Wow! Holy crap! What happens next?! Those were my thoughts as I put down this book. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett was chosen as my book club’s February pick. To tell y’all the truth, I wasn’t excited about it. The premise didn’t immediately appeal to me. Then I picked it up from the library, & I’d requested the large print version so it looked super long {blah!}. But a book club friend sent it to me on the Kindle & I started reading anyway.
Next thing I know, it’s a week later & I’m staying up until 2a {like I was a teenager!} because I just HAD to know what happened at the end.
Set in Minnesota, Brazil & an unknown Amazon rain forest location, it’s a medical research based novel focusing on two researchers, a doctor & their boss. While the premise might sound strange, give it a chance. While there’s not a ton of in-depth character development, it’s very action packed. The locations & situations in the book were so foreign to me that it kept me on the edge of my seat. As someone who’s dealt with infertility, that research aspect really interested me.
State of Wonder brings up a lot of medical discussion questions that were great for book club conversation: how old is too old to have children? What would you do ~ how far would you go for medical science? When does consent come into play with human subjects? How much Western “help” should you provide to an indigenous culture just because you’re there & you can? Would you eat random mushrooms? Let people steal your clothes? Can you handle bugs?
We also talked about what we thought was the craziest or scariest or most painful part of State of Wonder. Without giving much away, there were a lot. We talked shoes, bugs, children, man-eating tribes, snakes.
If you’ve read State of Wonder, I’d love to hear your thoughts. If you haven’t & are into pushing yourself a little with your next book, I’d recommend it. I also think it’d make for a great movie. & if you hear there’s going to be a sequel, let me know.
