The Terranauts

A Novel

De: T.C. Boyle

Narrado por: Lynde Houck, Joy Osmanski, Charlie Thurston

A deep-dive into human behavior in an epic story of science, society, sex, and survival, from one of the greatest American novelists today, T. C. Boyle, the acclaimed, bestselling, author of the PEN/ Faulkner Award–winning World’s End and The Harder They Come.

It is 1994, and in the desert near Tillman, Arizona, forty miles from Tucson, a grand experiment involving the future of humanity is underway. As climate change threatens the earth, eight scientists, four men and four women dubbed the ""Terranauts,"" have been selected to live under glass in E2, a prototype of a possible off-earth colony. Their sealed, three-acre compound comprises five biomes—rainforest, savanna, desert, ocean, and marsh—and enough wildlife, water, and vegetation to sustain them.

Closely monitored by an all-seeing Mission Control, this New Eden is the brainchild of ecovisionary Jeremiah Reed, aka G.C.—""God the Creator""—for whom the project is both an adventure in scientific discovery and a momentous publicity stunt. In addition to their roles as medics, farmers, biologists, and survivalists, his young, strapping Terranauts must impress watchful visitors and a skeptical media curious to see if E2’s environment will somehow be compromised, forcing the Ecosphere’s seal to be broken—and ending the mission in failure. As the Terranauts face increased scrutiny and a host of disasters, both natural and of their own making, their mantra: ""Nothing in, nothing out,"" becomes a dangerously ferocious rallying cry.

Told through three distinct narrators—Dawn Chapman, the mission’s pretty, young ecologist; Linda Ryu, her bitter, scheming best friend passed over for E2; and Ramsay Roothorp, E2’s sexually irrepressible Wildman—The Terranauts brings to life an electrifying, pressured world in which connected lives are uncontrollably pushed to the breaking point. With characteristic humor and acerbic wit, T.C. Boyle indelibly inhabits the perspectives of the various players in this survivalist game, probing their motivations and illuminating their integrity and fragility to illustrate the inherent fallibility of human nature itself.

Interesting study in human nature under pressure

A fictitional account of some events that took place at Biosphere. The place still exists outside of Tucson. It's open for tours. The politics, manipulation and in-fighting that occurred during this social (ecological) experiment are undoubtedly accurate.

Boyle's novels are an iffy proposition.

Would you try another book from T. C. Boyle and/or the narrators?

Yes. I have been enjoying T.C. Boyle for about thirty years. He is a master of short stories, but his novels are overblown in many ways. Drop City, however, is his best novel, and I can recommend it without reservation. The novels are variable. Some are long biographies of men like Frank Lloyd Wright, Alfred Kinsey, the founder of Post cereals, etc. I lose interest in these quickly. This book is extremely fanciful, as are a number of his books: stories about the environment with cataclysmic prophecies. Tortilla Curtain is very good. The collections of short stories are your best bet: they showcase Boyle's extremely fertile imagination at its best.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I have to admit that I am giving up on this book about halfway through, so I have no idea how it ends. The problem for me is that the conceit of the book is just not tenable. The whole idea is the utterly whimsical creation of a very rich guy, and it is full of really questionable assumptions. The whole setup is phony, to tell the truth. The idea that one can create a mini-Earth in the Sonoran desert, with maybe several football fields worth of room; the inviolable rule that one break in the whole biosphere is a catastrophe that submarines the entire concept: these are highly arbitrary rules for the E2 experiment. God the Creator, the rich guy who is the money behind the whole deal: the whole concept that everyone must play by his rules: this is phony. No humans would ever agree to it. It creates all kinds of arbitrary conditions and sets up entire series of relationships that are under the microscope of all who run the system and the public, the tourists who watch through the glass, the press, etc. None of these people behave in ways that are believably human. Would you stay in a glass dome when the temperature reaches 118 degrees? Because a rich guy insists that it would be a violation of his precious principles if you want to get out? Ridiculous.

What three words best describe the narrators’s performance?

Once again, I just hate this question. Particularly given that there are three narrators, it is impossible to answer.

Was The Terranauts worth the listening time?

No. That's why I am giving up now. Most of the novels are like this: they stretch credulity and interest to the breaking point. Boyle is a great writer, no question, but not everything he writes is great to read.

Any additional comments?

Read Drop City, if you want to read Boyle at his best. Briefly, it is about a group of dropouts in the 70's who gravitate to a country home owned by one pretty rich guy whose money and lack of rules make for chaos in Sonoma. However, the group decides to move to Alaska, without knowing the first thing about how incredibly hard it is to adjust to the environment there. The book is a unique adventure, very well narrated, with drama and comedy and characters who hold your interest. Boyle at his finest is fine indeed.

Love the ending.

Enjoyed Tortilla Curtain more but this kept my attention. 3 good narrators. Interesting info on biosphere. Makes me want to visit it again.

Masterpiece

It's about so much: the compelling characters for whom you will care & from whom you will learn, the science of human & other life in closed systems-- a prelude to life on Mars? The superb writing proving that style is substance.

Rather Dull

I am glad these characters were still on this planet and not taking humanity to some other livable world. If you like soap this is for you.