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hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was such a refreshing read! I've heard a lot of good things about this novella, and now that I've read it I can definitely see why people love it so much.
I needed something cozy that would take my mind off the stress of waiting at the airport, and A Psalm for the Wild-Built did exactly that. I fell in love with the world-building almost instantly, and reading about Dex and Mosscap getting to know each other, and learning more about themselves, brought me a lot of joy.
Many books ask questions about the meaning of life and experiencing life, but this one does it in a way that brought me comfort and tranquility, which is something I really appreciate.
Its take on robots, their lives and experiences was another aspect I find fascinating. Now I wish there were entire essays on the world-building regarding robots, as well as their hobbies and goals, in the world created by Becky Chambers. So many robots, from the bits and pieces we find out from Mosscap, sound like they have an interesting story to tell. Even the ones that sit there for decades and do nothing but watch trees grow. I'd read all of them. And the naming conventions for the robots? I loved this idea so much!
A Psalm for the Wild-Built is a book I'll definitely re-visit at one point, and I'll make sure to read A Prayer for the Crown-Shy as well.
I needed something cozy that would take my mind off the stress of waiting at the airport, and A Psalm for the Wild-Built did exactly that. I fell in love with the world-building almost instantly, and reading about Dex and Mosscap getting to know each other, and learning more about themselves, brought me a lot of joy.
Many books ask questions about the meaning of life and experiencing life, but this one does it in a way that brought me comfort and tranquility, which is something I really appreciate.
Its take on robots, their lives and experiences was another aspect I find fascinating. Now I wish there were entire essays on the world-building regarding robots, as well as their hobbies and goals, in the world created by Becky Chambers. So many robots, from the bits and pieces we find out from Mosscap, sound like they have an interesting story to tell. Even the ones that sit there for decades and do nothing but watch trees grow. I'd read all of them. And the naming conventions for the robots? I loved this idea so much!
A Psalm for the Wild-Built is a book I'll definitely re-visit at one point, and I'll make sure to read A Prayer for the Crown-Shy as well.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief
Minor: Animal death, Slavery, Blood, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
What is the meaning of life?
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Gorgeous prose and world building. Hooked by the end of the vision where life can just be.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book does exactly what it sets out to do: provide a cozy, low-stakes, and life-affirming story of personal discovery. It's about sitting with a lack of direction and all the anxieties of being alive, wanting to have a sense of purpose and not knowing what that even is or how to achieve it. It's also about the simple pleasures and beauties of life.
This book has achieved a niche no other really has, and it's a landmark for representation in literature, with its polytheistic, monastic, nonbinary protagonist. It develops a reverence for the nonhuman, blurring the lines between the natural and constructed world we typically think of in binary.
This book has achieved a niche no other really has, and it's a landmark for representation in literature, with its polytheistic, monastic, nonbinary protagonist. It develops a reverence for the nonhuman, blurring the lines between the natural and constructed world we typically think of in binary.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
With A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Chambers has managed to somehow write the perfect book for our post pandemic reflections. In a world where everyone with the means is giving up work, or at least relocating under the capabilities of remote work to more natural and freeing spaces, A Psalm for the Wild-Built dares to ask if even that is enough.
In this slim little novella, we become acquainted with a pleasant little nonbinary monk named Dex who feels unfulfilled in their life of meditation and spiritualism, so they set about on a journey to improve the lives of others through tea service that they hope will also let them commune with a part of the natural world that they feel is lost to them in a post-environmental crisis landscape. When even this is not enough to confront a growing sense of anxiety, Dex hopes that a journey to repurposed wildlands will be the fully immersive journey they need to find personal peace. But is even that enough?
Chambers posits that even the most immersive spiritual journey attainable is not enough to create inner peace if your inner peace is built on needing to fulfill through your fulfillment. That it is not enough to believe that you can obtain a single moment of contentment or enlightenment to sustain you for a lifetime of service. Instead, Chambers, through the dialogues between Dex and a sentient robot named Mosscap, dares the capitalist reader to believe that maybe a life needs a constant series of moments to reset in order to be available for others. And in a world that has trained us that to be in society is to be consistently contributing, that's a bold idea to raise.
This one does suffer from Chambers need to explain what was already a beautifully obvious and powerful metaphor, but the beauty and the power of the idea is enough to sustain this to its conclusion
Quotes:
Sometimes a person reaches a point in their life when it becomes absolutely essential to get the fuck out of the city. (5)
"But if you don't want to infringe upon my agency, let me have agency." (83)
"'Without constructs, you will unravel few mysteries. Without knowledge of the mysteries, your constructs will fail. These pursuits are what make us, but without comfort, you will lack the strength to support either.'" (135)
"If you understand that robots' lack of purpose - our refusal of your purpose - is the crowning mark of our intellectual maturity, why do you put so much energy in seeking the opposite?" (137)
"You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don't know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world and to marvel at it. You don't need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live. That is all most animals do." (139)
In this slim little novella, we become acquainted with a pleasant little nonbinary monk named Dex who feels unfulfilled in their life of meditation and spiritualism, so they set about on a journey to improve the lives of others through tea service that they hope will also let them commune with a part of the natural world that they feel is lost to them in a post-environmental crisis landscape. When even this is not enough to confront a growing sense of anxiety, Dex hopes that a journey to repurposed wildlands will be the fully immersive journey they need to find personal peace. But is even that enough?
Chambers posits that even the most immersive spiritual journey attainable is not enough to create inner peace if your inner peace is built on needing to fulfill through your fulfillment. That it is not enough to believe that you can obtain a single moment of contentment or enlightenment to sustain you for a lifetime of service. Instead, Chambers, through the dialogues between Dex and a sentient robot named Mosscap, dares the capitalist reader to believe that maybe a life needs a constant series of moments to reset in order to be available for others. And in a world that has trained us that to be in society is to be consistently contributing, that's a bold idea to raise.
This one does suffer from Chambers need to explain what was already a beautifully obvious and powerful metaphor, but the beauty and the power of the idea is enough to sustain this to its conclusion
Quotes:
Sometimes a person reaches a point in their life when it becomes absolutely essential to get the fuck out of the city. (5)
"But if you don't want to infringe upon my agency, let me have agency." (83)
"'Without constructs, you will unravel few mysteries. Without knowledge of the mysteries, your constructs will fail. These pursuits are what make us, but without comfort, you will lack the strength to support either.'" (135)
"If you understand that robots' lack of purpose - our refusal of your purpose - is the crowning mark of our intellectual maturity, why do you put so much energy in seeking the opposite?" (137)
"You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don't know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world and to marvel at it. You don't need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live. That is all most animals do." (139)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I adored every minute of this story. Some how, Becky Chambers was able to put into writing my feelings that I can’t even put into words. Dex is wonderful non-binary rep as well. I feel the need to reread it immediately to make sure I didn’t miss anything.
Content Warnings
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders