It took me a solid week, but I finally finished The Signature of All Things: A Novel
As I mentioned in my Empty Shelf Challenge: February Edition, the novel is set in the early-to-mid 1800s and focuses somewhat on the world of botany and science, somewhat on the life of the main character, and somewhat on gender and sexuality. The entire book was intricately woven together, with a couple of interesting plot twists and a cast full of unique characters, but it is the language that kept me reading the most.
The novel was a lyrical masterpiece, each word carefully chosen to convey the intelligence and the passion and the control of the main character, Alma. The book discourses on 18th and 19th century biology, theology, and philosophy, and all without losing its modern day accessibility.
The hardcover edition even felt as lyrical as it ought to, with thick, stationary-like pages with tattered edges and exquisite, full-cover prints of orchids inside the front and back covers.
Some of my favorite quotes:
“His penmanship was shamefully crabbed. Each sentence was a crowded village of capital letters and small letters, living side by side in tight misery, crawling up one another as thought trying to escape the page. His spelling was several degrees beyong arbitraty, and his punctuation brought reason to sigh with unhappiness.” – p. 3
“A parent is inexcusable who does not teach her child to think.” – p. 52
“She wrote: ‘ The beauty and variety of the natural world are merely the visible legacies of endless war.’ ” – p.447
“All I ever wanted was to know this world. I can say now, as I reach my end, that I know quite a bit more of it than I knew when I arrived … anyone who can say such a thing has lived a fortunate life.” – p. 497
I have decided that this book contains microcosms of brilliance married with a somewhat un-fulfilling plot line, but that it was overall a delightful endeavor.
What made this a good story? The language. Some sentences made me stop and read them two or three times each, for their sheer beauty.
What could have made it a better story? The novel often seemed to bog down momentarily in excessive detail. I think this is the author’s attempt to put the reader in the same frame of mind as Alma, the detail-oriented taxonomist, but I also think that this may detract some readers from pushing through to the end.
What do you think? Have you read The Signature of All Things, or anything else by Elizabeth Gilbert?
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