Samantha Harvey
Harvey, Samantha "Orbital" - 2024
#6Degrees of Separation:
from Orbital (Goodreads) to A Clockwork Orange
#6Degrees is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. I love the idea. Thank you, Kate. See more about this challenge, its history, further books and how I found this here.
The starter book this month is Orbital by Samantha Harvey. As so often, I have not read the book.
Here is the description:
Sounds interesting but I have been really disappointed by the last Booker Prize winners I read, so it might take a while, if ever, until I pick this up. But I have read other books about space travel and I will start with my favourite one of them and then go back to using words in the titles.
Here is the description:
"A book of wonder, Orbital is nature writing from space and an unexpected and profound love letter to life on Earth
Six astronauts rotate in their spacecraft above the earth. They are there to collect meteorological data, conduct scientific experiments and test the limits of the human body. But mostly they observe. Together they watch their silent blue planet, circling it sixteen times, spinning past continents and cycling through seasons, taking in glaciers and deserts, the peaks of mountains and the swells of oceans. Endless shows of spectacular beauty witnessed in a single day.
Yet although separated from the world they cannot escape its constant pull. News reaches them of the death of a mother, and with it comes thoughts of returning home. They look on as a typhoon gathers over an island and people they love, in awe of its magnificence and fearful of its destruction. The fragility of human life fills their conversations, their fears, their dreams. So far from earth, they have never felt more part - or protective - of it. They begin to ask, what is life without earth? What is earth without humanity?"
Kadaré, Ismail "The Fall of the Stone City" (aka Chronicle in Stone) (AL: Darka e Gabuar) - 1971
Löwenstein, Anna "The Stone City" (Esperanto: La Ŝtona Urbo) - 1999
LeBor, Adam "City of Oranges. An Intimate History of Arabs and Jews in Jaffa" - 2006
Burgess, Anthony "A Clockwork Orange" - 1962
What do the first and the last book have in common? Well, they both are a work of science fiction.
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I liked Orbital a lot, but it seemed more like a poem than a novel. It has an exceptionally fascinating setting, and it reminded me of the true smallness of the world and our little daily struggles.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, Deb. I'm not into poetry, so I certainly shall give it a miss. Reading about the universe always makes us feel really small, don't you agree?
DeleteThe only one of these I've read is The Martian; it's one of my favs. Fun chain of books. :D
ReplyDeleteThat is a great book, Lark. Have you ever seen the film? I haven't and I don't know whether I want to.
DeleteNice chain! I haven't read any of these but am curious about The Martian, as it does not seem like typical SF.
ReplyDeleteIt's not typical SF, you are right there, Constance. I mean, we can all imagine that one day we might go to Mars. And the difficulties in this novel all seem to be possible which is often not the case in "real" SF. I hope you will read and enjoy it one day.
DeleteI haven't read any of these. Clever links and good link between first and last books!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Joanne. I always try to find a link but it's not always as relatable as this one.
DeleteGreat chain. I don't think I've ever read any books about space travel!
ReplyDeleteI'm not into SF at all, Helen, but I like dystopian novels, so there is something about that in these books.
DeleteThat's interesting... is The Stone City actually written in Esperanto? I've never come across that before, but it does make sense that there should be books in an international language, same as any other language.
ReplyDeleteIt is, Lisa. There are a lot of books written in Esperanto as well as books translated into Esperanto from all sorts of languages. The author of this book is British and I've known her for decades. She has an Italian husband and lived there for quite a while, so her novel takes place both in ancient Britain as well as in Rome and I know she researched the history very well. I think she wrote it in English first and then translated it into Esperanto herself which is the same as if she'd written it in Esperanto first.
DeleteAnd of course, most people don't have any idea about how Esperanto works and how much you can do with it.
If you are interested, go to my label "Esperanto", there are a few books where it is mentioned but also posts by me with more information and links.
https://momobookblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Esperanto
YEAH! Another chain with the Martian Chronicles. You know, I think I read Clockwork Orange, in High School, but I don't remember much. Lovely chain!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Davida. Yes, I was also happy when I found it on your list. I also found The Martian on several lists. Great month.
DeleteInteresting--all the "city of" titles! Very good.
ReplyDeleteI thought so, too, Lisa. I'm sure we could fill a whole list if we wanted to, not all from our reading lists but still.
DeleteGreat chain, as usual. I have read the top 2, and am more and more fascinated by Bradbury
ReplyDeleteThanks, Emma. I've only read two of his novels (so far) and loved them both.
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