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189th out of 438 books
—
835 voters
Girl in Landscape
Lethem's latest genre-bending exploration of science, landscape and the metaphysics of love and loss. A coming of age story about a teenage girl on the frontiers of space.
Pella's father, Clement, has just been swept out of elective office in New York and has set his sights on the next political frontier: joining the first human settlers on the Planet of the Archbuilders. O...more
Pella's father, Clement, has just been swept out of elective office in New York and has set his sights on the next political frontier: joining the first human settlers on the Planet of the Archbuilders. O...more
Paperback, 280 pages
Published
January 26th 1999
by Vintage
(first published 1998)
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Oct 26, 2010
Mariel
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
this year's girl
Recommended to Mariel by:
wind in the wires
Shelves:
rubber-ring
If every book were like Jonathan Lethem's Girl in Landscape I'd probably never talk to anyone ever again. That'd not be such a bad thing, really (I mean for everybody else. I can be a right pain in the ass). I could move to a new frontier and read all day. (Start my own planet!) Everything would be the great read that makes me feel fullfilled. Longing sigh.
'Landscape' I read in one sitting on a ass numbingly long flight. That I didn't notice anything else around me was amazing. That's what I wan...more
'Landscape' I read in one sitting on a ass numbingly long flight. That I didn't notice anything else around me was amazing. That's what I wan...more
This one is a strange mix even for genre-bending genius Jonathon Lethem. "Girl in Landscape" combines a young girl's coming of age and awakening sexuality with an alien landscape and the strange relationships between human and alien beings. At times charting the landscapes of children and adults and the odd spaces in between, at others chronicling failure, loss and the inherent possibility of settling a new world. This is my favorite of his novels. It is poignant and lovely, quirky and curious,...more
i found nothing unlikeable about this book.
the perspective from the preteen girl is, as far as i can tell, totally infallible. i buy it completely in the sense that i never feel like it's a guy writing how he THINKS she would feel.
on top of that we have classic western set in sci fi future.
and itsy bitsy alien deer.
the strength of his work is to write great characters and stories but set them in a sci fi setting. it's not about the setting or the world. it's about them. and that's how he transce...more
the perspective from the preteen girl is, as far as i can tell, totally infallible. i buy it completely in the sense that i never feel like it's a guy writing how he THINKS she would feel.
on top of that we have classic western set in sci fi future.
and itsy bitsy alien deer.
the strength of his work is to write great characters and stories but set them in a sci fi setting. it's not about the setting or the world. it's about them. and that's how he transce...more
Science-fiction literature has a way of presenting setting as the main tool to drive the story. Jonathan Lethem uses setting in this novel to reflect the culture of the Archbuilders in a way that adds an almost peaceful innocence to the strange planet. Pella is part of the nomadic human race that had to go to this planet to survive and in doing so they must take pills to remain human. Pella decides later in the book to disregard her past race and evolve into a different species all together. The...more
There is a subgenre of science fiction today known as the "space western," but at the time of its release, it is unlikely that Lethem's novel had much of a niche to fit in that category. This is what makes Girl in Landscape such a unique read; it is a science fiction adventure and a small-town western all at once. This novel has even been compared to John Ford's film, "The Searchers" for its handling of the "culture clash" scenario, wherein Lethem's Efram Nugent is an equivalent to Ford's Ethan...more
A good read, I blasted through this well thought out and well written novel. Filled with surprise when I first began reading it, the narrator is a 12 year old girl, I quickly found that Lethem's choice in doing so works very well and even helps to drive the story and create conflict within his novel. I also think that Lethem's choice of following children and their actions and responses on/to the world of the Archbuilders works very well, especially in how he presents an idea of how childlike th...more
Though I'm not usually a fan of science fiction, girl in landscape captivated me from the very beginning. The story is told through Pella Marsh, a twelve year old girl whose world is about to be flipped upside down as her family moves to an entirely new planet. Her father, losing his policital election on earth, believes he is needed for order and stability on the new planet of the archbuilders and relocates his family there, but not before tragedy strikes. His wife, Pella's mother, dies before...more
Dec 29, 2010
Mark
added it
I first became aware of Jonathan Lethem a couple of years back when he was listed as the editor of Four Novels from the 1960's by Philip K. Dick, released by Library of America. Others may recognize the name as the author of Fortress of Solitude. As someone who has read less than half the books I own (I'm better at buying or trading than reading), the last thing I need is interest in another author. However, I recently read an couple of articles about Lethem written at the release of his latest...more
Fourteen year old Pella Marsh and her two younger brothers move with their failed politician father to a new planet following the death of their mother.
The planet is populated by small groups of human settlers, and one human city, as well as by its original occupants the Arch-Builders and the household deer, the former of whom can speak English, and the latter of which are almost ghostly and hard to notice.
The humans take pills to ward off a change related to the Arch-Builders that comes on wit...more
The planet is populated by small groups of human settlers, and one human city, as well as by its original occupants the Arch-Builders and the household deer, the former of whom can speak English, and the latter of which are almost ghostly and hard to notice.
The humans take pills to ward off a change related to the Arch-Builders that comes on wit...more
I want to mention, but skip over aspects of Girl in landscape likely to be covered by other reviewers. It certainly stands out because of its genre bending of Western and Science Fiction tale. It is clearly an homage of sorts to The Searchers. It is other aspects of the book that made it very moving to read.
It should not be overlooked that it is a wonderful coming-of-age story (or bildungsromane to quote the German literary term). Pella Marsh is a young woman forced to grow up far too quickly a...more
It should not be overlooked that it is a wonderful coming-of-age story (or bildungsromane to quote the German literary term). Pella Marsh is a young woman forced to grow up far too quickly a...more
Oct 30, 2012
Stoic
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Fans of experimental literature or strange love stories
Sometimes you make plans... sometimes they don't work out...
This was deeply dystopian. A cyclopean science-fiction romance. Most of the human characters, including Pella, the protagonist, appear lost and hopelessly disconnected, confused, bringing over the worst of their fears and failings from Earth. Only Efram stands apart from the crowd, but he comes off pretty quickly as a false prophet, a king who "rules by abdication." Even the aliens, The Archbuilders, who should be maintaining the planet...more
This was deeply dystopian. A cyclopean science-fiction romance. Most of the human characters, including Pella, the protagonist, appear lost and hopelessly disconnected, confused, bringing over the worst of their fears and failings from Earth. Only Efram stands apart from the crowd, but he comes off pretty quickly as a false prophet, a king who "rules by abdication." Even the aliens, The Archbuilders, who should be maintaining the planet...more
Published in 1998, Jonathan Lethem’s Girl In Landscape takes John Ford’s The Searchers and puts it on an interstellar colony in the far future. Global warming has destroyed planet Earth, and a young girl travels with her father and brother to the new planet, which is inhabited by a seemingly slothful alien race known as Archbuilders. The settler colony is lead by Efram Nugent, a stand in for John Wayne’s Ethan Edwards. Like The Searchers, the novel in an exploration into community, sex, and raci...more
I don't think there is such thing as a "typical" Jonathan Lethem novel, but this one is the sort of genre-bending work that I've come to expect from him at least. This is a kind of western/sci-fi/coming-of-age story, about a young girl named Pella Marsh who moves from Brooklyn to a distant frontier planet with her family. Just before leaving, her mother unexpectedly dies, and her family is given little time to grieve before being put into hypersleep and shipped off to the new world.
The theme of...more
The theme of...more
Like his other books I've read, this one had definite elements of both beauty and brutality. While technically filed in the sci-fi shelves, Lethem never tries to explain the science, such as how the ship in which they travel works or where the planet of the Archbuilders is etc. This is fine by me, but some true sci-fi fans might be disappointed. Like his other novels I've read, this is a story of overcoming devastating familial loss. Unlike those, it is also about what people can and will do whe...more
This is the first book I've read by Jonathan Lethem. It is SF, unlike some of his other work. Set in a future where a new planet has been discovered a family leave Earth to set up home there and are embroiled in a small town mentality not altogether harmonious with the existing alien life forms: the Archbuilders. Pella, the main character, is female and on the cusp of puberty. Her family decline to take the pills protecting them from alien viruses which enables her viewpoint of the community to...more
After reading Motherless Brooklyn and Fortress of Solitude, Lethem was already locked in as one of my favorite writers, but this book locked it in. I can't think of anyone more imaginative who still maintains a smooth pace.
Where Lethem's imagination is most vibrant is in his hybridization of genres: In Solitude, for instance, he managed to combine a coming-of-age novel with graphic fiction. He stretches his limbs in Girl in Landscape, for sure, blending a western with a sci-fi environment (one t...more
Where Lethem's imagination is most vibrant is in his hybridization of genres: In Solitude, for instance, he managed to combine a coming-of-age novel with graphic fiction. He stretches his limbs in Girl in Landscape, for sure, blending a western with a sci-fi environment (one t...more
This is one of many science fiction novels I have read which breaks through the assumption that the genre is lacking in literary greatness. It is open to many levels of analysis as it offers much in the way of post-colonial theory (colonization of a different environment and "othering" of the natives) and gender studies (performance of gender roles in far away places), but all interpretation aside this is a fascinating take on the space-western. What sets it apart for me is the ambiguous descri...more
Girl in Landscape by Jonathan Lethem is a novel of a young girl, Pella, who struggles with letting go her childhood to embrace her maturing body as she begins to go through puberty. The setting takes place first on Earth, but then Pella and her family leave for the Planet of the Archbuilders after her mother dies. Throughout the novel Pella struggles with her mother's death and filling the role of her mother to both her brothers and father. Also, another major theme in the novel is adapting and...more
Being around books all day, there are a few names that constantly make me think 'oh yeah, i need to read that' Jonathon Letham fits into that category, although I never really knew what to expect.
Turns out, a family on the moon with deermice & furry (furbyish?) aliens. Enjoyed the story and the pacing, and now must read something more of his. I wonder if there will be deermice....
Turns out, a family on the moon with deermice & furry (furbyish?) aliens. Enjoyed the story and the pacing, and now must read something more of his. I wonder if there will be deermice....
This is a fun, quick read. There are some good ideas in the story. The frontier town, still populated by American settlers but this time on a new planet. There is that sense of vastness: the unexplored land. And there are misunderstandings and cultural/social differences with the locals.
However, nothing is too obvious or unambiguous in this novel. In fact, most of the characters are mercurial and hard to capture in brief descriptions. As Pella Marsh - the protagonist - has difficulty forming la...more
However, nothing is too obvious or unambiguous in this novel. In fact, most of the characters are mercurial and hard to capture in brief descriptions. As Pella Marsh - the protagonist - has difficulty forming la...more
Jonathan Lethem's "Girl In Landscape" is yet another spellbinding high wire literary act in which he shows his tremendous gift for prose and creating memorable characters and settings. Here he has written a space opera version of a classic Western (Think John Ford's "The Searchers" meets Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Left Hand of Darkness" and you'll get my point.). Teenage protagonist Pella Marsh must contend with the mysterious world of the Archbuilders while trying to impress tormented loner Efram...more
I've read most of Lethem's works and have considered him one of my favorite authors for years. This book highlights his sci-fi skills, but combines it with the stark setting of Mars that is reminiscent of pioneers forging life on the western frontier. My favorite of his novels.
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Read this because I so enjoyed Lethem's Motherless Brooklyn. Post-apocalyptic story narrated by a female teen. Her mother dies and her father relocates the family to a planet abandoned-except for their inferior offspring-by the Archbuilders. Sub-plots involve the drugs and their non-use to avoid certain effects of the planet, confused sexual urges on the part of the narrator, hermaphroditic Archbuilders, and community building. More could have been done with this story. For example, the Archbuil...more
I love the simple alien world that Lethem creates--just a few details, never fully explained (it's okay, we're in the mind of a child), that give us an environmental framework for a thoroughly terrestrial story. One of my favorite moments was the fluid way in which the household deer, first introduced as one of Caitlin's many fact-tales about the archbuilder's planet, slip into the foreground as one of the pivotal features of the plot. But where the concept ended and the underlying story began f...more
Anyway, a little while back I read this book having heard good things about Jonathan Lethem. It is a post-apocalyptic novel in which largely ineffectual characters settle on a foreign planet with the primary character being 14-year-old Pella Marsh. If none of that sounded good, it is because it wasn't.
Now the back of the book sold Girl in Landscape as a "genre-bending, mind-expanding tale of sexual perversity on a new frontier." Look elsewhere, brave reader, because there is little in the way of...more
Now the back of the book sold Girl in Landscape as a "genre-bending, mind-expanding tale of sexual perversity on a new frontier." Look elsewhere, brave reader, because there is little in the way of...more
This book was a quick read - I felt the world was a bit under-developed, at least compared to the science fiction and fantasy books I've read recently. The characters were rather one-dimensional, making it hard for me to really care a lot about what happened next. Lethem hit me with a few twists at the end, which I think would have been more shocking if I had understood his characters better. But still, for a few hours spent in the pleasure of reading, I'm not sorry I read it. But I'd recommend...more
Girl In Landscape by Jonathan Lethem is a science fiction novel about a family that moves to a different and strange planet in order to start a new life there. When they arrive, they realize they were not nearly as prepared for this alien nation as they thought. There is a completely original race of beings on this planet that they have to learn to coincide with as well as the other humans that came before them. This unique combines the science fiction genre and the western genre in a very inter...more
how I would describe this story is part science fiction, part a coming of age story, part suburban drama, wrapped tightly in a not-so-subtle hint of the Old Western ambience (a some kind of frontier town setting equipped with an enigmatic lone figure, a recluse, who acts as its self-appointed law enforcer).
The gender bending aspect of this book is interesting to say the least, and I always have time for a science fiction story set in a Western setting ala "Cowboy Bebop". This book has several i...more
The gender bending aspect of this book is interesting to say the least, and I always have time for a science fiction story set in a Western setting ala "Cowboy Bebop". This book has several i...more
I picked this up for 3 dollars at the school bookstore. That was a good day.
So, the back of this book gives a bizarro summary and compares the book to Lolita. Which....ok, there are elements of that book, perhaps. But, dudes, this book is set in some future world, where the sun burns, and NY's population exists underground and the actual story takes place mostly on some far off world (that reads like the moon to me--it's all desert and wild west and mob justice).
It's about a place that was aba...more
So, the back of this book gives a bizarro summary and compares the book to Lolita. Which....ok, there are elements of that book, perhaps. But, dudes, this book is set in some future world, where the sun burns, and NY's population exists underground and the actual story takes place mostly on some far off world (that reads like the moon to me--it's all desert and wild west and mob justice).
It's about a place that was aba...more
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JONATHAN LETHEM is the author of seven novels. A recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, Lethem has published his stories and essays in The New Yorker, Harpers, Rolling Stone, Esquire, and the New York Times, among others.
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Also, I don't really have an 'inner reading voice'. That I've noticed a...more
Oct 26, 2010 04:58pm
I hear my own voice in my head and characters will sound like me. A friend of mine once told me that everyone she talks to...more
Oct 26, 2010 05:03pm
Dec 06, 2011 05:47pm