• State of Wonder

  • A Novel
  • By: Ann Patchett
  • Narrated by: Hope Davis
  • Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (8,422 ratings)

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State of Wonder  By  cover art

State of Wonder

By: Ann Patchett
Narrated by: Hope Davis
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Editorial reviews

Best-selling author Ann Patchett and accomplished actor Hope Davis make a stellar combination for Patchett's latest novel, State of Wonder, an homage to Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Davis deftly voices an international cast of medical researchers in the Amazon jungle. Her talents enhance Patchett's artistically descriptive prose, in many cases coiling the jungle imagery closer than you may want.

Hope Davis voices Dr. Marina Singh's stoic professionalism as she, a pharmacologist, is sent to the Amazon jungle by her employer to seek information about the death of a colleague.

Patchett's gift is to give characters multiple, very human layers, and Davis' gift is to bring those creations to life. Dr. Singh's reserve falls apart as she is plagued by unsettling nightmares and vivid memories of past medical mistakes. Dr. Annick Swenson's imperious personality has, through Hope Davis, the ability to intimidate through your earbuds. Dr. Swenson's arrogance keeps everyone quaking until, as the story unfolds, Davis' tone allows hints of humanity to ease through the doctor's sharp-edged exterior. Davis easily moves from dialects as the individual personalities - among them, a West African doctor, an Indonesian researcher, and a self-absorbed Australian couple - flow one from the other. Davis gives a brilliant performance of a prickly, uncomfortable argument between the married couple Alan and Nancy Saturn, making all who are listening want to distract themselves with the scenery.

Terrain itself becomes if not a character, a force, in State of Wonder. Contrasting Dr. Singh's beloved Minnesota plains with the claustrophobic, crawling, itching, frighteningly enveloping jungle, Patchett's words offer Hope Davis another opportunity to shine artistically. Davis infuses Patchett's prose with palpable energy, allowing listeners to exult in the wide, open prairies of the Midwest and then sense the creeping terror of forbidding, dangerously alive Amazonian jungle. While Davis' depiction of a confrontation with an anaconda is not to be missed, be forewarned that Patchett's imagery and Davis' performance will put anyone listening right beside the panic-stricken fictional characters as a life-and-death battle ensues.

For fans of Ann Patchett, State of Wonder is all that one has been waiting for and more. The story has as many twists and turns as, well, the Amazon jungle itself. And Hope Davis takes the joy of a new Ann Patchett book to an even higher level of pleasure through her masterful performance. It is a fantastically compelling adventure trip without the hazards of incessant bug bites, poisonous critters, or sweltering heat. (Carole Chouinard)

Publisher's summary

A New York Times best seller

Orange Prize nominee

A Time Magazine’s Best Books of the Year

A Publisher’s Weekly’s Best Top Ten Best Books

A Wellcome Trust Book Prize nominee.

“Expect miracles when you read Ann Patchett’s fiction.” (New York Times Book Review)

Award-winning, New York Times best-selling author Ann Patchett returns with a provocative and assured novel of morality and miracles, science and sacrifice set in the Amazon rainforest.

Marina Singh is a research scientist at Vogel, a pharmaceutical institute in Minnesota, and inconveniently in love with her boss, Mr. Fox. When one of her colleagues is reported to have died while following up on the progress of a field team based in Brazil, Marina is dispatched by Mr. Fox to the Amazon to uncover the truth of his death. And his widow wants his effects.

She travels to Manaus, then down into the Amazonian delta, deep into the dense, dark, insect-infested jungle. The research team is looking into the development of a new miracle drug that could revolutionize Western society. A local tribe has the bark of a certain tree, it yields a substance which allows them to conceive late into middle age: many of the women are getting pregnant into their 60s and 70s.

The problem is that the team is taking too long: they have been silent for two years, and Marina has been tasked to find out what is holding back their progress. The second problem is more serious: the team is being headed up by the daunting figure of Annick Swenson, an eminent and fiercely uncompromising scientist who was once Marina’s colleague, and towards whom Marina has very complicated feelings. What Marina learns will change her life. In a novel that is packed with amazing twists and surprises, Ann Patchett returns with immense confidence to a broad canvas, teeming with atmosphere and characters and rich with narrative.

Remarkable events - fights with anacondas; encounters with cannibals; deaths; re-births - and profound moral decisions come together in a novel that will enthrall her many listeners and fans and is guaranteed to be a major best seller.

Infusing the narrative with the same ingenuity and emotional urgency that pervaded her acclaimed previous novels Bel Canto, Taft, Run, The Magician’s Assistant, and The Patron Saint of Liars, Patchett delivers an enthralling, innovative tale of aspiration, exploration, and attachment in State of Wonder - a gripping adventure story and a profound look at the difficult choices we make in the name of discovery and love.

©2011 Ann Patchett (P)2011 HarperCollinsPublishers

Critic reviews

“An expansive page-turner . . . Patchett’s fluid prose dissolves in the suspense of this out-there adventure . . . that readers will hate to see end.” (Publishers Weekly)

“An engaging, consummately told tale.” (New York Times)

“A superbly rendered novel. . . . Patchett’s portrayal is as wonderful as it is frightening and foreign. Patchett exhibits an extraordinary ability to bring the horrors and the wonders of the Amazon jungle to life, and her singular characters are wonderfully drawn. . . . Powerful and captivating.” (Library Journal, starred review)

What listeners say about State of Wonder

Average customer ratings
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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Story
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Mesmerizing

I was absolutely consumed by Ann Patchett's newest offering which takes us to the depths of the Amazon for drug company research. I knew very little about the book when I began other than it was written by the author of Bel Canto which was a huge recommendation and that it took place in the Amazon, another positive. The two books by Patchett couldn't be more different. I pretty much tuned out the rest of the world for hours at a time while I looked for excuses to listen to just a few more minutes. I found the pace of this much quicker than that of Bel Canto which I read in paper not audio format. I won't re-hash the plot because you can read that elsewhere and I don't want to give too much away but I found the entire premise of the book compelling and was completely mesmerized by the storyline. Two such varied titles as Bel Canto and State of Wonder make me marvel at the abilities of this author.

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22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

What is the bzz about?

This is the second time I have purchased an ann patchett book based on the awesome recommendations and been disappointed. Both this book and BelCanto disappointed me. Perhaps I just dont like her writing style, the plot was beyond ridiculous and her books seem to all just end bluntly without a well crafted ending. The character development was good. I think she is completely overrated. The only thing I liked was the reader which made it bearable!

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21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

perfect narration

This book was extremely well narrated. The story was quite good-- I enjoyed the evolution of Marina, the main character. This is the 2nd Ann Patchett novel I have read-- the first one being Belle Canto. I enjoy her rather ethereal way of writing and it translates well to an audible version.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Unusual pseudo science fiction

There are 3 things wrong with this book. First of all, the quality of writing is banal, and disgustingly mushy. Much too much is made of the "inner" feelings of the characters; not enough real attention to the plot.
Secondly, the plot revolves around a completely impossible concept - that there is something for women to eat which will permit them to keep producing babies throughout their lives, into old age. This is apparently sheer ignorance of the biology of womens' reproductive ability (i.e. genetically determined, limited number of egg cells).
Third, the writer seems to think this would be a wonderful thing. Whereas actually it would be a disaster for the family so afflicted, when an aging woman has to take care and raise more and more children. A disaster both physically and financially. And with an aging husband, it would increase by a tremendous amount the chance of producing deformed or handicapped babies. And, since the world's major problem is too many people straining natural resources and increasing pollution of the environment more and more, the ability to produce excessive numbers of children amounts to a major ecological disaster.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Really disapppointing

With so much good press, I expected this to be a wonderful book. I had enjoyed Bel Canto. But the very premiss on which this book is built is simply ridiculous. Women chewing on bark, hallucinagenic mushrooms, a cure for malaria, eternal fertility? Just preposterous. Hope Davis is a very good reader. Otherwise, I would have given it up.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

State of Wonder

Disappointing - mis-leading plot descripition from audible / publishing. Slow paced and for a book about trekking to the jungle in search of a wonder cure and missing researcher(s) I expected a james rollins style and paced adventure. Instead it felt like being trapped in the lead characters head as she bemoaned all her past and present choices from the significant to miniscuile. Plot description way - way off base, its not so much about the the jungle, or the cure etc but rather how she feels about every little detail - made for a very boring read and waste of a credit.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Superb!

Ann Patchett writes lyrically in all of her descriptions, the eloquence in which she uses the written word to bring to life this memersizing story is beyond reproach. This is the first works of Ms. Patchell I have encountered and it has created a hunger in me for more. Absolutely worth the time to drive into this wonderful piece of work.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Patchett's best yet

I was looking forward to Ann Patchett's new book and am glad to say I was not let down. I have found all of Ms. Patchett's books to be extraordinary. In the case of "State of Wonder" she again provides an excellent plot, excellent writing and excellent narration. The only flaw I could ferret out were references to "Inorganic Chemistry" and " small molecule" research. That truly is insignificant and not worth mentioning. The rest Is excellent and definitely worth the time and cost.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Very disappointing

I find Ann Pachett's writing engaging and compelling She is able to portray people caught in unusual circumstances with an authentic and honest voice. This was the case with State of Wonder until the very end when, very abruptly, tthe relationships so sensitively developed through out the story take such a ridiculous turn that it soured the whole book for me. It made me seriously question her level of insight, or perhaps her own experiences that led her to such a shallow summation in the lives of her characters. I'm not sure I'll ever be interested her writing in the future.

Hope Davis' narration was good, but perhaps a bit flat.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars

Not Patchett's best, great reader

This book was interesting and good, though I prefer Ann Patchett's earlier novels. Hope Davis is a wonderful reader though, and helped me over some rough spots just by being so terrific

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12 people found this helpful