Orbital: A Novel (Booker Prize Winner)

Beautiful prose, wonderful story
I needed one more book to finish the 52 Book Club: Week 2024 Challenge, and the prompt was for “nominated for the Booker Prize.” I decided I wanted to select a book nominated for the 2024 Booker (the nominations were announced yesterday, July 30), and I picked “Orbital” by Samantha Harvey, because it sounded different and interesting. I am so glad I chose this book — it was unlike anything I’ve read — while the basic premise involves the lives of a group of four astronauts and two cosmonauts assigned to the final mission of the Space Station, this book is so much more than that. The structure, the plot — well, there is no traditional plot that most people would recognize as such — the descriptive narrative that is beautiful and mesmerizing, the characters that you really come to relate to, the fact that world geography and climate change is a major part of the novel… I just finished reading it, and I already want to re-read it just to experience Ms. Harvey’s beautiful prose.One of my favorite side stories of the book involves a postcard the astronaut Shaun brought as a personal item to the space station. When Shaun was in high school, a teacher showed her class a photo of Diego Velazquez’s most famous painting, “Las Meninas.” Shaun, who only wanted to learn how to be a fighter pilot, couldn’t appreciate fine art, while his future wife understood the beauty and meaning of the painting and sent him a postcard 15 years prior to his trip to space, in which she tried to explain the painting to him — he brought his postcard with him on his space voyage. I won’t get into all the specifics, but Shaun shows the postcard to a a fellow astronaut (an Italian), who shows him a new way to interpret the painting — a valuable lesson to apply not just to art, but to assumptions about life in space, life on earth and humanity in general.Another of my favorite aspects of the novel is the astronauts’ use of lists, not just to pass the time but also to share personalities and opinions. There were lists of “anticipated things” (plums, slamming a door in anger, fried eggs, skiing, etc.), “surprising things” (imagination, Jackie Onassis’s mode of death, a blue pen with a red lid, etc.), “irritating things” (tailgaters, tired children, lumpy pillows, stuck zips, etc.), and others. So relatable!There isn’t a lot of political talk — other than the two Russians having one toilet and the Americans, Asians and Europeans using another — and they weren’t supposed to share food or supplies — all of which they ignored, but the underlying message is all countries and continents are connected (you can more visibly see this from low orbit), and we are all humans, no matter the ethnicity or nationality.This review really seems kind of disjointed, but the book fits that description. I loved it, not only because it was so out of the realm of most books I read (and I read a lot), but because it makes you appreciate our humanity and how we must work to save it.

An extraordinary novel – gentle and poetic
This book is such a surprise. It follows six astronauts on the International Space Station over a single Earth day as the ISS goes through multiple sun rises and sunsets. Although we learn something about each of the characters — two Russians, an American, an Italian, a Spaniard, and a Japanese — there is no real story line and certainly no frightening or unusual set of events. If you’re looking for interpersonal conflict, attack of space aliens, or witness from above of earthly disaster, this book is not for you.But if you hunger for an elegiac, contemplative book that uses the routines and experiences of the character to provide glimpses into human nature and philosophy, you will be delighted.The best part of this book is how beautifully written it is. You will find yourself stopping frequently to underline passage or to re-read a paragraph just for the pure pleasure of it all.Can’t recommend it highly enough.

Unique book!
This book is not a traditional novel. It is a love story about the earth with beautiful descriptions of what four astronauts and two argonauts see outside a portal of a space station, interspersed with pieces of their personal lives. I thoroughly recommend it!

This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. Introspective, emotional, and intelligent.

Die Autorin lässt uns in die Köpfe von 6 internationalen Astronauten auf der ISS gucken – wie sich durchgetakteter Alltag mit Experimenten und notwendigen Verrichtungen mischt mit den abschweifenden Gedanken eines jeden einzelnen. Es ist kein heroischer Weltraumroman sondern ein Blick durch die Augen der Protagonisten auf einen zwar spektakulären aber dann doch regulierten Alltag, der viel Zeit für die eigene Reflektion lässt. Ich habe nicht gebannt und gespannt auf der Bettkante gesessen, um zu erfahren, wie es weitergeht, aber ich konnte mich auch nicht dem Fluss der Geschichte entziehen. Für jeden, der schon einmal davon geträumt hat, einige Zeit auf der ISS zu verbringen eine wirklich ergiebige Geschichte.

Från reflektioner kring personliga erfarenheter, oro, lycka och kärlek till allmänmänskliga existensiella frågor i en vackert skriven skildring om sex personers sinnesintryck under en dag i ett rymdskepp.Värd att läsa om.