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Adina ( back from Vacay…slowly recovering) 's Reviews > Orbital
Orbital
by
by
Winner of the Booker prize 2024.
Well, there is no doubt that the writing is beautiful. Did I enjoy reading the novel? Hmm, I am not sure. Mostly because I could not focus on it for more than 5 minutes at a time. I listened to the book and it might have been a bad decision, since the novel is plotless. Yes, there is absolutely no plot in it. It does not start from a point and goes to another. It might circle around like the space station orbits around Earth. Ok, there is no plot but there are words in the novel, what are they about, you might wonder? Me too, but I will try to write something about them. A bunch of astronauts from different countries are gathered together on a space station for 6 months and while they are there, they study the Earth, think and talk stuff. Sometimes about their childhood and what made them become astronauts. Sometimes about their family. Sometimes they wonder about the beauty of the earth. Sometimes they do science stuff, some involve genetically modified mice.
In conclusion, the book was beautifully written but boring (to me). I like space so it shouldn’t have been. It probably did not help that I was jet lagged while listening to it.
Well, there is no doubt that the writing is beautiful. Did I enjoy reading the novel? Hmm, I am not sure. Mostly because I could not focus on it for more than 5 minutes at a time. I listened to the book and it might have been a bad decision, since the novel is plotless. Yes, there is absolutely no plot in it. It does not start from a point and goes to another. It might circle around like the space station orbits around Earth. Ok, there is no plot but there are words in the novel, what are they about, you might wonder? Me too, but I will try to write something about them. A bunch of astronauts from different countries are gathered together on a space station for 6 months and while they are there, they study the Earth, think and talk stuff. Sometimes about their childhood and what made them become astronauts. Sometimes about their family. Sometimes they wonder about the beauty of the earth. Sometimes they do science stuff, some involve genetically modified mice.
In conclusion, the book was beautifully written but boring (to me). I like space so it shouldn’t have been. It probably did not help that I was jet lagged while listening to it.
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Reading Progress
November 8, 2024
– Shelved as:
considering
November 8, 2024
– Shelved
November 8, 2024
– Shelved as:
booker-2024
November 19, 2024
–
Started Reading
November 22, 2024
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 68 (68 new)
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➦Paulette & Her Sexy Alphas
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Nov 19, 2024 07:43AM
💋Happy Reading 💕 ツ😘
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➦Paulette & Her Sexy Alphas❥ wrote: "💋Happy Reading 💕 ツ😘"More of Sleepy reading
Fair review, Adina! Booker winners rarely make sense to me anyway so I can understand. I have seen a lot of reviews calling out no plot in this one. Hope your next read is better!
I tried. I gave up. I am reading The Books of Jacob instead. 950-pages long and it seems much shorter than Orbital. Tedious.
Oh no! I picked this one up because it won the award - thankfully it's also pretty short!
I’m always underwhelmed with booker prize winners and nominees so I don’t bother anymore 😂Sorry you weren’t too keen on it. Although a 3 star review is not bad
Great review, Adina! I just wished you enjoyed it more.
Ugh. I hate it when it’s so hyped up and it sucks. Sorry and thanks
Gosh, Adina, I had the intention to read the book, but there are so many different opinions that I don’t know if I should take the trouble. Thanks for your straightforward review!
No plot. No problem. There's always other stuff to interest. It's never that much of a holy grail for me. In truth life never has much of a plot, though of course fiction by definition is not real life. All that said, I wasn't completely sold on this one either.
Your review rated higher than the story for me. I haven't read it, but I would probably lose interest if I was waiting for something to happen, say genetically modified killer mice.
Bummer. Sounds like watching a middle episode of a series you never knew. Enough to know what it's happening but not enough to understand where it came from or where is going to. Fair review Adina!
I usually tend to find these plotless narratives utterly boring, but what I liked about this one is that is really caught the nihilistic rhythm of what I expect it means to live in the ISS.
I listened to it as well, although not jet-lagged, and the meandering plotless nature of it does require more patience than I think I’m willing to give it. Interesting point about circling around the points in the manner space station or it’s; maybe that was the point? In any case, at least it wasn’t terrible.
Akankshya wrote: "Fair review, Adina! Booker winners rarely make sense to me anyway so I can understand. I have seen a lot of reviews calling out no plot in this one. Hope your next read is better!" I hope so too.
Gabriela wrote: "I tried. I gave up. I am reading The Books of Jacob instead. 950-pages long and it seems much shorter than Orbital. Tedious." haha, I got stuck with that one at some point.
Southern Lady Reads wrote: "Oh no! I picked this one up because it won the award - thankfully it's also pretty short!" Thankfully, it would have been a DNF otherwise.
Victoria wrote: "I’m always underwhelmed with booker prize winners and nominees so I don’t bother anymore 😂Sorry you weren’t too keen on it. Although a 3 star review is not bad" No, I appreciated the writing and idea, not the content.
Jodi wrote: "Great review, Adina! I just wished you enjoyed it more." me too.
Alessandra wrote: "Ugh. I hate it when it’s so hyped up and it sucks. Sorry and thanks" it won the prize but I do not think it was very hyped before it did. or maybe it was.
Hanneke wrote: "Gosh, Adina, I had the intention to read the book, but there are so many different opinions that I don’t know if I should take the trouble. Thanks for your straightforward review!" yeah, not sure what you should do either.
Harris wrote: "No plot. No problem. There's always other stuff to interest. It's never that much of a holy grail for me. In truth life never has much of a plot, though of course fiction by definition is not real ..." I agree, I gave 5* to Proust and Knausgaard so I also have no problems with plotless books. Maybe I should have said no substance instead?
Joe (NOT RECEIVING NOTIFICATIONS) wrote: "Your review rated higher than the story for me. I haven't read it, but I would probably lose interest if I was waiting for something to happen, say genetically modified killer mice." Haha, they were not killer mice, it would have been fun then :))
Federico wrote: "Bummer. Sounds like watching a middle episode of a series you never knew. Enough to know what it's happening but not enough to understand where it came from or where is going to. Fair review Adina!" Well said, thank you.
Lea wrote: "I usually tend to find these plotless narratives utterly boring, but what I liked about this one is that is really caught the nihilistic rhythm of what I expect it means to live in the ISS." Glad it worked for you. I am easily distracted so I really need to be into the writing if there is no plot involved.
Nataliya wrote: "I listened to it as well, although not jet-lagged, and the meandering plotless nature of it does require more patience than I think I’m willing to give it. Interesting point about circling around t..." I am pretty sure that was the point. It does not make it more interesting though. it wasn't horrible, agree.
That was exactly my experience when listening to it. I kept tuning out.
Sarah wrote: "That was exactly my experience when listening to it. I kept tuning out." it would have been netter as a book.
My sentiments exactly, Adina. I mostly had to force myself to finish it, and only did because it was so short.
Paula wrote: "My sentiments exactly, Adina. I mostly had to force myself to finish it, and only did because it was so short." it would have been a dnf for me as well if it were longer.
I loved this book so much but I had a hard time concentrating. I had to almost read it out loud.
Kristine wrote: "I loved this book so much but I had a hard time concentrating. I had to almost read it out loud." Glad you saw in it what the jury saw. Reading out load might have been a good idea.
I am curious about this book. It seems that this book isn’t an actual science fiction instead using Sci Fi settings to tell a Sci-Fi like story.
Fantasy boy wrote: "I am curious about this book. It seems that this book isn’t an actual science fiction instead using Sci Fi settings to tell a Sci-Fi like story." It’s bo sci fi. It’s a collection of musings about the beauty of Earth seen from space.
Bummer that there was no plot to keep you listening.. Wonderful review!
Theresa wrote: "Bummer that there was no plot to keep you listening.. Wonderful review!" Thank you. Yeah, a pity.
Thank you! I thought it was me. I really had to force myself to concentrate.
Paula wrote: "Thank you! I thought it was me. I really had to force myself to concentrate." Same.
I agree. I found it difficult to stay focused.
Linda wrote: "I agree. I found it difficult to stay focused." Me too, as I wrote in my review.
I'm in the middle of this book now and feel exactly the same. Beautifully written but really dull! I thought I'd read it in a couple of sittings but I can't always bring myself to pick it up again!
Karon wrote: "I'm in the middle of this book now and feel exactly the same. Beautifully written but really dull! I thought I'd read it in a couple of sittings but I can't always bring myself to pick it up again!" Too bad, the idea was good. Well, it won the Booker prize so many love it.
My thoughts exactly
Morgan wrote: "My thoughts exactly" Glad we agree :))
Brought it as a holiday reading book and ended up falling asleep during every chapter. This is not a page turner. Interesting, plot line but, incredibly tedious to read. No denying that the author has the power of imagination and descriptive dialogue. But, this was a dull read.
I have finished this book and have the same opinion as you do, it feels like the story is getting nowhere despite having many potential plot lines
