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A review by whoischels
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A brisk work of eco-horror that you can complete in a day or two. Sat down with this while high thinking I'd read a couple chapters and ended up breezing through half of it. This book is rich in themes: the difference or lack thereof between humanity and nature, nature's advancement upon everything we build, what closing yourself off to those who love you closes off in you, what makes us human and whether we (or bad actors) can whittle away at it, whether a human is something more than an animal, the futility of achieving objectivity when you tell a story, etc.
Transitional ecologic niches serve as a metaphor between the transition of human to animal that happens to a person under duress. Though in this case, not just animal, but even plant or fungi or vague nature-based thing. The political workings of the Southern Reach world that have given rise to the circumstances of this story are hazy at best in this book. I suspect they become more clear in the sequels, which I'm eager to read. There are vague thematic hints that perhaps the fabric of the Southern Reach world is undergoing a slow transition from human to animal/natural world that mirrors what the biologist narrator goes through.
Having read this, I really look forward to watching the movie, which I never saw in 2018. I suspect it may drastically alter a lot of key plot points. While this is a great book, it would not make a great movie. Too much of the plot hinges on inner dialogue and observation. Actions and dialogue would be clustered at the beginning for it to end with a character silently looking at things and thinking things. A well done movie version of this will drastically alter it.
Transitional ecologic niches serve as a metaphor between the transition of human to animal that happens to a person under duress. Though in this case, not just animal, but even plant or fungi or vague nature-based thing. The political workings of the Southern Reach world that have given rise to the circumstances of this story are hazy at best in this book. I suspect they become more clear in the sequels, which I'm eager to read. There are vague thematic hints that perhaps the fabric of the Southern Reach world is undergoing a slow transition from human to animal/natural world that mirrors what the biologist narrator goes through.
Having read this, I really look forward to watching the movie, which I never saw in 2018. I suspect it may drastically alter a lot of key plot points. While this is a great book, it would not make a great movie. Too much of the plot hinges on inner dialogue and observation. Actions and dialogue would be clustered at the beginning for it to end with a character silently looking at things and thinking things. A well done movie version of this will drastically alter it.