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BJ Lillis's Reviews > Orbital
Orbital
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Orbital is a slender literary meditation on a crew of astronauts orbiting the earth. The very fact that it is not science fiction is itself miraculous and implausible. Humanity is in space. That we are in space is not a story about space—it is a story about Earth.
The writing is gorgeous. The novel—if you can call it that—is essentially an obsessive circling around the view of Earth from space. Hold it in your mind, the book demands, this miraculous planet. There is not much character development, no real conflict, little in the way of plot. Just this obsessive circling, an effort to grasp something intangible in the specifics of space travel. To take the knowledge that humans have left earth and repeat it like a mantra; to embellish it with tiny images, like an illuminated manuscript—do these intricate illuminations say more or less than the words they honor, or do they speak together in one voice? Hold them in your mind.
From this particular image, or infinite sequence of images—the earth from orbit—arises a more general interest in images: meditations on Velázquez’s La Meninas, on photographs of Earth taken from the moon. Does a change in perspective change anything? Or is it just human folly and hubris to think that by changing our view of the Earth we change the planet itself?
The writing is gorgeous. The novel—if you can call it that—is essentially an obsessive circling around the view of Earth from space. Hold it in your mind, the book demands, this miraculous planet. There is not much character development, no real conflict, little in the way of plot. Just this obsessive circling, an effort to grasp something intangible in the specifics of space travel. To take the knowledge that humans have left earth and repeat it like a mantra; to embellish it with tiny images, like an illuminated manuscript—do these intricate illuminations say more or less than the words they honor, or do they speak together in one voice? Hold them in your mind.
From this particular image, or infinite sequence of images—the earth from orbit—arises a more general interest in images: meditations on Velázquez’s La Meninas, on photographs of Earth taken from the moon. Does a change in perspective change anything? Or is it just human folly and hubris to think that by changing our view of the Earth we change the planet itself?
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Aug 10, 2023 12:06AM
Do the characters experience the overview effect? 🌍
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They do! I might go so far as to say the entire book is a vain but honorable attempt to replicate that effect in readers :)
Thanks, it goes on my to-read shelf. 🚀
I hadn't heard the term "overview effect". Thanks for mentioning.
I became aware of book today. Your review has made me curious.
Seajay wrote: "Great review"Thanks Seajay!
I gave it five stars, too. Lovely review of a gorgeous book.
Just seeing your comment, thanks Bella! It is a lovely book :)
This is the first five-star review I've seen of this book and I'm afraid not a lot of people liked it. I'm glad you actually described it as a literary meditation because it is!
ysa wrote: "This is the first five-star review I've seen of this book and I'm afraid not a lot of people liked it. I'm glad you actually described it as a literary meditation because it is!"I read and reviewed an advanced copy of this before publication, and for a while I was the top or second to top review. Before it won the Booker, Orbital's book page looked very different. The vast majority of reviews were four or five stars. After it won, the page was flooded with negative reviews, some from readers who see the novel as anti-Russian (there was no sign of any critique like that before it won the prize), many more from readers who would never have picked it up if it hadn't won the prize. And don't take this the wrong way, because I really loved this book. I think the author is very talented, and happily gave it five stars myself. But the Booker is awarded, in its own words, to "the best sustained work of fiction written in English." And the idea that this very beautiful little book is actually the best book of all the books published in English in 2024 is just... that feels really wrong to me. A mistake has been made somewhere. There is just not enough here to support that.
I found it interesting, like a work of poetic non-fiction which indeed it is. But it did not rattle along. The frequent use of "they" for the astronauts, as if they are one person having the same thoughts, is a bit annoying; and none of the characters are sticking in my mind. I am missing a plot to carry me along. However, there are some lyrical passages, and it does bring home Earth's extraordinary uniqueness as an inhabited planet leading to questions: Why us? And, more importantly, why can't we appreciate it more?
Elisabeth wrote: "I found it interesting, like a work of poetic non-fiction which indeed it is. But it did not rattle along. The frequent use of "they" for the astronauts, as if they are one person having the same t..."No, it didn't exactly rattle along! But I felt that was intentional, like the book was meant to hold us still for a moment. I sort of gave it the benefit of the doubt on characterization, too. It felt like the astronauts were supposed to feel as if their individuality were swallowed up in the vastness of what they were doing.
But I also feel that it is entirely possible to accomplish what this book accomplished and have a story that moves forward and vivid characters all at the same time. Which is why, ultimately, I see the book as very successful on its own terms, but an odd choice for a major prize...
