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gavinofhaynes 's review for:
Borne
by Jeff VanderMeer
Borne is a strange read, and after pondering fairly difficult to review. There aren't many books that I've read that are anything like this, and the strangeness of it all gives it a ephemeral feel. I'm still not entirely sure what I read, but it was an interesting experience.
The story is almost impossible to describe without sounding like a crazy person. Rachel is a survivor in a post apocalyptic setting, one day she stumbles across a sentient blob, who she names Borne. Borne was stuck to a 30 foot tall bear that can fly, is semi-intelligent, and literally rules the city the characters inhabit. From there she raises the sentient blob much like one would raise a child, if the child could morph their body at will and was programmed to eat things. All of this is happening in a world where carrying a bag of killer-genetically-engineered-beetles is the norm. The setting gets in the way at times, just due to the bizarre nature of it, but it allows for the story to try to address really interesting questions.
The main question: what makes us human? is interesting as Rachel raises Borne from a blob that eats lizards to a larger blob that gets his own apartment and reads books. This again sounds crazy, but somehow VanderMeer makes me want to consider it. A lot of this has to do with his writing style. Those who've read Annihilation will recognize the almost out-of-body, dream like quality of the narration. Borne takes a different path then Annihilation overall, despite many similarities. Although both occur in twisted and horrifically beautiful places, Borne somehow injects a sense of comedy and absurdity into the story. That's not to say this book is lighthearted and fun, it's pretty brutal and dark, but where Annihilation reveled in the darkness Borne gives the impression that there could be some light at the end of it all.
Overall, I liked it, but I feel that the setting dragged down the arc of the story. There are plenty of memorable scenes featuring giant bears or weird biologically engineered people, but it all feels very tenuously strung together. The fact that the book refuses to answer or explain many of these strange occurrences is endearing, but I assume many would be turned away by the style.
The story is almost impossible to describe without sounding like a crazy person. Rachel is a survivor in a post apocalyptic setting, one day she stumbles across a sentient blob, who she names Borne. Borne was stuck to a 30 foot tall bear that can fly, is semi-intelligent, and literally rules the city the characters inhabit. From there she raises the sentient blob much like one would raise a child, if the child could morph their body at will and was programmed to eat things. All of this is happening in a world where carrying a bag of killer-genetically-engineered-beetles is the norm. The setting gets in the way at times, just due to the bizarre nature of it, but it allows for the story to try to address really interesting questions.
The main question: what makes us human? is interesting as Rachel raises Borne from a blob that eats lizards to a larger blob that gets his own apartment and reads books. This again sounds crazy, but somehow VanderMeer makes me want to consider it. A lot of this has to do with his writing style. Those who've read Annihilation will recognize the almost out-of-body, dream like quality of the narration. Borne takes a different path then Annihilation overall, despite many similarities. Although both occur in twisted and horrifically beautiful places, Borne somehow injects a sense of comedy and absurdity into the story. That's not to say this book is lighthearted and fun, it's pretty brutal and dark, but where Annihilation reveled in the darkness Borne gives the impression that there could be some light at the end of it all.
Overall, I liked it, but I feel that the setting dragged down the arc of the story. There are plenty of memorable scenes featuring giant bears or weird biologically engineered people, but it all feels very tenuously strung together. The fact that the book refuses to answer or explain many of these strange occurrences is endearing, but I assume many would be turned away by the style.