Emulsifying concoctions with a gamut of coherent expressions, whisking them with an infusion of explosive emotions, poetry in motion, vividly depicted through sequential poetic prose that gradually lures the reader into a meditative state – a lyrical lullaby for the senses, eschewing and resisting the traditional norms of writing, is Samantha Harvey’s book Orbital.
The book ‘Orbital’ invites readers to embark on a journey of spiritual concord, experienced and lived through the eyes of six astronauts aboard the International Space Station as they orbit planet Earth.
The profundity of the author’s writing boasts of intellectual lucidity, with a remarkable affinity for impeccable craftsmanship in creating layers of myriad sentiments, that invoke in the reader a reflective perspective, engaging with the events witnessed and experienced by the astronauts – the death of a loved one, the peril of a typhoon, battling illness, and questions of existential reality on earth as observed from above.
With an astute sense of imagination, the profound narrative distinctly yet subtly encapsulates the luminosity and beauty of planet Earth as observed from the station. A globe meticulously and diligently revolving around its axis, honouring the order of some mystical force, pulsating and adorned with a kaleidoscope of colours, birthing a cosmic phenomenon that remains invisible to the naked eye.
It’s throbbing with life where humanity resides, amid a cacophony of chaos – breeding shallow beliefs, creating rifts, disharmony, wars, and borders. A dichotomy emerges, a juxtaposition of two images woven with the thread of philosophical elegance immersed in duality: the isolation and detachment from the planet below contrasted with vivid emotional fears that conjure an acute awareness of the fragility and the inexplicable intricacies of life, felt keenly in comparison to the vast, unknown expanse of space.
This short book of 138 pages is an ode to Earth, an epic poem with immaculate verses seamlessly conjoined from start to finish, proclaiming deep, pivotal themes that highlight the fragility of life and humanity as experienced on Earth, and how trivial, insubstantial, insignificant and incongruent it all seems when observed from the vast, lonely expanse of space.
It’s an absolute gem of a book, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Have you read it?
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