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(3.39) | None | "Nell Barber, an expelled PhD candidate in Biological Science, is exploring the fine line between poison and antidote. Her mentor, Dr. Joan Kallas, preoccupies her thoughts. Nell frequently finds herself standing in the doorway to Joan's office despite herself. Surrounded by an ex, a best friend, a boyfriend, and a husband, the two scientists are tangled together at the center of a web of illicit relationships, grudges, and obsessions. The six are each burdened by desire and ambition, and as they all cross each other's paths on the university campus, the tensions created set in motion a domino effect of affairs and heartbreak. Nell slowly fills her empty apartment with poisonous plants to study and begins to keep a series of notebooks, all dedicated to Joan. She logs her research and how she spends her days, but the notebooks ultimately become a painstaking map of love. In a dazzling and unforgettable voice, Rebecca Dinerstein Knight has written a spellbinding novel of emotional and intellectual intensity"--… (more) |
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▾References References to this work on external resources.  Wikipedia in English
None ▾Book descriptions "Nell Barber, an expelled PhD candidate in Biological Science, is exploring the fine line between poison and antidote. Her mentor, Dr. Joan Kallas, preoccupies her thoughts. Nell frequently finds herself standing in the doorway to Joan's office despite herself. Surrounded by an ex, a best friend, a boyfriend, and a husband, the two scientists are tangled together at the center of a web of illicit relationships, grudges, and obsessions. The six are each burdened by desire and ambition, and as they all cross each other's paths on the university campus, the tensions created set in motion a domino effect of affairs and heartbreak. Nell slowly fills her empty apartment with poisonous plants to study and begins to keep a series of notebooks, all dedicated to Joan. She logs her research and how she spends her days, but the notebooks ultimately become a painstaking map of love. In a dazzling and unforgettable voice, Rebecca Dinerstein Knight has written a spellbinding novel of emotional and intellectual intensity"-- ▾Library descriptions No library descriptions found. ▾LibraryThing members' description
| Book description |
Nell Barber, an expelled PhD candidate in biological science, is exploring the fine line between poison and antidote, working alone to set a speed record for the detoxification of poisonous plants. Her mentor, Dr. Joan Kallas, is the hero of Nell's heart. Nell frequently finds herself standing in the doorway to Joan's office despite herself, mesmerized by Joan's elegance, success, and spiritual force.
Surrounded by Nell's ex, her best friend, her best friend's boyfriend, and Joan's buffoonish husband, the two scientists are tangled together at the center of a web of illicit relationships, grudges, and obsessions. All six are burdened by desire and ambition, and as they collide on the university campus, their attractions set in motion a domino effect of affairs and heartbreak.
Meanwhile, Nell slowly fills her empty apartment with poisonous plants to study, and she begins to keep a series of notebooks, all dedicated to Joan. She logs her research and how she spends her days, but the notebooks ultimately become a painstaking map of love. In a dazzling and unforgettable voice, Rebecca Dinerstein Knight has written a spellbinding novel of emotional and intellectual intensity.  | |
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I did not realize that this book was funny until about one hour in, and then my experience of it did a 180. It's hilarious, like, almost-did-a-spit-take, chortled-to-myself-on-my-morning-walk hilarious, and the audio is narrated by Jenny Slate, which doesn't hurt at all. (side bar: I found out while poking around that Rebecca Dinerstein Knight is also the author of The Sunlit Night, which was made into a movie. I cried while watching the trailer at least twice; Jenny Slate also stars in that movie.) But, crucially, it's funny in an unexpected way. Usually when books are funny they announce it with their cadence, but here, I wasn't sure if a sentence was going to end with a pang or with a laugh.
I did find there to be a lot of sentences that did so much inverting of words and subverting of expectations that I could see how a reader could get tired of that; I thought the book was just short enough that it didn't matter, and I was always waiting for the next joke so I didn't care. The central relationship is so bizarre that maybe folks didn't find it believable. But I think the book is ultimately about...desire? The fact that I know that it's definitely about something but am not sure what makes it a high-star book in my mind, because I know that I'll be able to keep going back to it and keep thinking about it for a while. (