Sei astronauti viaggiano in orbita attorno alla terra, nell'ultima missione da compiere a bordo della stazione spaziale prima che venga smantellata. Vengono dall'America, dalla Russia, dall'Italia, dalla Gran Bretagna e dal Giappone, e hanno lasciato le loro vite dietro di sé per osservare la terra muoversi sotto di loro. Li vediamo nei brevi momenti di intimità in cui ricevono notizie da casa, contemplano le loro foto, preparano pasti disidratati, dormono a mezz'aria in assenza di gravità. E soprattutto, siamo con loro mentre studiano il silenzioso pianeta blu, su cui scorre intensa la vita da cui sono esclusi.
This was good, but odd. I listened to the audio book and it took me FOUR (I'm not exaggerating) listens to actually stick to and enjoy the story.
A day aboard the ISS, multiple astronauts orbiting the Earth. Perspectives on so many themes alongside the mundane side of life aboard. It's atmospheric, detatched, and awe inspiring.
That said, it's very light on plot, the characters don't really feel they matter, and some of the themes are repetitive and shallow. I feel like it would make a great movie or tv series.
I actually think I might reread it again soon, which feels insane to say.
This is more a meditation and character study than a narrative. In that respect, it's quite beautiful, especially if one doesn't know much about space and space flight.
But since I am already in awe of human tech in space, the book was monotonous to me.
Audiobook - it’s both a brilliant and potentially damning thing that this book almost instantly put me to sleep; and I’m not sure that it would have been one I would have been able to read physically. I enjoyed the detail of the astronauts day to day life and at times it read more like an autobiography or documentary than fiction. I listened to the end and don’t remember how it ended… and yet I don’t mind. This is the vibe of it I guess.
Ez nau harrapatu, baina behin eta berriz erakarri nau
4 stars
Liburu bitxia da. Amaitu ondoren jendearen kritikak irakurtzen aritu naiz eta askori jasanezina egin zaie, argumenturik ez duela diote eta aspergarria dela. Egia da gauza gutxi gertatzen direla, eta niri ere ez nau harrapatu, baina Lurraren grabitateak espazio-estazioa orbitan biraka mantentzen duen bezala ni ere behin eta berriz itzuli naiz liburuaren beste zatitxo bat irakurtzera.
Astronauten eta kosmonauten gogoetek eta pentsamenduek pisu handia dute. Lurrean utzi dituzten familia eta ezagunak ere ageri dira. Horien agerpenak dira kontakizunetik gehien duten zatiak.
Hala ere, protagonista nagusia Lurra bera da. Denbora asko pasatzen dute guztion etxera begira, eta orbitetan zehar ikusten dutenaren deskribapenek pisu handia dute liburuan. Hiztegia zati horietan ireki behar izan dut maizena.
Una dichiarazione d'amore per questo meraviglioso pianete
4 stars
Questo libro è per chi trasformava bottiglie in magiche astronavi, per chi vede le pennellate di William Turner nei paesaggi trafitti di luce, per chi fluttua e volteggia nel profondo di un sogno, e per chi ha capito che esistiamo in un’effimera fioritura di vita e sapere, un’esplosione estiva, fugace come uno schiocco di dita.
Orbital describes the cyclical journey of six astronauts, with plenty of tasks but no real destination. They are tethered to the earth, just as human behaviour is tethered to its animal roots. And while the astronauts, much like humanity itself, have professed aspirations, they are ultimately moving parts in the interconnected whole of the cosmos.
Samantha Harvey offers beautiful prose, composed of distinct but interconnected strands of thought. It might sometimes feel that style trumps substance, but I don't think that is the case -- I think form and content are entirely congruent in a set of reflections that sometimes conflict and sometimes align.
I'm not quite as gushing as the praise that has been heaped on this book. It is very pleasant to read, but it is, for me, somewhat forgettable. It is to be praised for its brevity, many authors would have felt compelled to make this longer, but it doesn't need to be.
There is no plot as such, it's mostly the thoughts of the astronauts co-mingled with the orbits of the ISS around earth.
I wouldn't heartily recommend this as a must read, but at the same time I wouldn't caution someone not to bother, if it appeals to you, then it's probably worth it for you.
Booker Prize winner contemplates our place on Earth and the universe
4 stars
So many facets of humanity packed into this short novel. The plot is loose, detailing the thoughts of International Space Station astronauts during their 16 orbits around the Earth in 24 hours. All while a massive typhoon approaches Southeast Asia, and another space crew approaches for a Moon landing.
The English author, Samantha Harvey, brilliantly enters the minds of the multi-national crew, each with their own perspective on what kind of meaning their lives have. Overall, a scientific, poetic, and philosophical treatise.
(I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Sarah Naudi.)
I picked this up having not seen it before, from the combination of the blurb and the reviews on the cover, promising a beautiful book about astronauts on the International Space Station.
It is precisely that. Delicious, evocative, and poetic prose in a sweeping flow that both captures the disorienting combination of the banal and extraordinary of life in space. Astronauts in (or "on") orbit are inevitably some of the most capable and amazing people alive, but their lives are finely regimented and filled with finicky, highly structured work and lots and lots of housekeeping. The juxtaposition of that caretaking work with the fact they are in space, looking down on the world beneath from a god's-eye view, is central to the narrative here. It is less a story, and more an exploration of the humanity in the extraordinariness of the astronauts, and the extraordinary in the ordinariness of the …
I picked this up having not seen it before, from the combination of the blurb and the reviews on the cover, promising a beautiful book about astronauts on the International Space Station.
It is precisely that. Delicious, evocative, and poetic prose in a sweeping flow that both captures the disorienting combination of the banal and extraordinary of life in space. Astronauts in (or "on") orbit are inevitably some of the most capable and amazing people alive, but their lives are finely regimented and filled with finicky, highly structured work and lots and lots of housekeeping. The juxtaposition of that caretaking work with the fact they are in space, looking down on the world beneath from a god's-eye view, is central to the narrative here. It is less a story, and more an exploration of the humanity in the extraordinariness of the astronauts, and the extraordinary in the ordinariness of the Earth that they so eagerly and passionately leave behind.
Except they are tethered to it, psychologically, and spend huge amounts of their days ensuring the ISS is kept as close to Earth-like as it can be, because that's what makes space at all liveable.
There was some ebb and flow to the reading of this, for me, times when I lost it a little bit, though that was likely to do with me and the way I was reading it as much as anything to do with the writing.
I found this book beautiful, for its humanity, and its invigoration of our relationship to the Earth. It's short, and well worth your time.
Poetic, with a fascinating rhythm that made this book feel like it was made for reading aloud. A short amount of time passes for the astronauts on the international space station but it feels like the book takes place over years and years as you learn about each of them. Loved it.
Op de valreep lees ik het beste boek van het jaar. Orbital won dit jaar de Booker Prize, iets wat ik helemaal gemist had. Het boek verteld het verhaal van 4 astronauten en 2 kosmonauten aan boord van de ISS. Alles speelt zich af in 24 uur, waarin de ISS 16 omwentelingen om de aarde maakt.
Als mij vraagt waar het boek over gaat, antwoord ik "waarnemen". Of het nu om het waarnemen van grote dingen gaat, de aarde zelf, over de ontwikkeling van weersomstandigheden, het gebrek aan grenzen vanuit de ruimte, of over kleine dingen zoals experimenten met mos of muizen, over gevoelens of kunst.
Briliant geschreven, er moet een onwijze tijd aan voorbereiding in dit boek zitten. Ik heb wel eens een interview met André Kuipers beluisterd en wat hij toen vertelde lees ik hierin terug.
[...]You'll see no countries, just a rolling indivisible globe which knows no …
Op de valreep lees ik het beste boek van het jaar. Orbital won dit jaar de Booker Prize, iets wat ik helemaal gemist had. Het boek verteld het verhaal van 4 astronauten en 2 kosmonauten aan boord van de ISS. Alles speelt zich af in 24 uur, waarin de ISS 16 omwentelingen om de aarde maakt.
Als mij vraagt waar het boek over gaat, antwoord ik "waarnemen". Of het nu om het waarnemen van grote dingen gaat, de aarde zelf, over de ontwikkeling van weersomstandigheden, het gebrek aan grenzen vanuit de ruimte, of over kleine dingen zoals experimenten met mos of muizen, over gevoelens of kunst.
Briliant geschreven, er moet een onwijze tijd aan voorbereiding in dit boek zitten. Ik heb wel eens een interview met André Kuipers beluisterd en wat hij toen vertelde lees ik hierin terug.
[...]You'll see no countries, just a rolling indivisible globe which knows no possibility of separation, let alone war.[...]
I enjoyed the vivid imagery and reflection on the nature of humanity - of the tiny part we are of a vast cosmos. On reflection, I felt that it was very much about that over the narrative itself; the ISS and its inhabitants simply a fraction of a much wider, much more ancient story, a mimicking of the idea that humanity is a speck in time and space. The beautiful and poetic descriptions of the Earth, however, pale sadly when presented in a narrative with no plot. Nothing happens. It’s just a meditation, orbiting its points like the space station does the Earth - which is not a bad thing, but does make for a slow read.
A beautiful written book, and clearly a lot of research has gone into making it science based. I just found a little bit hard to wade through given that there is no real story, aside the intimate portrait of the astronauts - this is probably more a reflection of my reader skills instead of the author!
