Orbital

'Awe-Inspiring' Max Porter

by

Paperback, 144 pages

English language

Published June 27, 2024 by Penguin Random House.

ISBN:
978-1-5299-2293-6
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4 stars (6 reviews)

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 …

4 editions

reviewed Orbital by Samantha Harvey

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.

reviewed Orbital by Samantha Harvey

Space station drama

5 stars

Short book, but very thoughtful and actually makes you feel like you're in orbit with the crew on the space station. Every day, they're amazed to look back on our little blue dot in the universe. The notion of having 8 ? sunrises and sunsets per day while they orbit I found fascinating.

reviewed Orbital by Samantha Harvey

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.)

reviewed Orbital by Samantha Harvey

Beste boek dat ik las in 2024

5 stars

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 …