February 2013: State of Wonder (Patchett)

Post date: Feb 23, 2013 2:9:23 AM

The younger set was completely absent from our February 20 meeting, with 1989 the most recent class year represented. But we had a fun time discussing Ann Patchett's latest (among other things), although most if not all of us had some complaints about the book. Betsey was especially put off by one of the key plot devices: she felt it absurd to posit that a pharmaceutical company would continue to fund a scientist that refused to communicate. She also saw major plot twists coming, which not all of us did. In general, we thought it seemed as though the plot were contrived to illustrate a point about funding for pharmaceutical research, and suffered as a result. Katherine noted the clear echoes of Conrad, (Lord Jim as well as Heart of Darkness), while Maggie noted the Easter/resurrection connection. Mary's husband reminded her later of a Sean Connery movie with echoes of this tale as well: Medicine Man.

In spite of the oddities of the plot, Patchett's descriptive writing is beautiful, and all of us felt that she did a good job of transporting us to a different place. We also liked some of the individual characters, and most found the book a page turner, after we finally get up the river.