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mariebrunelm's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
This book came with a moderate amount of hype, by which I mean that I've only seen it recommended by one person, but she said she adored it and I do trust her opinion. What excited me about it was the prospect of philosophical sci-fi with heart. It's the story of a man who is sent to communicate with another life form on a planet far far away. What the review and the blurb didn't say, and which I think is important to mention, is that this man, Peter, is deeply religious and lives his life through the prism of his Catholicism. Which isn't a point of view I'm comfortable with, to begin with, but I understand that it is really personal. Then this man talks about loving everyone and being a Good Person but sometimes he's weirdly judgmental and not in a good way, but I couldn't decide if it was ironic on the author's part, to contrast that with Peter's religion and how he tries to be a Good Christian when in fact he's so full of prejudices and racism.
I'd say this book is good for people who are not into sci-fi because — and I do hope it doesn't sound like a criticism because it's not — it reads like a science-fiction book written by an author who specialises in literary fiction. It was a feeling I had. It reminded me a lot of the sections in His Dark Materials between Mary and the mulefas, but to me it didn't have the elements of wonder and deep, deep scientific interest that Mary has and which make her story exciting to read.
I don't know. This book made me uncomfortable and although I'm pretty sure it's just me, I wouldn't know who to recommend it to. Last but not least, and this is very personal, I really don't like reading from the perspective of cis men talking about their bodies. Again, that's very personal. But I was absolutely certain Peter was in his late 40s so when he states at some point that he's 33, it made me question a lot of things and took me out of the story a little bit more. All in all, I think this is a good book but you have to be ready for a very flawed character who is not questioned when he thinks racist or fatphobic things. This book made me angry and I considered abandoning it so often it was ridiculous.
CW : sexual content, fatphobia, racism, intense animal cruelty & death (I skipped the 2 pages where it happens).
Rep : lesbian secondary character, asexual secondary character (and a rather nice paragraph about asexuality as well).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Moderate: Fatphobia and Racism
Minor: Sexual violence and Colonisation
luise96's review against another edition
The main character is very unlikable and somewhat of a racist and islamophob. While I don‘t mind unlikable protagonists and unreliable narrators, i felt very uncomfortable reading this guy‘s narration, so after trying hard i decided to stop reading the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Islamophobia, Racism, and Xenophobia
n_asyikin_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
TW: religion; mentions of domestic violence; focus on gender may evoke transphobia-related triggers; mentions of deaths; addictions; ableism; graphic animal abuse; natural disasters
An atmospheric story, described in ways that was evocative which effectively transported you into an alien planet. The rain, in particular, captivated me - much as it did our MC Peter. This book was character-driven, in such that there really wasn't a clear conflict & solution; those exist in the implicit struggles brought about by Peter's interactions with others, especially with his Earth-bound wife. Peter was simplistic in some ways, with his attenuated dedication to his faith; the conflict derived from his struggles regarding his faith at the end. The narrative was gorgeous in some parts.
However, some of Peter's approaches and views could be frustrating, bordering on problematic.I was uncomfortable with his insistence to genderized the Oasans; that "need" bordered on transphobia for me (i.e., we're referring to alien species here, with no clear indication that gender exists in their kind, so the insistence left a bad taste in my mouth). Concurrently, there was implicit & explicit instances of racism. The seeming use of AAVE in the depiction of BG also felt rather stereotypical; I'm unsure how a Black American may feel about how he was depicted especially since this book was written by a white author. There was also the use of racial slur, describing another human being as having "simian features". It is also common in the narrative that the author would delineate & acknowledge that an opinion is prejudicial. It felt disingenous though to have that point being said, then within the same context, acknowledge its potential problem. The question then became, what purpose did it has in the storyline? Take the gender issue, for example. It seemed rather trivial that Peter's obsession relates more to linguistic pragmatism, e.g., needing to use genderised pronouns to refer to the Oasan. For someone as simplistic in his view, Peter spent an exhaustive amount of time for something as trivial. My point was, this element to the story felt dismissable when it shouldn't've been. I was hoping that Peter could contemplate more, especially when he decided to better understand the local community (which was commendable).
That being said, there were hints of the 'white saviour' trope imbued with colonial justification into some parts of the story.For example, the brown Muslim side-character that needs rescuing from the white church. Notably, that story arc seemed to perpetuate Islamophobia. I was also hoping that more can be explored with the seeming apathy by USIC staffs; I thought that element to the story deserved greater attention especially in relation to Alex Grainger.
Aside from that, the bond Peter shared with the Oasans was beautiful, particularly in terms of their trust in him. I was especially moved by the goodbye scene. Perhaps this was due to his brain fog, or memory lapses, but I still thought that there was little the Oasan contributed to the story in general, i.e., how had Peter interactions with them changed him. Maybe that's the point of the story - for Peter, his world, his home was with Bea. And the Oasans would forever remained mysterious in their ways.
Overall, I liked the descriptions used to talk about Oasis. Some points of contemplation made by these characters also fueled the story. At times the structure can seemed a bit lost. But, if you enjoy a more introspective narration, you'd enjoy the book. Fair warning though, there was the colonialist mentality that seemed to subserve Peter's approach in "helping others".
An atmospheric story, described in ways that was evocative which effectively transported you into an alien planet. The rain, in particular, captivated me - much as it did our MC Peter. This book was character-driven, in such that there really wasn't a clear conflict & solution; those exist in the implicit struggles brought about by Peter's interactions with others, especially with his Earth-bound wife. Peter was simplistic in some ways, with his attenuated dedication to his faith; the conflict derived from his struggles regarding his faith at the end. The narrative was gorgeous in some parts.
However, some of Peter's approaches and views could be frustrating, bordering on problematic.
That being said, there were hints of the 'white saviour' trope imbued with colonial justification into some parts of the story.
Aside from that, the bond Peter shared with the Oasans was beautiful, particularly in terms of their trust in him. I was especially moved by the goodbye scene. Perhaps this was due to his brain fog, or memory lapses, but I still thought that there was little the Oasan contributed to the story in general, i.e., how had Peter interactions with them changed him. Maybe that's the point of the story - for Peter, his world, his home was with Bea. And the Oasans would forever remained mysterious in their ways.
Overall, I liked the descriptions used to talk about Oasis. Some points of contemplation made by these characters also fueled the story. At times the structure can seemed a bit lost. But, if you enjoy a more introspective narration, you'd enjoy the book. Fair warning though, there was the colonialist mentality that seemed to subserve Peter's approach in "helping others".
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Ableism, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Islamophobia, Racism, and Transphobia
Minor: Domestic abuse and Suicide
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