Marianne Wiggins
Paperback | Pages: 400 pages Rating: 4.07 | 2357 Users | 418 Reviews
List Books Supposing Evidence of Things Unseen
| Original Title: | Evidence of Things Unseen |
| ISBN: | 0743258096 (ISBN13: 9780743258098) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | Knoxville, Tennessee(United States) |
| Literary Awards: | Pulitzer Prize Nominee for Fiction (2004), California Book Award for Fiction (Gold) (2003), National Book Award Finalist for Fiction (2003) |
Explanation Conducive To Books Evidence of Things Unseen
This poetic novel, by the acclaimed author of John Dollar, describes America at the brink of the Atomic Age. In the years between the two world wars, the future held more promise than peril, but there was evidence of things unseen that would transfigure our unquestioned trust in a safe future.Fos has returned to Tennessee from the trenches of France. Intrigued with electricity, bioluminescence, and especially x-rays, he believes in science and the future of technology. On a trip to the Outer Banks to study the Perseid meteor shower, he falls in love with Opal, whose father is a glassblower who can spin color out of light.
Fos brings his new wife back to Knoxville where he runs a photography studio with his former Army buddy Flash. A witty rogue and a staunch disbeliever in Prohibition, Flash brings tragedy to the couple when his appetite for pleasure runs up against both the law and the Ku Klux Klan. Fos and Opal are forced to move to Opal's mother's farm on the Clinch River, and soon they have a son, Lightfoot. But when the New Deal claims their farm for the TVA, Fos seeks work at the Oak Ridge Laboratory -- Site X in the government's race to build the bomb.
And it is there, when Opal falls ill with radiation poisoning, that Fos's great faith in science deserts him. Their lives have traveled with touching inevitability from their innocence and fascination with "things that glow" to the new world of manmade suns.
Hypnotic and powerful, Evidence of Things Unseen constructs a heartbreaking arc through twentieth-century American life and belief.
Point Containing Books Evidence of Things Unseen
| Title | : | Evidence of Things Unseen |
| Author | : | Marianne Wiggins |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 400 pages |
| Published | : | June 2nd 2004 by Simon Schuster (first published 2003) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Historical. Historical Fiction |
Rating Containing Books Evidence of Things Unseen
Ratings: 4.07 From 2357 Users | 418 ReviewsRate Containing Books Evidence of Things Unseen
This is a touching story of the tender love between Fos and Opal. Fos is a man who has always been fascinated by things that glow...falling stars in the night sky; bioluminescence in the dark sea.He accidentally finds Opal when his truck breaks down while he is in NC to see the meteor showers. Opal is quite the repairman so she has him on the road again quickly...and she's with him.The author, Marianne Wiggins, deserves a Pulitzer Prize for this novel. It is a riveting story of America beforeThe first thing I noticed in this book was Wiggens use of poetic language. Beautiful. But in the beginning of the book at least, it was too much for me. Like too many plums in the pudding, too much sauce on the pasta. Tasty gems need a matrix to shine against. When its all chocolate chips and no cookie it can become cloying. The writing, lovely as it was, slowed me down because it kept bringing attention to itself. I love gorgeous writing, but when Im reading a novel I dont want to keep stopping
a few weeks later and i still find myself thinking about this one. wiggins is just a beautiful writer. the paperback's blurb boasts about what an epic love story it is--which is certainly true--but i found it such an oddly limiting piece of praise to highlight because this book is so much more. science and poetry and history are woven together in kind of magical ways to make up this story that's so true it just feels like life. i think this passage says it best:"Life doesn't progress the way a
The first thing I noticed in this book was Wiggens use of poetic language. Beautiful. But in the beginning of the book at least, it was too much for me. Like too many plums in the pudding, too much sauce on the pasta. Tasty gems need a matrix to shine against. When its all chocolate chips and no cookie it can become cloying. The writing, lovely as it was, slowed me down because it kept bringing attention to itself. I love gorgeous writing, but when Im reading a novel I dont want to keep stopping
One of my all-time favorite books: a beautiful, epic story, beautifully written.Themes:
I kept encountering positive reviews of this book, but the description always left me unmoved -- according to the back of the book, it "describes America at the brink of the Atomic Age. In the years between the two world wars, the future held more promise than peril, but there was evidence of things unseen that would transfigure our unquestioned trust in a safe future." That sounds tiresome, yes? Fortunately for me, we can completely disregard that explanation. This book was truly winsome. Okay,
This ranks right up there with Crossing to Safety as one of the best novels about marriage. The quirky yet believable main characters were so curious, kind, and tragic. A very unique and satisfying story. I didn't even mind all of the unbelievable coincidences in the end, because it was so well crafted. Plus, the longer I live, the longer I realize that bizarre coincidences aren't really all that rare, or all that coincidental.
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