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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
And then there shall be a fire that knows the naming of you, and in the presence of the strangling fruit, its dark flame shall acquire every part of you that remains.
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Beautiful, eerie, and poignant
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Atmospheric, bite-sized cosmic horror. Prose gave me literal chills. Following the biologist's journey here felt like seeing a small slice of the inevitable.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
Don’t feel like i fully grasped a lot of the intricacies that are written into this book and is probably the first book i see myself reading again to try to understand it more when i get more books under my belt
This book is a very interesting read. Finishing it in around 3 hrs I found the text fairly digestible but lasting in its impact. It focused on the themes of transition and transitive spaces both physical and mental. I noticed a lot of allusions towards climate change and the limits to human adaptability. There was also a lot of consideration towards the concept of a loss of control both in the aspect of society but also to nature.
*Spoilers Ahead for House of Leaves, Piranesi, and Annihilation*
I found that the descent into the tower felt like an inversion of the ascent of Navidson in House of Leaves. The focus on the ways in which the tower felt like an inversion of the lighthouse mirrored the way in which the Keeper is likely an inversion of the "natural" order. The Keeper expelling/being made up of light also supports this inversion.
The way in which the Biologist finds beauty in the connections of nature and the ways in which it has twisted is really beautiful to me. The time that Vandermeer takes to just let the world move feels super refreshing and reminds in me in some ways of the pacing of Piranesi. The thought of losing yourself in nature or your own environment is simultaneously terrifying but also very relatable. This book has encouraged me to take notice of the interactions between living things and the nature of our interactions with the world around us. The importance of relationships to ground yourself also felt very apt.
I found more connections to Piranesi (Slight Spoilers) in the way that one can lose oneself in nature. Also similar is the understanding that one can only glance at the infinite. With Piranesi's the infinite being the Knowledge lost in Annihilation the connectedness and transformative nature of reality.
All three of the texts that I have mentioned dealt with Infinity in one form or another. They al seem to deal with the idea of the home as a structure but also as an ideal something that can be perverted or grow. That idea seems to be a through line through all of these books and to me represents the nature of the immortality of anyone's actions on the world. They leave traces of themselves throughout eternity.
Favorite Quote: Pg 167 "And we wouldn't have turned back. We would have kept going until we couldn't go farther"
Thanks for reading my review! Wrote this in 5 minutes so I apologize if some of my points aren't communicated effectively.
*Spoilers Ahead for House of Leaves, Piranesi, and Annihilation*
I found that the descent into the tower felt like an inversion of the ascent of Navidson in House of Leaves. The focus on the ways in which the tower felt like an inversion of the lighthouse mirrored the way in which the Keeper is likely an inversion of the "natural" order. The Keeper expelling/being made up of light also supports this inversion.
The way in which the Biologist finds beauty in the connections of nature and the ways in which it has twisted is really beautiful to me. The time that Vandermeer takes to just let the world move feels super refreshing and reminds in me in some ways of the pacing of Piranesi. The thought of losing yourself in nature or your own environment is simultaneously terrifying but also very relatable. This book has encouraged me to take notice of the interactions between living things and the nature of our interactions with the world around us. The importance of relationships to ground yourself also felt very apt.
I found more connections to Piranesi (Slight Spoilers) in the way that one can lose oneself in nature. Also similar is the understanding that one can only glance at the infinite. With Piranesi's the infinite being the Knowledge lost in Annihilation the connectedness and transformative nature of reality.
All three of the texts that I have mentioned dealt with Infinity in one form or another. They al seem to deal with the idea of the home as a structure but also as an ideal something that can be perverted or grow. That idea seems to be a through line through all of these books and to me represents the nature of the immortality of anyone's actions on the world. They leave traces of themselves throughout eternity.
Favorite Quote: Pg 167 "And we wouldn't have turned back. We would have kept going until we couldn't go farther"
Thanks for reading my review! Wrote this in 5 minutes so I apologize if some of my points aren't communicated effectively.
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
tense
fast-paced