Last spring, the acting principal at my school lent me a book that he'd been raving about. He told me I'd love it, that the writing style was incredible, the story breathtaking. (I'm paraphrasing here a bit. Suffice it to say he recommended it.)
That book was Anthony Merra's debut novel, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena.
(I'm reviewing a couple of debuts back-to-back; I suppose I'm drawn to them since my own debut is only a couple weeks away!)
So, all those things that the owner of this book, that principal, said about it?
Yeah. He was right.
I've read a couple of truly beautifully-written books this year. (Looking at you, Night Circus!) This was one of them.
“We wear clothes, and speak, and create civilizations, and believe we are more than wolves. But inside us there is a word we cannot pronounce and that is who we are.”
Shivers, right? Just wow.
This book addresses a handful of lives struggling and living amid the rubble of post-war Chechnya. There's an eight-year-old girl, a failed doctor, a cynical, successful doctor, and an assortment of beautiful, both "good" and "bad", supporting characters.
The action itself takes place over only a few days, but the characters reach back into their pasts to examine the roads and landmines and choices that brought each of them to that time and place.
The resulting story is haunting and moving and incredible. It's a story of war, but more than that, of humanity.
I can definitely pass on the recommendation of this one, and I thank the person who lent it to me.
“Life: a constellation of vital phenomena—organization, irritability, movement, growth, reproduction, adaptation.”
What was the last book that someone recommended you? Did you love it, like I loved this one? Care to recommend it to me?
Comment below!