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Ann Patchett's State of Wonder was a plodding venture into the Amazon and the world of pharmaceutical research. Was this supposed to be a book about modern drug development and taking advantage of an indigenous people and destroying the rain forest? Or, was the novel about fathers, lost and found? There were multiple characters who lost their father
and were looking for a father figure or who exhibited fanatical hero worship towards a zealous mentor. Or, was it about how one woman's life was governed by, even paralyzed by guilt over her past mistakes? Maybe it was all of those. Maybe it was none of those. I don't know for sure--I could make a case for any of these themes.
Adding to my confusion, I could not figure out the meaning of the title--what the author thought her book was about. When we discussed this in book group no one else knew what the meaning of the title was either. I don't recall a "title plug" anywhere in the novel. I can guess based upon the meaning of the words state and wonder. But I don't know from reading the book. Which leaves me confused as to what the author was trying to say.
I liked just one character in this book...Easter. And he got the short end of the stick in every way, lost and then lost again, sacrificed really. The Miami Herald says, "Patchett infuses her characters with fascinating emotional depth." I was not fascinated. I was not drawn in emotionally. I felt most of the characters were one dimensional. Was this to emphasize their single-minded dedication to their research? I did not connect with the protagonist, Marina. She seemed passionless. I was especially confused at the beginning of the book when she kept falling into her dream-like states with no warning. I was unsatisfied at the end of the book because I did not see any growth or development of her character.
I am still in a state of wonder...wondering why I bothered to finish this novel.