I’ve been traveling all week for work and I have to say – nothing in this world feels as good as coming home. There was a time – long ago – when I enjoyed business travel – particularly international trips. I got over that pretty quickly – now it’s just work. The most joyful aspect of traveling for work these days is coming home – pulling into the driveway – seeing the light streaming out from an open front door – silhouetting Daisy and Butterscotch who are always waiting for me with wagging tails – jumping all over me like they haven’t seen me in a year – then getting that big, warm, wonderful hug from my wife. For me, that’s what makes a trip worthwhile these days.
Another source of joy involves the extra reading time that comes with travel. I’ve never been able to work on planes – too little space – too many people – too many distractions. I now just embrace the time as an opportunity to read. Combine that with the time you have in the hotel room after all the work is done and I’m usually able to make some real progress on whatever book I’m into at the time.
When I left for this trip, I was halfway through the 2nd book in the Southern Reach Trilogy – “Authority”. By the time I got back home yesterday, I’d finished both “Authority” as well as the final book in the trilogy – “Acceptance”. I promised to come back and post final thoughts once done and this will be my chance.
In my first post on the Trilogy, I mentioned that I wanted to finish the books before the release of “Annihilation” as well as my concern about how anyone could turn this body of work into a movie. I’m doubling down on that after finishing all three books. THERE…IS…NO…WAY!! I like Natalie Portman and I’m sure they’ve made an entertaining movie but I’m also pretty sure that it bears only a passing resemblance to the book and to what Jeff VanderMeer has managed to accomplish with it.
I’ll still probably go see this movie. I’ve checked the reviews and it’s actually hard to tell what I should expect. On Rotten Tomatoes, it scores much higher with critics than with audiences. Given the density and complexity of the story – that may be a good thing – no way to tell. Having finished the books, however, I feel like I should finish this trip and see what Hollywood has done with – or to – a pretty amazing book.
I’ll start by saying that I found these books to be beautifully crafted. For me, VanderMeer’s language was hypnotic and immersive – it drew me in and focused me. There was nothing going on in my head while I was reading that didn’t involve what I was reading. Not sure if this is true for others but all too much of what I read these days allows me to skim and drift and read on autopilot and still enjoy the story. That was not the case for these books. In order to appreciate what VanderMeer is doing, you have to truly pay attention to every paragraph and page. I read these books in a very deliberate way – anything else and I know I would have either missed things – or missed feeling things.
I also felt that the way VanderMeer structured the story across three separate volumes was really impressive. He increases both the complexity and the pace of the narrative in every volume. He offers up small things early on but provides no indication of their eventual significance. He uses the first two volumes to put all his pieces on the board and pose questions. The third book brings everything together and connects almost every dot in a relentless and very satisfying way. I read through these books without a pause – progressing automatically from one volume to the next – didn’t even think about putting them aside or stepping away. I treated them like a bucket of popcorn – once I start, I am not going to stop – not even going to pause – until there’s nothing left but a small pile of lonely, unpopped kernels.
Ultimately – by the time I finished – these books left me tired – “stick a fork in me cuz I’m done” tired. I had a similar feeling after finishing “The Stars Are Legion” but was very dissatisfied in that case because I just didn’t find much meaning in the story – it was a bit of a hot mess – very hard to connect with on any level. Southern Reach is different – you can’t help but connect with these books. They force you to think – to turn inward and ask yourself a whole host of questions about how you relate to the people around you and to the world in which you live.
The books became quite personal for me – demanding introspection and self-evaluation – never a bad thing in my experience. I think any story that leaves you asking questions about yourself has done a pretty profound thing. Short to long – they’re hard but satisfying work and I’d highly recommend them. I’d also recommend that you have something light and fun and frothy to turn to once you’re done – more on that in my next post.