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A review by lykkes_laeserier
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
5.0
Utterly gorgeous and poetic, this Booker Prize 2024 winner about life in space aboard the International Space Station has strangely low ratings on Goodreads: An average of only 3.65 (as of writing this). I can see that it might not be for everyone, but still. That’s low for Goodreads.
“Orbital” (2023) is as literary as literary fiction comes. Not much plot but heavy on atmosphere, which is probably why many Goodreads users have given it such low scores. Personally, I was utterly and completely mesmerized by this book. I loved its’s poetic nature, the weaving in and out of the thoughts and minds of the six astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station over the course of 24 hours and 16 orbits around Earth as well as the way it addressed the reader directly at times. For me, it worked perfectly.
In “Orbital”, author Samantha Harvey seamlessly shifts between microcosms and macrocosms and back again. Despite only covering a 24-hour period, she manages to encompass everything from the beginning of time to the end of time. I definitely understand why this book was ultimately chosen as the Booker Prize winner for 2024. It simply contains everything. Except, of course, a whole lot of plot.
If you are a plot-driven reader, this certainly might not be the book for you. If, on the other hand, you enjoy beautiful, poetic language and atmospheric settings, you might consider giving it a chance and it may surprise you.
“Orbital” (2023) is as literary as literary fiction comes. Not much plot but heavy on atmosphere, which is probably why many Goodreads users have given it such low scores. Personally, I was utterly and completely mesmerized by this book. I loved its’s poetic nature, the weaving in and out of the thoughts and minds of the six astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station over the course of 24 hours and 16 orbits around Earth as well as the way it addressed the reader directly at times. For me, it worked perfectly.
In “Orbital”, author Samantha Harvey seamlessly shifts between microcosms and macrocosms and back again. Despite only covering a 24-hour period, she manages to encompass everything from the beginning of time to the end of time. I definitely understand why this book was ultimately chosen as the Booker Prize winner for 2024. It simply contains everything. Except, of course, a whole lot of plot.
If you are a plot-driven reader, this certainly might not be the book for you. If, on the other hand, you enjoy beautiful, poetic language and atmospheric settings, you might consider giving it a chance and it may surprise you.