[simpleazon-image align=”left” asin=”0143125842″ locale=”us” height=”500″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/519bxnNZYWL.jpg” width=”326″][simpleazon-link asin=”0143125842″ locale=”us”]The Signature of All Things: A Novel[/simpleazon-link] by Elizabeth Gilbert
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The writing sets a lighthearted tone with an undercurrent of humor. The author has a marvelous sense of irony. Well-researched in terms of botanic history. Surprisingly sensual and erotic. Exotic and vividly descriptive as well as adventurous. Alma Whittaker proves to be a strong female protagonist who grows stronger and more confident as the story progresses. The male characteristics are less defined, but as men are largely a mystery to Alma this may be deliberate. I mostly enjoyed the read, but I am hard pressed to say what the book was about. I guess it was about Alma, and if you like Alma, you will like the book. I liked the book well enough, but I also found it instantly forgettable.

Quotes:

“She (Alma) wanted to understand the world, and she made a habit of chasing down information to its last hiding place, as though the fate of nations were at stake in every instance” (p. 54).

“There is so much more potency to be found in detail than in generalities, but most souls cannot train themselves to sit still for it” (p. 203).

“So brief is our stay in the world! Why make such a bother to record our flickering lives” (p. 355)?