Ann Patchett is a renowned novelist—a recipient of the Orange Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award for her novel “Bel Canto.” This summer, the Class of 2016 read her book “State of Wonder” as their summer reading assignment. State of Wonder follows the life of Marina, a 42-year-old pharmacologist whose profession leads her to the Brazilian jungle. Outside of civilization, Marina tries to overcome mistakes in her past and forms a close bond with her mentor, Dr. Swenson.
Patchett spoke with the freshmen class Aug. 24 about her process as a writer and the inspiration behind the book. The Chronicle’s Danielle Muoio talked with Patchett after the event about the various themes in “State of Wonder,” the ethical questions it raises and how the plot is relevant to a Duke student.
The Chronicle: What was the main idea that caused you to write “State of Wonder”?
Ann Patchett: The idea of wanting to write about strong women characters and also wanting to write about a teacher and student grown up, [who] find each other again. I think those were the two main impetuses for the book.
TC: Marina is both a strong woman and haunted by demons from her past. Can you talk a bit about her character development?
AP: There are certain things I want people to think about, like the idea of loss and the idea of finding out who we are. We all, as we get older, decide who we are… [and] we build all of these walls both to protect ourselves and also to establish ourselves. It’s interesting to me to think about those walls getting knocked down and finding out who the person really is underneath them.
TC: You discussed how a lot of the book reviews painted Dr. Swenson as a villainess, which you personally did not intend. What is your perception on how your strongest female character got an interpretation that was different from what you imagined?
AP: I don’t have much of a reaction to reviews in general because so often they seem wrong and the good ones seem just as wrong as the bad ones. Everyone will say, “Weren’t you thrilled with that review,” and I’ll say “Oh they got it all wrong.” So to me it’s just interesting how people interpret the book and what people find. If someone thinks Dr. Swenson is a hero or a villain, it says more about them than about me.
What’s interesting about the way I work is that I detach from my books when I finish them and I don’t care…. My heart is completely on to the next thing. Someone will come up to me and talk about a book they read 20 years ago and I’m like, “I don’t even remember.” I’ve never read them again and I really break from the book. It’s good, because people ask me things and I think, “Oh, that’s interesting, that’s a good opinion to have.” But it doesn’t excite me or hurt me one way or another.
TC: It just seems strange that a character that was intended to show strength was interpreted in such a different way.
AP: It’s sort of like in the movies, how when an actress gets to be a certain age and she suddenly becomes a villain, [such as] Julia Roberts playing the evil stepmother instead of Snow White. It’s like once you get to a certain age you can’t be the hero anymore. So it’s not just that Dr. Swenson is powerful, it’s also that she’s older.
TC: How do you think the mentor-mentee relationship in the book fits in with the fact that this was a college summer reading book?
AP: I’m sure at a place like Duke absolutely everyone is going to find the teacher that really speaks to them and you think, “That’s the person I really want to be.” We just shape ourselves and a lot of that is through teachers that we admire, especially if our pursuits in life are intellectual. If instead of going to college you joined a gang, it might be the gang leader that you’d want to shape yourself around. Or if you were in prison and you got out, perhaps it would be your parole officer. We all have archetypal heroes in our life that we either try to be like or not be like and that’s how we figure out who we are.
TC: Is there anything else college students could take from this book and apply throughout their college experience?
AP: Marina going so far outside her comfort zone is a little bit like going to college—you’re packing off and leaving your family and going into this world where you don’t know people, don’t know the customs and have to share a room with a stranger. All of these things really shake you up and help you figure out who you are and what you want.… Those jarring experiences are often the things that make us grow. It really is applicable to going off to your first year of college.
TC: You mentioned that the fertility drug wasn’t the main point of the story, but were you trying to raise any ethical questions with that plot line?
AP: It seems like a good idea that people could keep having babies when they wanted them, but at some point it becomes ridiculous. It’s not up to me to say at what point it becomes ridiculous, but it’s worth thinking about. We don’t get to stay 20 forever…. We shouldn’t get to just have all of our options open forever.
I’m not saying what’s right and wrong, but I’m saying that this is worth talking and thinking about. It’s fun for me to put those issues into a book—someone said to me once, “You’ve purposely muddied the ethical waters,” and I thought, “Well aren’t the ethical waters by their very nature muddied?” If they were always clear there wouldn’t be an ethical problem because we would always know. These are the things we need to figure out.
TC: It seems like “State of Wonder” raises a lot of ethical dilemmas. Is this something you strive to do in all of your work?
AP: I throw a lot of things into the pot and I get very different people in very different settings. But the weird thing is all of my books have the same exact basic theme, which is that a group of strangers are thrown together by circumstance and form a society or family—it’s like “Lord of the Flies.” Even if I think I’m not doing it I say, “Wow, look I’ve done it again.” I’ve taken a bunch of people who don’t know each other, stuck them in an isolated environment and then made them figure it out.
TC: Is there anything else you’re currently working on or thinking of working on?
AP: I finished a book just last week. It’s non-fiction and called “This is a Story of a Happy Marriage.” It’s very personal and it felt very risky and I had a really good time with it. There’s a huge difference between me writing fiction and nonfiction—nonfiction is a lot easier and more fun and fiction is a lot more challenging. I enjoyed working on this and I’m going to miss it. I never miss the novels, but with the nonfiction I always think, “Oh, that was fun.”
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