A Psalm for the Wild-Built
Ratings750
Average rating4.3
I loved the first half, then it was a slog to finish. I'm sad that I didn't love it as much as everyone else. I don't think I'll continue the series.
I loved every moment of this book, the prose was really delightful and magical. The characters, nature, and the world of Pangea jumped off the page. Sibling Dex's struggles to find understanding and purpose was captured in such a relatable way. Sometimes you just have to do things on your own terms. The dynamic between Dex and Mosscap was funny yet insightful, I really enjoyed their conversations about what it means to be a human.
The book is best enjoyed slowly like a cup of tea, give yourself some time to savor the moment.
A monk and a robot meet in the woods and have a lovely adventure during which they ponder the meaning of life in a world much better than ours. Panga is an addictive setting, and Dex and Mosscap are delightful characters. In a world where people are focused on happiness, where everyone has a surplus of creature comforts, and where there is no impending doom, what more could Dex want and how could they be unsatisfied? What exactly does it mean to live a life of purpose? Does anything even matter? The book explores these questions as Dex and Mosscap get to know each other and travel together. Read this one with your favorite blanket and a cup of tea to experience the maximum level of comfort.
Nothing amazing or too bad with this short one. Took a few to get going and to realize who is who, but once the main dynamic is established there is a good pace and good engagement/character development. As probably intended, the dialogue between the Monk and Robot is the strongest, most robust part of the book over the second 75 pages. The philosophy and ‘deep meaningful conversation' quickly carried the story the rest of the way once the pace and flow was established, but the book leaves you in a place where you have to decide whether to pick up the next one versus aching for it.
Like a warm hug!! Literally nothing bad happens, just relax and settle in for the beauty of it all. Dreams of maybe what one day we can have as a society :)
Beautiful and thought provoking while withholding judgement. An encouraging way to see the journey of life and the struggle of self through two different sets of eyes. A lovely and quick read.
A Psalm for the Wild Built is a beautiful and cozy short sci-fi book, about a non binary tea monk, who's a bit lost, and a robot, who understands more about life than expected.
This book is easily relatable, because almost all of us have found themselves a bit lost, sad, lacking purpose or something to define us. Mosscap and Dex friendship and conversations can feel like a warm hug for those times.
I loved this book! The world building is interesting, the characters are lovable, and the story is simple and heartwarming. The book is written in a beautiful and humorous way, perfect for times when you need a “pick me up” story.
“Belongings! Oh, this is a delight. And you have so many, and all over—”
It also perfectly summarizes what is like to cook in Portugal:
“There's basically nothing savory that can't be improved by adding an onion.”
This was just delightful!
I love the dynamics of the two together. I love the slow journey. There isn't anything I don't love about this exploration of life...and tea.
Check out the rest of my review at Mx. Phoebe's Viewpoint. Link in bio.
I got this book from my library. I love my local library and you should check out yours too. Request LGBTQ+ books and they will stock them! #freethebooks
It was quite sweet and calming, cozy. It went fast. It explored some important things. It is not a perfect book to me because everything seemed to be pointing to a big, bold takeaway and then I got to the last scene and it wasn't as sweeping as I expected. I don't think this is a fault of it, but this is my reasoning. I will be making notes all over a copy, regardless.
A Psalm for the Wild-Built was wonderful. It was gently paced. Leisurely, but didn't feel slow. I intend to read the next Monk and Robot book, but I don't feel in a rush to do so.
Becky Chambers is an unpredictable author, at least from my point of view. I like at least two of her books enough to reread them regularly. Another one, I found so tedious that I couldn't finish it.
This one is amiable and pleasant enough, but it's short (a novella) and rather aimless. Not a lot happens. It feels rather like reading the first half of an Arthur Ransome novel.
When I started it, I immediately found that the third-person protagonist, Sibling Dex, is very frequently referred to as ‘they', despite being apparently singular. I found this so distracting and irritating that I had to stop reading.
After a while, I decided that Dex is suffering from a personal peculiarity, a delusion of being plural. And I've been reading sf all my life, so I can cope with characters more peculiar than that, surely? OK, I managed to finish the story. I still found Dex's peculiarity pointless and somewhat irritating, but indeed, I could cope with it; and in fact the frequency of ‘they' diminished as the story went on.
After a while Dex encounters a sentient robot named Mosscap—full name Splendid Speckled Mosscap (taken from the name of a mushroom). Mosscap is referred to as ‘it', to which it has no objection, and I have no objection. I think I prefer Mosscap to Dex. It seems equally friendly and more sensible.
So beautifully written, I loved that this book didn't have anything special in it, it was just a cozy sci-fi fantasy about a friendship. Honestly almost made me cry.
“I think there's something beautiful about being lucky enough to witness a thing on it's way out.”
whatever you call this specific genre of meandering nothingness coated with a superficial pretty exterior... i hate it
i wish i could give this more than five stars. i am in love with this book. as someone who has been mulling over purpose and meaning and what life even is, i could never pretend to even consider something like this would exist to speak so deeply to me. it's been so long since i've read something that will sit with me for the rest of my life, that i instantly know that i will return to over and over and recommend to anyone who asks, but this is that.
The last book I read made me fear technology in the hands of humans, but this book made me at ease with the fact. Perhaps I am being na??ve, but I hope one day human kind is as compassionate as the world is in this book.
It reminded me of the game Stray, it gave off the same calming feeling. Nature and technology intertwined and living in harmony. Although, I really do have to stop reading thought provoking books otherwise I'm going to have an existential crisis.
As for the book it didn't have me in the first half but it did have me in the second half. I loved the idea of the world but I didn't really understand it until later on in the novel. I loved the conversations between Dex and Mosscap, especially the one at the very end. It was a very satisfying ending. Even if there wasn't a second book I would be happy with it.
A balm. A holy gift. A feather caught in a spider's web.
I need a Mosscap tattoo.
“What's the purpose of a robot, Sibling Dex?” Mosscap tapped its chest; the sound echoed lightly. “What's the purpose of me?”
“You're here to learn about people.”
“That's something I'm doing. That's not my reason for being. When I am done with this, I will do other things. I do not have a purpose any more than a mouse or a slug or a thornbush does. Why do you have to have one in order to feel content?
[...] You don't, if you believe that. You're an animal, Sibling Dex. You are not separate or other. You're an animal. And animals have no purpose. Nothing has a purpose. The world simply is.”
5 stars! Actually 10!
me behind my mask while listening to psalm for the wild built at work:
In the end I enjoyed the book. I don't know why it took so long to finish though.