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Liked It “The reader will need a large chart to track the family in this exceptional book. Each chapter stands alone but at the same time creates a novel of a family of scientists, lay people and the world of the 1800's when science was replacing the Bible as the source of information about the earth and...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “picked this book on the sale rack because i like maps ... some of the stories are good ... others can be a bit dragging” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“The reader will need a large chart to track the family in this exceptional book. Each chapter stands alone but at the same time creates a novel of a family of scientists, lay people and the world of the 1800's when science was replacing the Bible as the source of information about the earth and humans.
Carol W wrote this review Thursday, August 13 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The language creates mind pictures that are as good as photos. Famous scientists as well as fictional come together to map the earth, study the plants and animals and create a new understanding of man. While set in the 1800's the story is about today's arguments of creation and intelligent design and Darwin. Recommended.”“picked this book on the sale rack because i like maps ... some of the stories are good ... others can be a bit dragging”
estelita wrote this review Friday, December 21 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I stumbled on Andrea Barrett in one of the America's Best Short Stories anthologies some years back. Her title story, Servants of the Map, was an elegant historical fiction tale about a man (German? Swedish? I forget) who goes off on a scientific expedition and writes letters back to his family who have not seen him for a long time. Barrett weaves very intelligent stories about (mis)adventure in the pursuit of science--not a topic I'm normally hooked by, but you end up giving in to the fascination of the subject, both for yourself and for the characters who become obsessed by it. Servants of the Map: Stories expands on this theme and also links this big world of characters she has created. Any book you read by her, including The Voyage of the Narwhal, Ship Fever, or her new one The Air We Breathe, will bring in familiar characters from the other books and what's delightful is that you will probably need to read Barrett's entire body of work--especially those wonderful books yet to be written--to see how everyone, in fact, connects.
Karen wrote this review Saturday, August 4 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Andrea Barrett isn't as well known as Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro, Alice Hoffman, but she's in their league and she's an excellent read.”
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