A Constellation of Vital Phenomena

A Novel

De: Anthony Marra

Narrado por: Colette Whitaker

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD • A searing debut about the transcendent power of love in wartime, hailed as “an absolute masterpiece” (Sarah Jessica Parker, Entertainment Weekly)—from the renowned author of Mercury Pictures Presents

“Extraordinary . . . a twenty-first century War and Peace.”—The New York Times Book Review

NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE JOHN LEONARD AWARD WINNER • ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal

In the final days of December 2004, in a small rural village in Chechnya, eight-year-old Havaa hides in the woods when her father is abducted by Russian forces. Fearing for her life, she flees with their neighbor Akhmed—a failed physician—to the bombed-out hospital, where Sonja, the one remaining doctor, treats a steady stream of wounded rebels and refugees and mourns her missing sister. Over the course of five dramatic days, Akhmed and Sonja reach back into their pasts to unravel the intricate mystery of coincidence, betrayal, and forgiveness that unexpectedly binds them and decides their fate.

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, Chicago Tribune, NPR, Kansas City Star, San Francisco Chronicle, The Christian Science Monitor, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Kirkus Reviews

Read it to Know this Quote

I didn't love this book like everyone else did, but I do feel like I should have. I'm just not as big on the big interlocking short story book (meaning that this was a series of stories about the lives of the characters in this book, not pulling together the way they do in a big epic, but rather connected the way stars are, because we see the connection, we see the pattern even if it is random), and that is what this felt like to me. But I did love some of the thoughts that were universal, and not just applicable in war torn Chechnya, especially this one as it applies to the way we humans interweave and support each other or not: “Life: a constellation of vital phenomena—organization, irritability, movement, growth, reproduction, adaptation.” I am also glad I learned more about that conflict.

One of the best books I've ever read

I'm in love with this book! Marra is a top-notch story teller. I loved the way that the story jumped from different character perspectives throughout the decade-long story. Every sentence, every word was thoughtfully and beautifully constructed. The story is so sad and overwhelming and heartwarming and heart-wrenching all at the same time. A MUST READ! Im anxiously waiting for Marra's next book.

Mastery of images and characters

Marra weaves images into scenes, making a faraway land familiar. War does not make for a feel good story, but he methodically quantifies the lives of the characters and reveals their complicated value in start contrast to the negative sum game of the historical setting.

An Extraordinary Book

The story, the character development, just everything about this is richly conceived and beautifully meticulous. Be prepared for a powerful journey.

A Constellation of Beautiful Words

This is a beautifully written and narrated book. Unlike anything I've ever read or heard of. It follows the extraordinary and tragic lives of characters who are intertwined like the constellations in the night sky. There are some gruesome descriptions of tortures that took place, but it wasn't bad enough to make me stop listening. This book will stay with me forever, and I see myself rereading it several times.

Vivid View

There seem to be no minor characters on this novel. Though a man may appear just once we learn his past and future. These many futures help us overlook the losses and grief of the present. The characters lives are interwoven in ways that seem strange to those withcars and freeways and serve as a warning that little is as it seems on the surface.

One of 3 best books of the last 5 years.

brilliant, captivating, perceptive, intelligent and incedibly moving. Both intellectually and emotionally challenging. a must read.

Recovery Rather Than Destruction

The title of this novel, "A Constellation of Vital Phenomena" was borrowed from a Russian Medical Dictionary; it was the definition listed under the entry for the word "Life". The definition strikes me as inexplicably lyrical and poetic; making it a fitting title to this impressive work.

Marra's book is all about life; not just the lives of the main characters we follow throughout the book, but also of a full constellation of lives that orbit them. The lives of an embittered nurse, once jilted by an oncologist. A six year old in Manchester, England, who desperately wanted to avoid another hand-me-down. A neighbor; an elderly woman who believes she gets daily visitations from "ghosts, angels, prophets and monsters". A swarthy, opportunist smuggler who does good deeds for the doctor who saved her brother's life - explaining that even though the brother in question was most definitely his least favorite of six brothers, had remembered to feed his pet turtle once as a child; so a favor was still owed for his life. From these characters and countless more, the constellation is formed.

The last word of the title, phenomena, is defined as "a fact or situation that is observed to exist or happen". And with that, the story takes form; as we learn how the full constellation of characters came to either be where they are, or end up where they will, based on the vital facts and situations of their lives.

Other reviewers have discussed that the story was depressing, the torture brutal, the characters sad. They definitely have very valid points; but I somehow didn't find the book too depressing. I was struck by the flashes of normalcy despite the terrible circumstances, the unexpected humor, and the strong underlying current of innate goodness and dignity that ran through the main characters we followed.

In an interview, the author Anthony Marra shared, "I knew early on that though the novel was set against a backdrop of war, it would be a book about recovery rather than destruction, about surgeons rather than soldiers." That is the feeling the story left me with.

Gorgeous, heartbreaking and confusing.

First the gorgeous: There are some phrases and sentences in this book that are so impeccably written that I had to stop and listen to them again. Marra's writing skills are absolutely first rate. The complexity of the relationships and the way he foreshadows events is artfully done. It's brilliant, really. There's nothing about this that feels like a first book. It's really beautifully crafted.

The heartbreaking: It's impossible to put a child in the midst of a brutal war and have anything but heartbreak. But it goes beyond that. There just isn't a part of this story that doesn't have an element of profound loss. I didn't find any of it uplifting as others have mentioned in reviews.

And now about the confusing part: I had a terrible time keeping up with the changes in time. The complexity of the relationships is difficult to track in and of itself. I listened twice simply because I missed too much the first time. I am a hardcore book listener and rarely do I think a book would be better in print - but this is that rare exception. I needed to be able to flip between pages sometimes and I couldn't.

Now the narration ... I won't call it awful, but it is so uninspired. This book deserved something better than that. It's competent, but adds nothing to the experience and may even make it more difficult to track.

Hard story to listen to

I really knew nothing about what happened then - even though it was difficult to listen about all the terrible things that happened it was a very interesting and well written story. One I won't forget easily.