Book Reco # 9: Euphoria by Lily King
Three brilliant anthropologists in the 1930s caught in a love triangle that threatened their careers and lives.
Hello there!
My recommended book for today is Euphoria by Lily King. Euphoria was my first introduction to Lily King but I couldn’t find it in any of the bookstores here in PH. I waited for it for so long only to fall an inch short of my expectations. But just an inch :)
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 stars
Euphoria is a story about three brilliant anthropologists in the 1930s caught in a love triangle that threatened their careers and lives. Nell and Fen are married and meets fellow anthropologist Andrew Bankson who is also studying one of the tribes in the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea. Bankson eventually falls in love with Nell and the book also implies that Fen "likes" Bankson more than just an esteemed colleague.
As Andrew visits the couple in their assigned village, he is disgusted by the system the couple established for their work. Nell and Fen “employs” the natives they were supposed to study to build their house, cook, do laundry, etc. -which can alter the village dynamics as well as their observations. Yet, he doesn’t deny its efficiency. Think about all the work you can do when you don’t need to plan your meals or do laundry on the weekends. In the anthropology circle, there’s this village “claiming” thing where anthropologists are possessive of the village they study. It’s like marking the village to their name. To me, these anthropologists feel like these villages are only their due. They feel that they are entitled to claim a village as their own. They forget that they are only observers and should be humble.
I had a hard time getting past the two point above and that’s why I’ve been reading the book by chunks. There were also some narratives that I felt like was forced - like the power balance between husband and wife and the one with the dead babies. Nell and Fen are also unlikable characters.
Thankfully, the exhilarating climax redeemed the parts I hated. The ending even left us a little mystery that can pull us into a rabbit hole. Good thing the author left us a section of suggested further readings! It’s a riveting read as King explores the passion, emotional turmoil, and intellectual jealousies of a love triangle.
As a whole, Euphoria is a great book to explore what studying other cultures feel like along with the dangers of it.
Happy Reading!