Rating: 
Summary: One of the best books I've read all year
Review: My wife's book club recently read this book, and after hearing the positive response of the club, I decided to give this novel a try. I'm glad I did. Normally, I'm a reader of nonfiction (biography and history), dabbling in the occassional mystery. But this book got me excited about so-called "literary fiction" again. The plot, the characters, the setting, and the history all drew me in and came together perfectly at the story's end. It was a little slow getting into it, but well worth the effort. This is a book for anyone who wants to be intellectually challenged.
Rating: 
Summary: Fits criteria for more than one genre
Review: Technically a historical novel, Easter Island is also a romance, a war story, and a scientific essay. Woven from the stories of two women sixty years apart in time, this elegant book attempts to answer questions about several old mysteries, including the origin of the giant statues on Easter Island. It is a feminist story of betrayal, mostly engrossing, occasionally plodding, often enlightening.
Rating: 
Summary: good effort but falls flat
Review: The idea of exploring simultaneous times frames is nothing new; it was done so beautifully in Heat and Dust, and more recently in A.S. Byatt's Possession, and of course in Cunningham's The Hours. So, there is nothing new in Vanderbes' Easter Island where two women from different generations are forced to undergo realization and change using the beautiful Easter Island as a backdrop. Of the two stories though, I thought Elsa's was the most convincing and heart rendering - her frustrations at being in a passionless marriage, her love for Max and her "difficult" relationship with her younger sister. Although I did enjoy Greer's story - the death of her husband, and his ultimate betrayal of her makes for a riveting and harrowing reading.The evocations of Easter Island are indeed beautiful, and you really do get the sense of actually being on the Island, but, generally, the story seemed to get hijacked by too many subplots involving too many of the secondary characters from both stories. I also didn't buy the arrival of Elsa's mysterious visitor towards the end of the story; this was just too coincidental to be believed! I loved the way Vanderbes intertwined the diaries of the great explorers into this story, such as Cook, and La Perouse, and it was quite prophetic to think that after their exploration of Easter Island the would both go on across the Pacific to visit Australia. And the whole unraveling of the science of Easter Island being undertaken against the larger backdrop of World War 1 was also quite unique. The botanical and scientific descriptions of the flora and flora were generally well done, but I thought there tended to be a little too much of it; we didn't need to know all every single scientific name for every single plant. This is a good novel that starts out really well, but I thought it tended to get a little repetitive and monotonous towards the end. I got bored with the story. Michael
Rating: 
Summary: Nice idea - but not well executed
Review: There are some fine ideas in this novel. The parallel plots of an early-1900s expidition, a modern scientist looking for fossilized pollen, and the ill-fated mission of some German war-ships converge nicely at the end, and that is structurally a very effective ploy. But you arguably have to wait a long time for it, and in the meantime there is a lot of rather dull character development. The 'modern' (1970s) part of the novel revolves around a rather average American woman scientist. Why not make her flamboyant, strong, hotblooded, sexy, or at least SOMETHING to make her come alive? She is just not exciting, sorry. The Victorian part of the plot boasts Elsa, who is a much more interesting person, but again predominantly rather dull. The most interesting character is perhaps the mentally disabled sister Alice. At least there is something unusual about her. Should cut the novel down to half length and inject some excitement.
Rating:
Summary: Slow, meandering and dull debut effort
Review: This book was recommended by a noted mystery book store. It was said, by them, that it will be short listed for all the major awards. That may well be, but, certainly not any of the mystery awards. It is not a mystery- a well written novel but definitely not a mystery.
Three apparently unrelated plots are described simultaneously via alternating chapters. The first concerns a professor taking his young wife and her mentally retarded sister on a scientific expedition to Easter Island from their home in England in 1913. The second concerns the ill fated voyage of Admiral Spee, a German commander whose fleet was destroyed during W.W.I off the Falkland Islands. The third occurs in 1973 when Greer Farraday travels to Easter Island to study pollen there. The plots converge in a unique and clever way near the end of the book.
Slow, meandering and somewhat dull are useful adjectives when describing this overwrought and overdone mainstream novel. Characters are extremely well sketched as would be expected in this pure character driven novel. The characters, as well as the carefully constricted setting, are the strengths of this otherwise forgettable novel.
Rating:
Summary: A good start but...
Review: This debut novel had me entertained and enthralled for much of the 1st half of the book. The writing is really quite lyrical and oftentimes breath-taking. I particularly enjoyed the physical descriptions of the landscapes and the book's real stars, the giant Maoi statues of the mysterious island. Vanderbes does an impressive job of handling the science info in a way that doesn't bog down the reader, but she loses me when her characters seem to turn into cartoons of cliches of people hard-up for love (or a life!). Overall, the dialogue seemed a bit hard to swallow and over-wrought. I can imagine mostly lonely women enjoying this book (and I'm a woman!) and envisoning the wild differences in wardrobe with the 2 female leads. The 'surprise' (and somewhat unbelievable) ending left me thinking of Raymond Carver's famous suggestion to his students, "No tricks!" Overall, the back and forth in time felt rushed and I never got to connect with any of the characters, save for Pudding. Again, most impressive in research, but I wanted more STORY or more SETTING at a given time, not just snippets. For me those were the treats, not the tricks.
Rating:
Summary: The history more interesting than the human interest
Review: This is a fascinating and haunting novel with many overlays of meaning. It's a true pleasure to read fiction so intelligently and imaginatively written.
Rating:
Summary: superb novel
Review: This is a fascinating and haunting novel with many overlays of meaning. It's a true pleasure to read fiction so intelligently and imaginatively written.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: This is a superlative book on many levels. The inquiry into many mysteries surrounding Easter Island is extremely fascinating and thoroughly researched. Scientific issues are discussed in a compelling way that makes the reader understand and enjoy each new revelation, almost like a mystery being solved on C.S.I. At the same time, the two female protagonists are beautifully presented, and although seperated by several generations, their stories become interwoven in the issues that they struggle with in their inner and external lives. As a psychologist I found the description of Alice, the autist and possibly brain-damaged sister of Elsa, as well as their relationship to each other, remarkably and authentically presented. The issues related to women at different ages struggling to become respected scientific researchers are extremely well portrayed. Vanderbes's ability to interweave a myrid of topics- interpersonal, geographical, scientific and historical, is truly amazing.
Rating: 
Summary: botany and boredom
Review: This is one of the novels that comes across as first having a terrific idea but ultimately fails short of delivering. The 2 lead women protagonists' stories shift way too abruptly to let the reader care about their so-called passions or their relentless tedious work on the island in the field of botany. i feel this took huge liberties with WWW I seamen's mental and emotional states and if I was in that war, i would be grossly insulted. Points for a one of a kind location for a book, but I hate having to cute through the pretense to SEE the island. Look elsewhere for an adventure with heart.
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