Girl in Landscape

            Going into reading Girl in Landscape, I had never heard anything about it, or even knew was it was about. Right away, we are submerged into the story, with Pella’s mom, Caitlin, giving us all of the background information we needed to know before sending us on our way in this strange novel through space. I assume the author did not want to spoon feed us information the entire way through the novel, and shortly into the book after setting up the basic premise, Caitlin suddenly passes from a stroke. This was an interesting choice, because right after this traumatic event, Pella’s family is still sent to the far away ‘Planet of the Archbuilders’, a planet that Caitlin was excited to set up home in. However, from a story telling standpoint it makes sense, because now as readers we know just as much about this mysterious planet as the main characters do.  From this point on we have no idea what is right or wrong, and become observers just like Pella. Using this technique, the author really puts the reader into Pella’s shoes, as a confused and uncomfortable newcomer.

            Lethem manages to make us feel uncomfortable throughout the story, because we are on a completely unfamiliar and strange planet, where there aren’t any real rules or leaders. A big example of how I felt uncomfortable in this story was how Pella, only thirteen, was seen as much older, and asked if she was her father’s new wife. Because this new town only had about twenty people in it, there were very few females, so this could very well have been a normal accusation for a citizen that has lived there longer. Another similar example I read was when Pella found her father with another woman. As basic human instinct, we find mates or lovers, and because her father lost his, he was able to find another rather quickly on this new planet, only choosing from a very small variety. 

Although this story is set in the future, the author still has to connect with the reader and his present day thoughts, and he does so in several different ways. Lethem adds real- life places, such as Brooklyn and Coney Island, but describes how much they’ve changed over time. This brings a certain nostalgia to the reader, as most everyone can relate to their favorite childhood escape losing its charm and becoming decrepit as they grow older.  Lethem also brings real-world problems into future-Earth. For example, the reason that Pella and her family are moving is because Earth is becoming unlivable due to climate change. Right now climate change is a big issue for our planet, and we don’t see the big picture enough to realize that it’s slowly destroying Earth, and could make it unlivable one day. Because we are only on Earth for one or two chapters, we don’t get much more information, but Lethem gives us enough for us to realize what is slowly becoming of it.