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An impressive character study of three anthropologists and the tribes they are studying in Papua New Guinea. Nell and Fen, married couple, are first seen leaving a tribe earlier than planned and without completing their study. Nell is fleeing for her life and sanity with broken glasses, multiple health ailments and unable to process her experiences of life in the tribe. Fen is leaving only with regrets that this could have been his big break as Nell is already infamously published in the field.
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There were parts of this I thought were breathtaking in their structure and originality and parts I thought were very mediocre advances to the plot, but taken as a whole, I still think this is one of the better novels published in the 2010s.
An interesting read from which I learned a lot about anthropology as a bonus. Based partially on the life of Margaret Mead, I had read some of her work many years ago in college, and hadn't thought directly about it too much since. It might inspire me to reread some or read some more. The story carried you along but the ending was, not exactly disappointing, but vague. Only one of the three main characters, the Mead figure, had a clear resolution. I would have liked to know what King envisioned
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Euphoria is an interesting read about three anthropologists in the early 20th century. Anthropology has never been a big interest for me, I'm more intrigued by non-human species, but the author brought to life why it was especially interesting at a time where little was known about parts of the world. The enthusiasm of the characters for the subject comes through vividly and rather brought them to life. There was a strange focus on sex at times, though I suppose with human populations there woul
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Euphoria is a tale about love, intellect, and betrayal that plays out among three Western anthropologists in New Guinea in the 1930s. The essence of human connection ("people are always wine to me") and the delight in intellectual understanding, which affects them like wine, run together through the book -- always intertwined, never able to be untangled. This was a re-read for my book club; it was worth the second reading.
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Feb 22, 2015
Imogen
marked it as to-read
May 08, 2015
Eve B.
marked it as to-read
Jun 20, 2017
hannah
marked it as to-read
Mar 03, 2020
Michelle
marked it as to-read
Jul 09, 2020
Concetta
marked it as 4-listed
Feb 04, 2023
Adrienne
marked it as to-read
