"Our story could end here, and it would be hope, as satisfying a conclusion for you as it is for the two of us"

I should have had listened to Kubodera. Now I am forever ruined by that postscript. ( )

Elaine loved
Author little life

I'm not sure how to feel about this book. There aren't many almost-500 page books that I've read and not complained about the length, but add this one to the list. Although I didn't find any of the characters likable, the writing and character development was fantastic enough that I cared about what happened to the dislikable people. Perhaps one of the main things preventing me from loving this book was that it didn't live up to her other masterpiece, A Little Life. Still, I will buy her next book the day it comes out! ( )

Did not grab me at all. When I was still not interested at 25% I decided it was time to move on.

Really impressive debut novel, about a Nobel-winning biologist, Norton Perina, who made a groundbreaking discovery, but eventually is convicted for sexual assault of children that he had adopted. It sounds grim, and it is. There are many impressive things about this book, but perhaps the most was how convincingly the author depicts Perina. While not devoid of a tiny bit of charm, and at times being an evocative narrator (particularly of scientific matters, and the natural world), he is consistently vain, self-aggrandizing, and deluded. Even while you never lose sight that he is a monster, as a narrator he is still engrossing. Furthermore, it is interesting that, even with Perina's biases and prejudices, the goodness of a few other characters still peeks through. This is some skillful writing.

The passages on the pacific island of Ivu'ivu (the bulk of the book) are fascinating and compelling. And if the book dips slightly on his return to the US, by then I was immersed enough to not really care.

The one false note for me was the character of the editor — an ex-colleague and acolyte of Perina's, who is entrusted with this memoir, and footnotes it as he sees fit. It's a nice conceit, but I felt we either needed more of him, or less; as it was it felt a little tentative. Nonetheless, just a minor quibble.

Much like the flora and fauna of the island Ivu'ivu, The People In The Trees, is rich, subtle, multi-faceted — disturbing and brutal, but also beautiful. ( )