3.5/5 Stars.
There’s a lot of interesting stuff going on in this book, though for some reason I found it to be a bit duller than I expected.
Euphoria the story of three anthropologists who wind up spending a brief period of time together while studying a tribe in New Guinea. Nell and Fen are married, but it’s clear right from the beginning that their relationship is volatile. Fen is brash, selfish and jealous of Nell’s success in the field of anthropology. Nell, on the other hand, is calm and thoughtful. She values freedom above all else, and would practice polygamy if she had it her way. As you can expect, when Bankson enters the scene, tensions quickly escalate.
The themes in Euphoria are fascinating and intellectually stimulating. It challenges us to wonder, for example, if it’s truly possible to observe or study anything without imposing our own subjectivity. It forces us to contemplate Nell’s hypocrisy: She doesn’t want possession in her relationships, and yet she speaks about the tribe as if it is hers. It reminds us of the harmful effects of jealousy and power, both inside and outside of a relationship.
Still, in spite of all of this, there was just something missing for me. There were parts that felt anticlimactic, and there was quite a bit of buildup before it really picked up. I liked it, but I didn’t love it.
Infinite Jess 