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moistforchoice 's review for:
Borne
by Jeff VanderMeer
Partially filled the Southern Reach-shaped hole in my heart. This is VanderMeer in his element, very Area X-esque - a scavenger working and co-surviving with her lover in a desolate, abandoned city full of trash and things reminiscent of a society, now only to be scavenged. VanderMeer masterfully builds his world such that we know what it now looked like, dark and grimy, and also what it used to be, and I could see that it was once shiny and futuristic (I do love them alcohol minnows).
The star of the story is Borne. We see him through the eyes of Rachel, who found him when he was 'little' when she was out scavenging, and who tried to raise him as a child. Borne is a purple blob creature who initially presented as a plant, but we find out that he babbles like a toddler, loves sunlight and eating trash, and changes shape like nothing that can be imagined. As he grows, Borne's character is the one to move the story and its protagonists towards the source of conflict, what VanderMeer, in true Area X style, calls The Company.
VanderMeer's writing conveys a lot in the background. You have his words in front of you, and they don't quite explicitly give away everything, but you sense a lurking, large horror that may or may not come out. It's rather Lovecraftian, if I may. The Company is the tower in Area X, creepy and foreboding. There are strange technology and strange animals and even strange humans (or not-humans) everywhere. Borne itself represents the speculative nature of the story. He is the physical manifestation of all the ideas presented in the story - exploring the nature of a person, desolation of a city, learning self-identity, and so on.
I loved the book because it's written so beautifully and engagingly. I hang on to every word while reading his books because he is very succinct, and every word he uses in his sentences carries meaning to the story and is worth digesting slowly. Do I dare say then I would have liked it better if VanderMeer betrayed what he usually does and actually gives us an opportunity to know more about the world he's build, the Company, his characters, and even Borne? His characters are distinct individuals but it feels like they are out of reach to the reader, murky illusions in a story. Nothing much was expanded on Borne and his biology, and how he came about.
VanderMeer doesn't give you the satisfaction of knowing. He lets you speculate. Which is probably just as well. 4.5 stars.
The star of the story is Borne. We see him through the eyes of Rachel, who found him when he was 'little' when she was out scavenging, and who tried to raise him as a child. Borne is a purple blob creature who initially presented as a plant, but we find out that he babbles like a toddler, loves sunlight and eating trash, and changes shape like nothing that can be imagined. As he grows, Borne's character is the one to move the story and its protagonists towards the source of conflict, what VanderMeer, in true Area X style, calls The Company.
"Sometimes Borne would adopt a kind of a new "bloat" position that made him look like a huge, fleshy eggplant on its side, his tentacles pulled down over his torso to provide stability."
VanderMeer's writing conveys a lot in the background. You have his words in front of you, and they don't quite explicitly give away everything, but you sense a lurking, large horror that may or may not come out. It's rather Lovecraftian, if I may. The Company is the tower in Area X, creepy and foreboding. There are strange technology and strange animals and even strange humans (or not-humans) everywhere. Borne itself represents the speculative nature of the story. He is the physical manifestation of all the ideas presented in the story - exploring the nature of a person, desolation of a city, learning self-identity, and so on.
I loved the book because it's written so beautifully and engagingly. I hang on to every word while reading his books because he is very succinct, and every word he uses in his sentences carries meaning to the story and is worth digesting slowly. Do I dare say then I would have liked it better if VanderMeer betrayed what he usually does and actually gives us an opportunity to know more about the world he's build, the Company, his characters, and even Borne? His characters are distinct individuals but it feels like they are out of reach to the reader, murky illusions in a story. Nothing much was expanded on Borne and his biology, and how he came about.
VanderMeer doesn't give you the satisfaction of knowing. He lets you speculate. Which is probably just as well. 4.5 stars.