First Lines of Jeff VanderMeer's "Acceptance"

 "Just out of reach, just beyond you: the rush and froth of the surf, the sharp smell of the sea, the crisscrossing shape of the gulls, their sudden, jarring cries. An ordinary day in Area X, an extraordinary day-the day of your death--and there you are, propped up against a mound of sand, half sheltered by a crumbling wall. The warm sun against your face, and the dizzying view above of the lighthouse looming down through its own shadow. The sky has an intensity that admits to nothing beyond its blue prison. There's sticky sand glittering across a gash in your forehead; there's a tangy glottal something in your mouth, dripping out."

- Jeff VanderMeer, Acceptance.

The conclusion of VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy opens up as many questions as it closes, as one would expect from such a sprawling examination of an unknowable mystery. As such, it's as enjoyable as the first two volumes, although the book's structure prevented me from being absorbed into the journey as much as I did in the first two books. Here, VandeerMeer splits up the story between different narrators, each one with their own perspective and time, so that you're forced to jump from the time before Area X arrived to before the 12th expedition to after the inexplicable expansion of Area X's borders.  So it's not that this book isn't as good as the previous two - there are at least two scenes here that sent chills up my spine - but it's tone and flow are discordant, and thus I only enjoyed this book on a more intellectual level than the previous two.

Regardless, all three books are very much worth it. I appreciate VanderMeer's questioning style, making you think and ponder what everything means. Even if this leads to the character's ultimate paranoia: 

“What’s wrong with asking questions?” 

“Nothing.” 

Everything. Once the questions snuck in, whatever had been certain became uncertain. Questions opened the way for doubt. His father had told him that. “Don’t let them ask questions. You’re already giving them the answers, even if they don’t know it.” p. 23

I really enjoyed the limnal space this trilogy created.

Related Posts:

• First Lines of Jeff Vandermeer's "Authority"
• First Lines of Jeff Vandermeer's "Annihilation"
• First Lines of Jeff Vandermeer's "Hummingbird Salamander"