BOOKS FROM ENGLANDOrbital
Tags:
Booker Prize
Female author
Description:
**WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 2024** 'A slim, profound study of intimate human fears set against epic vistas' GUARDIAN 'Stunning... An uplifting book' SUNDAY TIMES Life on our planet as you've never seen it before A team of astronauts in the International Space Station collect meteorological data, conduct scientific experiments and test the limits of the human body. But mostly they observe. Together they watch their silent blue planet, circling it sixteen times, spinning past continents and cycling through seasons, taking in glaciers and deserts, the peaks of mountains and the swells of oceans. Endless shows of spectacular beauty witnessed in a single day. Yet although separated from the world they cannot escape its constant pull. News reaches them of the death of a mother, and with it comes thoughts of returning home. They look on as a typhoon gathers over an island and people they love, in awe of its magnificence and fearful of its destruction. The fragility of human life fills their conversations, their fears, their dreams. So far from earth, they have never felt more part - or protective - of it. They begin to ask, what is life without earth? What is earth without humanity?
Reviews:
(8 months ago) |
07 Feb, 2025
This book is *literally* set around the world, so it's perfect for this challenge :D
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(1 month ago) |
01 Sep, 2025
I'm not sure what this book is. There's no story as such. It is a day in the inner life of six ISS astronauts. There's lots of beautiful descriptions of the Eh from space, lots of musings on how there are no borders and some thoughts on the climate crisis. This is the second book I've read by Harvey and her feel for sound and nature is very strong and her characters are all beautifully drawn. But I need a plot to keep me interested and I found i wasn't running back to this book every time I put it down
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