On Jeff Vandermeer's "Absolution"
Thoughts on Southern Reach Book 4
Note: The following contains spoilers for the Southern Reach series.
I just finished Jeff Vandermeer's Absolution. An incredible read. One of my favorite books from 2024. And like many who’ve read it, I need to digest it. When I read a book, I'm looking for an experience and an escape from the real world. I got that with every book in the Southern Reach series.
There are no answers here (that's part of the fun). Only my theories, whether right or wrong. Of course, Jeff is the only one that will know. Jeff, if you read this, I would love more books on Area X, even if we never get all the answers.
Main Ideas
Central's use of hypnosis via research of Area X.
What is actually spreading the growth of Area X? (I don't think it was "the event".)
The candle and flame coming up between multiple characters.
Lowry's character and his inner monologue.
Is Area X “otherworldly”?’
Saul’s predictions manifesting in Absolution.
Is Whitby the kid at school?
Ideas in Detail
Old Jim was hypnotized during his research of Area X prior to being out back in the field. Is this the same approach used on Control in Authority? Also, the song was hypnosis for Old Jim. Was the sermon hypnosis for Saul?
Saul's lighthouse may actually be what is causing the spread and growth of Area X via the light emanating from the lighthouse. If it was the same lens from the lighthouse and Failure Island, that would explain the early mentions of sea creatures washing up on shore. The experiments conducted on Failure Island is where Area X was originally, effecting only the surrounding waters until the lens moved to Saul's lighthouse on the Forgotten Coast, creating Area X on the mainland. There was perhaps no one single event that created Area C, rather a slow slow growth from the light from Saul's lighthouse. This would mean Old Jim was already inside Area X, or that parts of the Forgotten Coast were slowly transforming within Area X while Jim was investigating. (The potholes, for example, can’t be from a world existing outside Area X.)
The candle and flame visual appear for both Lowry and Old Jim.
A number of reviews talk about Lowry's perspective - that they struggled with some of the language used. I thought it was all part of the fun. One advantage of being dyslexic is I can immediately pick out all of the F words and then read over them without noticing them at all. Also, once I realized he was on drugs, the inner monologue made sense. Up until that point, I just thought he was a super weird guy (we already knew he was weird from the other books).
Recognizing that Area X could live on Earth, but that it’s so toxic it has to change little by little to be habitable for it. It absorbs “parts” of people, helping it to understand more about Earth. But it kills those who do not try to understand it, transforming them to be part of its new habitat.
When Saul makes his transition in Acceptance and sees parts of the future, we see some of that here in Absolution.
When Whitby gets asked by Lowry about how he got the job, Whitby talks about someone yelling at him from a school fence. Was Whitby a kid at the school?
I like your reflections here! Also, there were a lot of people who were outright just saying Lowry's portion was just bad, and while yes it did take me a moment to adjust to the change in style and excess 'fucks' once I adjusted, I felt almost blind to them which was a funny experience. Either way, there's a lot of fun in there if you can look past it!
Anyways, thanks for sharing your reflections! (I also hadn't considered Whitby's recruitment story meaning much - I just thought of it as a weird offhand thing to say, but you make an intriguing point!)