A Constellation of Vital Phenomena Review

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena

Author: Anthony Marra

My rating: 5/5 stars

Summary: 

Eight-year-old Havaa's life in rural Chechnya is forever changed when her father is abducted by Russian soldiers. Their neighbor, Akhmed, finds Havaa hiding with her blue suitcase and seeks a way to help her. He reaches Hospital No. 6 where he and Havaa meet Sonja; after that, their lives are never the same. Marra shares a story of love among the inhabitants of this war-ridden place in this powerful and impactful novel.

-----

My thoughts:

While reading the first chapter of Marra's A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, I was transfixed by his writing and the impending story. The opening sentence itself had me hooked by being thrown into the story so quickly and in such a depressing but delightful manner. Throughout the first chapter, I was also captivated by the sophistication of Marra's writing style and language use, and I immediately recognized how Marra goes out of his way of the story to make descriptions and add richness to his story.

The novel is so full of war-tattered people and places, but Marra manages to slip in humor and happiness in the poor setting for his story, i.e., a character who mistakes the lyrics of a Bee Gees song for words from the Qur'an. Nevertheless, after a minimal paragraph of humor, the novel returns to its bleakness, reminding the reader that this setting may be mere fiction for most of us, but for some, it is very real and very bleak. We find our young character, Havaa, learning how to fire a gun, but that is only the beginning. For a frequenter of war, Chechnya is a real example of what happens to places and lives during war.

Reading this book all the way through gave me the satisfaction of finding out its ending as *spoiler alert* all books do. What I really mean is that Marra's story becomes many different stories throughout the novel, and they end up all connecting and converging as one. The agony of waiting through this long novel pays off in the end by the brilliance that sows it all together; so if you find the book slow going, read on! Marra bares the effects of war on the pages of his novel and it is truly an eye-opening read.

-----

Would I recommend A Constellation of Vital Phenomena?

Yes, what I've written in this review so far should speak for itself. This book may particularly interest readers of literary fiction, historical fiction, war stories, and readers with interests in Russia and the former Soviet Union.

If you would like to read an excerpt, click here.
-----

Resources: 

If you would like more information about the novel, click here.

The press release for A Constellation of Vital Phenomena can be found here.

For more about Anthony Marra, click here.

-----

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.