal, then you are bound to have context otherwise there is no meaning in the reading... 0 context is given. 3) I feel like the writer is lazy. There were more than one occasions that he specifically makes a statement that he left out context or something actually interesting to the reader intentionally to "ensure the reader sees this as an impartial account", but it is anything but impartial. Her motivations are key but that story is left wanting. 4) Where are we going? It's like I literally found volume 5 of 13 in someone's personal life accounts in the sand and decided to read it. Yes there were interesting events, yes there were sympathetic characters, but I have no idea where they came from our where they are going... What is the point of this book... OK so maybe I'm not at a loss for words...
