367 ratings (3.50 avg)
35 reviews

Magda Harper

Add friend

Magda ’s Bookshelves

to-read‎ (492)
currently-reading‎ (3)
read‎ (385)

did-not-finish‎ (6)
faves‎ (60)
weird-women‎ (54)

audiobook‎ (48)
bib‎ (26)
true-crime‎ (13)

ebook‎ (11)
netgalley‎ (5)

Stats | More…

Magda is Currently Reading

Magda Harper is currently reading

Kairos

by Jenny Erpenbeck

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Apr 16, 2026 01:54AM

Magda Harper is currently reading

Orbital

by Samantha Harvey

bookshelves: currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in March 2025

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Magda Harper said: " In a nutshell, I found this book beautifully boring and quite hard to review.
I want to be fair to it, while acknowledging that I was never really reaching for it, and that it felt three times longer than it actually was.

What helps, in my opinion, is In a nutshell, I found this book beautifully boring and quite hard to review.
I want to be fair to it, while acknowledging that I was never really reaching for it, and that it felt three times longer than it actually was.

What helps, in my opinion, is to understand that that is (at least partially) the point. The chapters are headed by one of the sixteen orbits around the earth that the astronauts complete in one "day." The novel encapsulates the repetitiveness of life in space, seeing the same things all over again, and again, and again, and again... It conveys the exceptional mundanity of... well... being in space. Not much happens in the spacecraft, the astronauts' routine is uneventful, repetitive, until the news of a mother's passing creates a small but palpable crack in the fabric of their lives in close quarter.

Reading the novel, you start feeling the same sense of uneventfulness, repetitiveness, banal, mundane grandeur. It is a boring yet comforting experience in feeling small and insignificant. The people in the spacecraft are not portrayed as superhumans. They could be you, you could be them. They are a sample of humanity. I would, however, have liked to hear more about each individual's backstory, to feel them more well-rounded instead of coming across as tokens for the nation that they represent.

Perhaps think of Orbital as an ekphrasis, understand the lengthy description of earth's colours and textures, the shape of its continents, the way the light of the sun reflects upon its surface as the description of a piece of art. In feeling slightly bored by the umpteenth description of how the purple shade of night washes over the globe or the orange of the desert contrasted with the deep blue of the ocean, I caught myself feeling guilty and ungrateful. The earth is beautiful, it is an endless source of wonder and awe. The near religious experience of the astronauts pausing whatever they are doing to look through the glass domes of the spacecraft drives that point home. No matter how many times they have seen it, they will pause to watch. If anything, this book was a bit of a confronting experience. Why rush? Where else do you need to be but here? Because you are here, so why wouldn't you look? Life on earth is fragile, and fleeting, and precious. Watch while you can and wonder. ...more "

progress:

(page 0 of 224)
— Mar 19, 2025 01:00AM

Mar 19, 2025 01:33AM · see review