It hews to the historical record. The places, the topography, the course of the wars—the remembered first occupation and the It calls up Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, the book's 50-year-old antecedent. A man asks, “Wasn’t it Ronald McDonald who told Gorbachev to tear down the wall?” A woman hears a spoken snippet of a Bee Gees song (“You can tell by the way I use my walk, I’m a woman’s man”) and utters almost wistfully: “For the longest time I thought it was from the Koran.” Many of my favorite lines aren’t publishable here. This beautiful and haunting novel is one of my favorite books of 2013. The father of the two brothers considered responsible is an ethnic Chechen. The novel isn’t so much about the wars in Chechnya per se as how individuals relate to each other when law and order has been perverted out of all recognition and they only have their own moral compass as a guide. The grease of human existence is kept from plausibly accumulating. On the way, there will be luscious island atmosphere, cute sundresses, frozen drinks, “slender baguette sandwiches with duck, arugula and fig jam,” lemongrass sugar cookies, and numerous bottles of both Krug and Dom Pérignon, the latter served by a wiseass who offers one of his trademark tasting notes: “This storied bubbly has notes of Canadian pennies, your dad’s Members Only jacket, and…‘We Are Never, Ever, Ever Getting Back Together.’ ” You'll be counting the days until you can return to the Virgin Islands with these characters in the concluding volume of the trilogy. To say this was an excellent book would be an understatement. I disliked the sensation that I was reading a feat of editing as much as a feat of writing. In this haunting masterwork, award-winning author Anthony Marra transports us to a snow-covered village in Chechnya. But he’s a careful, intelligent stylist who makes the most of his omniscient perspective; one of his favorite tricks is to project minor characters’ fates into the future; by revealing their deaths, he exposes how shabbily war treats everybody and gives the living an additional dose of pathos. It was once staffed by 500 people but Sonja, Deshi, and a guard are the only staff members left by the time Akhmed arrives with Havaa. by The lyricism of the long sentence is what captivated me at the time, but it also encapsulates muc. Good thing for me that it's about others because what Marra described in this book sounded awful. But “A Constellation of Vital Phenomena” is ambitious and intellectually restless. I admired this novel more than I warmed to it. Anthony Marra’s first novel, “A Constellation of Vital Phenomena,” is a flash in the heavens that makes you look up and believe in miracles. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese fits your wonderful criteria. Father and son haven't spoken in months, but Ramzan's last betrayal is what set the story in motion. by Wishing I could read this again for the first time. Marra has carefully threaded his characters to work an everybody-is-connected theme, and some of those connections ultimately feel contrived. This is the hospital where Sonja works and lives. Akhmed is quickly put to work learning to saw off shrapnel-flayed legs, and as the novel shifts back and forth in time, each of their stories deepens. He offers what might be the best definition of what one sister means to another that I have ever read: “She wouldn’t cross a room, but she had crossed a continent.”. It’s a slow burn. Good thing for me that it's about others because what Marra described in this book sounded awful. I look forward to more from this author. I loved this book and did not want it to end. This strategy, a form of dividing and conquering if not drawing and quartering, can deliver great works of beauty — witness David Mitchell’s “Cloud Atlas” (2004). We all found our comfy spot to read this and were drawn into this densely vivid heavy in-depth plot that demanded our full attention. The second war had its roots in the First Chechen War (aka the War in Chechnya). Marra’s novel was a National Book Award long list selection as well as a shortlist. Their human spirit shines through like the grass that grows in the cracks of a sidewalk. Anthony Marra's debut novel, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, takes place in war-torn Chechnya — a world of perpetual violence, fear and exploding land mines. There is little religious awareness here. New York Times Notable Book of the Year In a small rural village in Chechnya, eight-year-old Havaa watches from the woods as Russian soldiers abduct her father in the middle of the night and then set fire to her home. RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2013. Yet again I am left baffled by the glowing reviews and the hype. A decade of war in Chechnya informs this multivalent, heartfelt debut, filled with broken families, lost limbs and valiant efforts to find scraps of hope and dignity. At the heart of this initial conflict – and indeed the one that followed - … | A Constellation of Vital Phenomena is such a book. The novel brings to life the cruel absurdities of war with moments of light and humanity. ", by This is a novel, like so many, that crosscuts among multiple stories and characters and toggles back and forth in time. For a young American writer to choose Chechnya as the subject for a first novel shows commendable ambition, and for the most part he gets away with it. Hogarth. But it can also stymie and confound. by Vintage. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena is set primarily during the Second Chechen War, which started August 1999. All this is expertly paced, unfurling before the book is half finished; a reader can guess what is coming. Why near the conclusion did I just listen to get to the end? In addition, his work has been anthologized in The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2012. Oh, what a joy to read a fully-realized, beautifully written, totally engrossing novel. Garnering rave reviews coast-to-coast, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena is an unforgettable debut novel that deftly explores the human cost of war—and the healing power of hope. She comes to live at a mostly abandoned hospital which a steely doctor, Sonja, almost single-handedly keeps running. Mr. Marra’s book is set in Chechnya, the disputed Muslim territory in southern Russia that was pushed to the forefront of the world’s consciousness in April after the Boston Marathon attacks. The book is partly the story of a young girl, Havaa, whose father is abducted and killed by Russian soldiers. This book proved tedious, convoluted and an insomniac's dream. influencers in the know since 1933. Thanks! The focus was clearly on the human side. Bennett's novel plays with its characters' nagging feelings of being incomplete—for the twins without each other; for Jude’s boyfriend, Reese, who is trans and seeks surgery; for their friend Barry, who performs in drag as Bianca. The writing was beautiful. 2013. He saves his 8 year old daughter, Haava, by forcing her out into the black of night with her already packed suitcase. This, too, can feel satisfying--yes, life will go on from all this awfulness--but I felt the heavy hand of the novelist here, a little too much. New York. The author cautiously tends to his or her kindling. I knew little of Chechnya, and Marra does a masterful job of supplying enough information without weighing down the narrative. The novel brings to life the cruel absurdities of war with moments of light and humanity. “We wear clothes, and speak, and create civilizations, and believe we are more than wolves. | She is found by Akhmed, the neighbouring doctor, who makes it his mission to ensure her safety and leads her to the one remaining hospital where he delivers her to the doctor, Sonja. It's several miles from the village where Akhmed lives and there is a great deal of rubble as a result of years of war and unrest. Categories: The engrossing story was heartbreaking, uplifting, sad, and confirmed the best in people in terrible sit. The man who brings Havaa to the hospital, Akhmed, begins to work there too, despite the fact that he is “the most incompetent doctor in Chechnya, the single least distinguished physician to ever graduate Volchansk State University Medical School.”, This hospital setting leads to many organic bits of grim medical humor. The places, the topography, the course of the wars—the remembered first occupation and the GENERAL FICTION, by We all know, as William Tecumseh Sherman once noted, that “War is Hell!” Later, Jean-Paul Sartre concluded that “Hell is other people.” It therefore stands to reason that war is other people. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena won the 2014 National Book Critics Circle’s inaugural John Leonard Prize and the 2014 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in fiction, as well as the inaugural 2014 Carla Furstenberg Cohen Fiction Award. Once in a while Marra broadcasts his character's intentions a little too directly. Though he was born in Washington, D.C., he has lived in Eastern Europe and has studied Chechen literary and political history. Marra uses an invented town in the novel and at times you feel he’s also using an invented country. ‧ It takes place in post-war Chechnya, but don't be alarmed if you don't know much about the Chechen conflict with Russia — the rich storytelling and the gorgeous prose will draw you in, and by the end of the book you could captivate an audience with these wartime stories. It's apparently the only functioning hospital left in the city of Volchansk. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published It hews to the historical record. About A Constellation of Vital Phenomena. This is a story about death, grief, hope and joy. I started off lost in a coulee reading A Constellation of Vital Phenomena with seven of my Traveling Sisters and some of us really got lost in this story. The grimness is persistent, but Marra relays it with unusual care and empathy for a first-timer. But “A Constellation of Vital Phenomena” is ambitious and intellectually restless. As such, Mr. Marra’s novel can be sickening reading.
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