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A review by ahbartlett
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
3.5
I understand why this is a divisive read - some say it is gorgeous, others say it is trite, and I would argue two things can true at the same time. It is also not a 1 star read @ Iona please revisit your rating.
Orbital follows a loose definition of fiction, as really it’s just a thought experiment of “what would happen if a poet got sent to the International Space Station?” Maybe Orbital is hyperrealistic lyricism? I at times wondered if our omniscient narrator was God - in awe of His own creation, whilst also delighting in observing the six humans sent to space to also awe at His creation.
The prose in this book is truly lovely and passages are worth returning to on this basis alone. You could pick a page at random and find a quote that’s both provoking and lyrical - but one could also argue this is an issue, as a deluge of provoking and lyrical moments means they all blur into one. Despite this, the most interesting discussion for me was man’s clear visual impact on Earth’s geography - this discussion will stick with me for a while. I also loved her description of the Voyager, but this is my special interest so she knew her target demographic with that one.
Despite its brevity Orbital started to drag in the last 1/3rd, as there is only so many times you can name countries at random and this be engaging to read. I like to imagine Samantha Harvey just writing this with Word on one monitor and Google Maps on the other. I also like to imagine after writing each sentence she said “damn, mic drop” out loud to an audience of no one.
On the whole I liked it but did not love it. As a literary girlie who as a child was obsessed with the planets I am glad this work exists, but I will also not be rereading this anytime soon.
Orbital follows a loose definition of fiction, as really it’s just a thought experiment of “what would happen if a poet got sent to the International Space Station?” Maybe Orbital is hyperrealistic lyricism? I at times wondered if our omniscient narrator was God - in awe of His own creation, whilst also delighting in observing the six humans sent to space to also awe at His creation.
The prose in this book is truly lovely and passages are worth returning to on this basis alone. You could pick a page at random and find a quote that’s both provoking and lyrical - but one could also argue this is an issue, as a deluge of provoking and lyrical moments means they all blur into one. Despite this, the most interesting discussion for me was man’s clear visual impact on Earth’s geography - this discussion will stick with me for a while. I also loved her description of the Voyager, but this is my special interest so she knew her target demographic with that one.
Despite its brevity Orbital started to drag in the last 1/3rd, as there is only so many times you can name countries at random and this be engaging to read. I like to imagine Samantha Harvey just writing this with Word on one monitor and Google Maps on the other. I also like to imagine after writing each sentence she said “damn, mic drop” out loud to an audience of no one.
On the whole I liked it but did not love it. As a literary girlie who as a child was obsessed with the planets I am glad this work exists, but I will also not be rereading this anytime soon.