Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Edinburgh : Canongate, 2015.
Description
"Great Aunt Oleander is dead. To each of her nearest and dearest she has left a seed pod. The seed pods might be deadly, but then again they might also contain the secret of enlightenment. Not that anyone has much time for enlightenment. Fleur, left behind at the crumbling Namaste House, must step into Oleander's role as guru to lost and lonely celebrities. Bryony wants to lose the weight she put on after her botanist parents disappeared, but can't stop drinking. And Charlie struggles to make sense of his life after losing the one woman he could truly love. A complex and fiercely contemporary tale of inheritance, enlightenment, life, death, desire and family trees, The Seed Collectors is the most important novel yet from one of the world's most daring and brilliant writers. As Henry James said of George Eliot's Middlemarch, The Seed Collectors is a 'treasurehouse of detail' revealing all that it means to be connected, to be part of a society, to be part of the universe and to be human. "--… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member m_k_m
Witty, sexy and often painfully accurate portrayal of the way in which our egos stop us being happy. Scarlett Thomas's characters may be ridiculous but this time they're meant to be. It's good to be back with her: her prose is wonderfully ambitious while remaining mercifully readable. Recommended.
LibraryThing member mumfie
I got half way (or more) through this and gave up. I like her books but this one left me cold. It has nice little moments but was very meandering and didn't go anywhere.
LibraryThing member DebbieMcCauley
Blurb: "Aunt Oleander is dead. In the Garden of England her extended family gather to remember her, to tell stories and to rekindle old memories. To each of her nearest and dearest Oleander has left a precious seed pod. But along with it comes a family secret that could open the hardest of hearts
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but also break the closest ties". Read to about half way through and then decided life was too short to continue. Just didn't grab me. Show Less
LibraryThing member Eyejaybee
Scarlett Thomas's previous novel, 'Our Tragic Universe' is one of my favourite books. I have already read it three or four times and I am confident that I will read it again before very long.
I was, therefore, eagerly awaiting the publication of her latest novel, 'The Seed Collectors', though I was
Far from matching up to 'Our Tragic Universe' or 'The End of My Y', both of which featured strong, intelligent and appealing protagonists engaging with complex ideas (which they managed to explain with great dexterity and clarity), this latest book seemed reminiscent of the sordid musings of an adolescent boy.
I was, therefore, eagerly awaiting the publication of her latest novel, 'The Seed Collectors', though I was
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trying not to let my anticipation run too wild as I was also conscious of a series of recent disappointments where long-awaited books were concerned (with particular regard to David Mitchell's 'The Bone Clocks' and Kate Atkinson's 'A God in Ruins'). Sadly, that precaution proved justified.Far from matching up to 'Our Tragic Universe' or 'The End of My Y', both of which featured strong, intelligent and appealing protagonists engaging with complex ideas (which they managed to explain with great dexterity and clarity), this latest book seemed reminiscent of the sordid musings of an adolescent boy.
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LibraryThing member sianpr
It's not often that I give up on a book but The Seed Collectors is one that eventually became unreadable. This novel is basically page after page of narcissistic rambling by a large cast of unlikable family members who've inherited seeds from Aunt Oleander. When we find out what the seeds are meant
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to do we move from narcissism to gibberish. All is liberally mixed with porn involving thoroughly nasty sexual fantasies in graphic detail, including a female character fantasising about being gang raped by a bunch of blokes she's seen on the train while she masturbates in the train toilet. Need I say more? Show Less
LibraryThing member lauriebrown54
“The Seed Collectors” anchors on a mysterious plant on a mysterious island that can only be accessed by helicopter (how then are there aboriginal people there?). The plant makes seed pods that carry the gift of enlightenment- and death. That’s the other problem- since the person dies to
The Gardener family lost several members of one generation on a quest for this mysterious seed pod. They disappeared, never to be seen again. Oleander Gardener, great aunt to numerous other Gardeners, has died and left her considerable money, a fancy spa retreat, and other blessings, mostly to Fleur Meadows, who, as far as they know, is no relation to the Gardeners at all. She also left to her nieces and nephews seed pods of that very same mysterious plant. And then there is the book, which turns into whatever book the possessor needs at the time.
If ever there was a family in need of enlightenment, it’s this one. Incest, overeating, compulsive spending, alcoholism, anorexia, and infidelity, are all on the menu. The POV bounces from one family member to another. There is no character who is truly likable; on the other hand, none are truly detestable, either. Bryony is lamentable and wholly self-centered, but she, like them all, is just a person stumbling through life. Did the loss of the one generation cause this one to be this way? That is never answered.
The story lurches around not just in POV but in time, too. There are parts where I have no idea who the narrator is writing about. But somehow, despite these problems, the book was oddly enjoyable and at no point did I consider not finishing it. The prose is beautiful. The people are interesting. The situation is unique. It’s literary fiction at its strangest.
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become enlightened, how do other people know about the enlightenment? But this part is magical realism, so I put those questions aside and went along for the ride. The Gardener family lost several members of one generation on a quest for this mysterious seed pod. They disappeared, never to be seen again. Oleander Gardener, great aunt to numerous other Gardeners, has died and left her considerable money, a fancy spa retreat, and other blessings, mostly to Fleur Meadows, who, as far as they know, is no relation to the Gardeners at all. She also left to her nieces and nephews seed pods of that very same mysterious plant. And then there is the book, which turns into whatever book the possessor needs at the time.
If ever there was a family in need of enlightenment, it’s this one. Incest, overeating, compulsive spending, alcoholism, anorexia, and infidelity, are all on the menu. The POV bounces from one family member to another. There is no character who is truly likable; on the other hand, none are truly detestable, either. Bryony is lamentable and wholly self-centered, but she, like them all, is just a person stumbling through life. Did the loss of the one generation cause this one to be this way? That is never answered.
The story lurches around not just in POV but in time, too. There are parts where I have no idea who the narrator is writing about. But somehow, despite these problems, the book was oddly enjoyable and at no point did I consider not finishing it. The prose is beautiful. The people are interesting. The situation is unique. It’s literary fiction at its strangest.
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LibraryThing member jbarr5
The seed collectors by Thomas Scarlett
Some have received real seeds, others are deadly from the woman who ran the orchard and is now dead.
Others in the family and there seems to be such an emphasis placed on sex, adultery etc.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille
Some have received real seeds, others are deadly from the woman who ran the orchard and is now dead.
Others in the family and there seems to be such an emphasis placed on sex, adultery etc.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille
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Audio Reading Device). Show Less
LibraryThing member LDVoorberg
Not the book about botany that I thought it would based on the title, description, or the first few pages.
Thankfully there is a family tree at the front because I needed it often to keep track of the characters, there are so many and so many perspectives are used.
There are parts of profoundness
Re-incarnate into a better story in your next life, book. You did not fulfill your potential here.
Thankfully there is a family tree at the front because I needed it often to keep track of the characters, there are so many and so many perspectives are used.
There are parts of profoundness
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in the novel, and I have no criticism of the writing, so I wonder if it was the publisher who steered this book from its botanical origins into a sex-driven dysfunctional family saga about nirvana that does not reach its seventh heaven.Re-incarnate into a better story in your next life, book. You did not fulfill your potential here.
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LibraryThing member Ken-Me-Old-Mate
I was so taken with PopCo that I decided to read more from Scarlett Thomas so this is my fourth and final book.
This book just starts and you are dropped right into it without much pre-amble or lead in. There is a family tree at the front of the book, something that always fill me with dread and to
However I digress. I ignored the family tree and it didn’t seem to matter. It doesn’t take long to work out who is who and at least they do not have long Russian names.
So what is this really? Hard to say, it is not one that spans generation after generation although the immediate ancestors figure by their absence. The story is fantastic so be prepared to suspend disbelief as it is well worth it. Part family drama, part soap opera, part fantasy but all pulling equally to bring about a very readable book. Nice to come across some weird sex that is believable, at least in my experience!
As said in a previous review of her work I found this one hard to define and crossed several genres but in a good way. It also touches on many subjects along the way. Did I enjoy it? Hard to say, I don’t even know if it is intended to enjoyed, at least not in the way that PopCo and The End Of Mr. Y are. It is very well written and crafted, the characters are distinct enough not to need the family tree!. Well worth a read though and easy to dip in and out of it, a good commuting book.
As this is my last Scarlett Thomas book I can look back and see four books all so different in nature and scope. I endured Our Tragic Universe rather than enjoyed it but I suspect that may have been the intention. It was the least favourite purely due to my tastes and not to the quality of the work. I just loved PopCo for its hipster superficiality. The End of Mr. Y is not to be read if you have to get up in the morning and The Seed Collectors is like The Archers on LSD. Well done Scarlett Thomas!
This book just starts and you are dropped right into it without much pre-amble or lead in. There is a family tree at the front of the book, something that always fill me with dread and to
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be studiously ignored, which doesn’t really work in the ebook format anyway. The thing with family trees (and maps too) is that they are visual and detract from the imagination. I have on occasion thought that they are put there because the author lacks imagination. However I digress. I ignored the family tree and it didn’t seem to matter. It doesn’t take long to work out who is who and at least they do not have long Russian names.
So what is this really? Hard to say, it is not one that spans generation after generation although the immediate ancestors figure by their absence. The story is fantastic so be prepared to suspend disbelief as it is well worth it. Part family drama, part soap opera, part fantasy but all pulling equally to bring about a very readable book. Nice to come across some weird sex that is believable, at least in my experience!
As said in a previous review of her work I found this one hard to define and crossed several genres but in a good way. It also touches on many subjects along the way. Did I enjoy it? Hard to say, I don’t even know if it is intended to enjoyed, at least not in the way that PopCo and The End Of Mr. Y are. It is very well written and crafted, the characters are distinct enough not to need the family tree!. Well worth a read though and easy to dip in and out of it, a good commuting book.
As this is my last Scarlett Thomas book I can look back and see four books all so different in nature and scope. I endured Our Tragic Universe rather than enjoyed it but I suspect that may have been the intention. It was the least favourite purely due to my tastes and not to the quality of the work. I just loved PopCo for its hipster superficiality. The End of Mr. Y is not to be read if you have to get up in the morning and The Seed Collectors is like The Archers on LSD. Well done Scarlett Thomas!
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LibraryThing member RuMuse
What a disappointment this book is. I've enjoyed previous novels by this author very much. I stuck with reading it for over 100 dreary pages, but, as another LT reviewer said, life is too short ... Why would I, or anyone, want to read a novel without one single likeable character? It's too bad,
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because this has elements of a potentially intriguing story. But if there is no one to like, who gives a shit what happens to the characters? Show Less
LibraryThing member adrianburke
Life is too short
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2015
Physical description
374 p.; 21.4 cm
ISBN
9781847679215