Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer Reviewed and Explained

[@neuroticnation144]

I have “Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Writing Imaginative Fiction” by Jeff Vandermeer, it’s utterly fantastic and contains personal bits about his life experiences and family. It kinda explains some of his insanity in writing. Great book, I highly recommend especially if you’re curious about writing imaginative fiction.

[@ChaseFountains]

Currently reading this to learn to write as well and following along with these have been gold mines!!

[@Goodbye2AWorld]

Just finished this book today. Old Jim's portion had me so absorbed. But wow, oh wow, was Lowry's part a hard read. I absolutely agree with your point that Vandermeer gets so mysterious with the parts outside of Area X that it can really slow your reading to a crawl trying to make sense of it. Nevertheless, he's still an amazing author when it comes to imagery. That "Do Not Eat" section gave me chills. Great review!

[@ryanwilliams1093]

Hey, appreciated your analysis and it made me go back and listen to a couple of sections. I think you’re just a hair off in your identification of the rogue. I’m pretty sure the rogue is Whitby. In the original trilogy we know he’s gone inside Area X secretly at least one (and probably more) time(s). But if we stick to just what’s in Absolution: shortly before the expedition is to head out, Lowry is seated away from the group with Whitby. He calls Whitby an albino (the rogue is described as almost unnaturally pale, as in comparison to all other expedition members who spent time outdoors training and preparing for the mission). The second thing that happens at the table is the story of the chicken. But the story of the chicken is very brief. What keeps going around and around in Lowry’s head before we get the chicken story is about feasting on chicken, duck, turkey, etc and his great lament about WHY he’d let Whitby tell him about the chicken. So is Whitby implanting some kind of psychic trigger into Lowry? I don’t know, seems like a stretch, unless that’s already a Whitby doppelgänger sent by Area X? Either way, whichever Whitby left the molt behind knew Lowry well enough to know that if the paper on it said “eat me” he’d say “fuck off”…but “don’t eat me”…he’s going to dig right in under the right conditions. What happens to Lowry after that is the beginning of him becoming deeply entangled with Area X. He ate the Whitby molt and it layered over him all the experiences of the rogue and the rogue’s experiences contained therein-like putting another brain around his own. Eating the molt is a parallel to his near future acceptance of putting on the suit to leave-itself lying on the ground like a molted skin. Lowry “escapes” Area X because it wants him to, and only once he accepts it. That’s why the note Cas/Hargraves finds on Jim says “Kill Lowry”. He’s going to become the director and keep feeding people into Area X because that’s it’s will.

[@ariesclockworkkai9298]

I hope you read this, but I'm pretty sure the money never actually mattered to Jack. It was the carrot on a stick that he dangled in front of Lowry to manipulate him. I feel very confident that Lowry was the first person Jack ever sent without conditioning. He was a direct response to Jim betraying him, sending somebody who isn't only working for you because you brainwashed them. What mattered to Jack more than anything was control. It is mentioned at one point that Jim playing the piano somehow infected people at central. I think what he really meant was that it broke their conditioning. He had to discard them because he couldn't control them anymore. Everything Jack has done across the series has been about control. And his inability to control Area X was driving him crazy I think. That's also why the bothered to strand the two lovers and isolate them. They needed to study their resistance while making sure they couldn't spread it.

[@anastassiyam5971]

I wish that I read all four books one after another. I barely remember Lowry from first books but it will be so nice to have all details intact. Anyway thanks for the final thoughts! I enjoyed fourth book and still couldn’t wrap my head around all things happened in the last book. Definitely my favorite trilogy+1 at all times!

[@jonruffolo]

I really agree with a lot of your thoughts and appreciate the explanation of the rogue

[@AndrewPrice2704]

I can't really imagine listening to any of the four. Being able to speed up and slow down and go back is essential I find.

[@lowlikeyou]

This is exactly the video ive been looking for. Im halfway through the book right now and I need some other readers thoughts!

[@GrammaticusBooks]

This is a new one to me Liminal. In fact, Jeff VanderMeer is a new author for me! Not sure I want to slog through 300 pages to get to the good parts though. Maybe start with Annihilation?

[@patreekotime4578]

Sounds like you should read the entire Southern Reach trilogy before digging into this one.

[@thomashardy1162]

Definitely start with Annihilation. Honestly, you could probably end there too! The other books aren’t bad… but the first book is really the peak of it

[@keeran697]

Absolutely begin with Annihilation. Each book is quite different. Do take a good break between reading each!!

[@AndrewPrice2704]

I think Jack had essentially embezzled the money from Central

[@keeran697]

Yeah that's absolutely it, while he was still scheming to take over the organisation and hadn't done the purging and politicing which i guess was successful. Also, the island things was reminiscent of the kinds of throwing money around that the CIA got up to in much of the Cold War. Just endless resources for whatever.

[@adrianmcmahon5731]

I've been looking forward to reading this since I found out it was coming out a few months back. Although you mentioned quite strongly in both this review and the 2024 ranking round up about how Absolution is 3/4's of a slog to read, this review despite all of that just makes me want to read it even more now. Vandermeer is nearly always a head scratching wtf did I just read / fever dream / bad acid trip but his writing sticks with you long after you've finished that despite his flaws is worth the time and effort to try to make sense of it.

[@keeran697]

Area X as a hyperobject (like Climate Change etc, on purpose) is a worthwhile angle.

[@dave-cripps]

It's a unique vision unlike anything else I've ever read (all four) with some incredible ideas but I also found it hard to stay focused on it. I gave up on Absolution about half way through. I expect I missed some important scenes but felt I'd dwelt in that world long enough. Very glad I read it.

[@dM-ij1we]

My favourite of the four.

[@VaNicBri]

As someone else pointed out, I don’t think CENTRAL needed the money. Either Jack was trying to surreptitiously reclaim it without anyone else knowing for personal gain, or it’s about control as the other commenter mentioned.

[@neuroticnation144]

I’ll be back after I’ve read it… a fellow audible listener!

[@neuroticnation144]

I agree, sometimes he can be a little over imaginative to the point of huh? But fun nonetheless.

[@chucklr]

Am I bonkers or did Lowry’s drug use get Area X high, like as a whole?

[@neondemon5137]

You are what you eat. So maybe, maybe.

[@MizardWizard]

Yooo sick palmer eldritch shirt 👕

[@zrienkersh1475]

Beginning was a sloooooogggggg for me, and I loved the other books.

[@joearnold6881]

I think your alligator might be sick