Dead Astronauts by Jeff Vandermeer | BOOK REVIEW
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ม.ค. 2025
- Wherein I discuss my thoughts on Jeff Vandermeer's latest novel: Dead Astronauts.
#booktube #deadastronauts #jeffvandermeer
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![The Southern Reach plot + timeline explained [SPOILER ALERT]](/img/n.gif)
Bat face or mouse throat?
Bat face all the way. Really concerned about what those mice are DOING…
Just finished and I think it needs another read too. By the end I forgot where it started, although it was interesting and weird and fun in its way and worth another read.
Definitely. I should have paid closer attention to the details. Maybe someday I'll give it another go.
Hello! A bookstore here sell it for USD 2 in paperback. I never ead any Jeff Vandemeer books, usually I read classics but just started ging to SF in the last two years, a very beginner: Dune, VE Schwab. Do you think I should buy it? I'm excited! :D
I'd say you can pick this one up since it's so cheap, BUT it's technically a sort of sequel to Borne. I would personally start there, or start with my favorite work of his, the Southern Reach Trilogy.
@@JasonFuhrman Yeah I'm curious with Borne. I'll get Dead Astronauts and see if I'm lucky to get the trilogy too. Thank you!
@@rantyyustinadewi happy to help!
I really appreciate your approach and handle upon critique/criticism. The only thing I absolutely found myself shifting away from was the idea that storytellers, creators, have a responsibility to, more or less, be accessible. I balk at that notion. I actually think the whole idea of the book, the narrative, the story, is in fact a difficult and convoluted one. I feel like he does a lovely job of presenting, showcasing, summoning those challenging experiences, simulating the characters, by making the prose as confusing for the reader as the situation is for the character. You did say it isn’t for everyone though, which is true, but I feel like lowering a review grade for that is silly. It’s clearly a highly focused and well constructed book but also demanding of attention. I think it achieves its goals. I’d say 8
Good points, and I agree. I think part of my reaction was having read all of his other works. This one was such a huge departure, and made even stranger by the fact that it was tied to his Borne series. I'm all for experimentation in fiction. But I do need some kind of personal investment as well. When I find myself drifting or bored or that things can be difficult to process, it diminishes my enjoyment.
This is an older review and I've adjusted how I score books now slightly. It's probably one I should revisit at some point knowing what I'm getting myself into.
Well said, Jason is just a wannabe that lacks the innate talent to be something valuable, so he pulls down what he can it do, cannot make or understand. An attempt to blow out the 🕯️ of others in the hope is fiery book cover will born brighter. He's an accountant not an artist
@@lyndenmanning I'm not sure why you think you know me so well. Jeff VanderMeer is one of my favorite authors. I'm sure he and any other writer would say not every story is for everyone and that's totally fine. I appreciated what he did here even though it didn't connect with me fully. I'd rather read books that are trying to do new things than tread similar ground.
Good review. I'm reading it right now. It's hard work but also fascinating.
Thanks! Let me know what you think when you finish.
@@JasonFuhrman I'm writing a whole review
@@jeroenadmiraal8714 awesome! Feel free to post a link when it's done
@@JasonFuhrman TH-cam doesn't like comments with links, but in my "about" page there is a link to my review blog. It's up!
@@jeroenadmiraal8714 Great review! I just checked it out. You may have gleaned more than I did in your reading haha. I agree with his style sometimes affecting comprehension or interest. But knowing this was very experimental, compared to his latest book I read "Hummingbird Salamander" it had its own charm.
I had not read Borne before I read this. I had read the Southern Reach Trilogy though.
For me, the weakest part was when the narrative switched to The Behemoth, and Charlie.
I absolutely loved the three characters and how we were introduced to them.
I agree with you about the expansion and contraction of interest and attention, though.
But the conclusion, although explained too much, IMO, was great. There were parts i did not love at all, but I like the fragmentary nature of the tale, and as a whole, i found it wonderful.
Interestingly, I started Borne afterwards, and gave it up after a few dozen pages.
Dead Astronauts - 7.5 / 10.
Borne was a huge departure from The Southern Reach Trilogy. It didn't have the depth, so I'm not surprised you gave up. This is a book I should revisit. I think knowing what I'm getting into will help immensely.
Thanks for the review. I find it very useful in considering whether I care to read more of the author's work after the SOUTHERN REACH books I've read. Personally, I feel that these experiments with time travel/structure/reality bending/consciousness fragmentation etc have become somewhat old hat after so many books, stories, movies and tv episodes have played with these things now for decades. A return to deeply-affecting, poetically-richly written, but clear cohesive storytelling would now be more of a novelty rather than more of this "what's really going on/what's real/what time is it, really etc etc" style and approach.
Thanks again. Well and clearly put.
Thanks! I definitely agree. With my own work I've fallen into the trap plenty of times, because I try to get into the characters' heads as deeply as possible. Sometimes this has led to confusion, and I tend to pull back once I see it or receive feedback. Clarity should be key unless the character is having some fugue moment. I think Vandermeer is at the top of his game and knows what he's doing and hopefully knows the consequences.
I am attempting to go the opposite route and find trully incomprehensible books, preferably in a reality bending way. Any tips?
@DrinkWater713 hmm that's a tough one. House of Leaves is one of my favorites, but I'm not sure if it totally fits your criteria. A book I just finished called This is How You Lose the Time War was a bit hard to follow due to its sparse and poetic prose, but while I respected it, I can't say I liked it that much.
@@JasonFuhrmanI may give it a shot. Thanks!
Great review. I’ve loved Jeff Vandermeer since I read Veniss underground. His new experimental stuff is cool, (so many bears tho!) but sometimes it seems like it lacks the purpose that his other works had. dead astronauts was a beautiful story after I got through the 1st 1/3 of the book. Or maybe I just missed the point in the first third!!
Glad to meet another Vandermeer fan. Nothing has hit me quite a hard as the southern reach trilogy but I still really enjoy his work. And, yes, so many bears haha.
Interesting review. This is the one book by Vandermeer I consciously avoided because of the 'experimental ' structure.
Books I loved, even on rereads - Southern Reach (Annihilation especially), Hummingbird Salamander, Borne.
Books I liked - The Strange Bird
Books that didn't work for me - Veniss Underground (DNF) and first two books of Ambergris. The weird city aesthetic was not for me.
I'm pretty much in complete agreement there too. The Southern Reach is one of my all time favorite series. Borne less so, but still enjoyable. It just didn't have the character depth The Southern Reach did for me. I know the environment is important to Vandermeer, hence borne, Hummingbird Salamander, etc. And I think you can see that coming through much more in his newer novels. It's there in The Southern Reach, but less in your face. I hope the upcoming fourth volume doesn't detract from what has come before.
@@JasonFuhrman Completely agree. Books 2 and 3 of Southern Reach left me underwhelmed the first time, but on a reread, the whole thing just clicked. And the title 'Acceptance' was so apt.
Looking forward to reading 'Absolution' when it releases.
@@Paromita_M Same. They are very different books than the first one. But once you get the entire pictures, they're amazing.
the cover is dope though
Yep, a literal trip
Bro you wrote a crappy 150 page book thats sold 10 copies, 'those that cannot do, teach'
Thanks for reading!
@@JasonFuhrman l won't be number 11 dude, thankfully it stopped once you'd fleeced 10 unwittingly with expensive toilet paper
@@lyndenmanning technically I have ten reviews on that book, not ten reads. I'm sure you realize that not everyone who reads a book leaves a review. It's ten percent at best.
I'm also not sure why you think my writing is so bad if you haven't read it. I also don't know why you're making such hate filled comments and not trying to be constructive.
@@JasonFuhrman Stop the critiques and rewrite that 150 words into 600...all will be forgiven, edit every page no less than 20 times too ...get to work
@@lyndenmanning why 600?