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Oh Pure and Radiant Heart Audiobook
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(3.03) - 382 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
The three dead geniuses who invented the atomic bomb— Robert Oppenheimer, Leo Szilard, and Enrico Fermi—mysteriously appear in Sante Fe, New Mexico, in 2003, nearly sixty years after they watched history's first mushroom cloud rise over the New Mexico desert. One by one, they are discovered by a shy librarian, who takes them in and devotes herself to them. Faced with the evidence of their nuclear legacy, the scientists embark on a global disarmament campaign that takes them from Hiroshima to Nevada to the United Nations. Along the way, they acquire a billionaire pothead benefactor and a growing convoy of RVs carrying groupies, drifters, activists, former Deadheads, New Age freeloaders, and religious fanatics. In this heroically mischievous, sweeping tour de force, Lydia Millet brings us an apocalyptic fable that marries the personal to the political, confronts the longing for immortality with the desire for redemption, and evokes both the beauty and tragedy of the nuclear sublime.
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"A gloriously bleak tragedy that blends satire and painful reality through the medium of science fiction. Millet touches on everything from the horrors of paparazzi to the pure madness of the extremist Christian right, while packing her tale also with gut-wrenching details about the tragic aftermath(s?) of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Laced through with brilliant, quoteable writing and excellently-drawn characters. The book does falter a little on its undue focus on the modern female character, and the ending wobbles completely into wtf-ness. But still a worthy, intelligent novel that makes me keen to try more of Millet's stuff."
— Shawne (4 out of 5 stars)
Oh Pure and Radiant Heart Listener Reviews
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" weird, implausible, but great "
— Kevin, 2/8/2014 -
" so, is it ok to review a book I didn't finish? well, I'm going to do it anyway. this book has such great potential. the premise is brilliant and the narrative is simply poetic at most points. it's just too long, and filled with too many sanctimonious segues about nuclear war. maybe someday I'll finish it, or perhaps read an abridged version. "
— Liz, 1/26/2014 -
" I'm giving this book one star for effort and historical content. Otherwise, I could barely stand it, but felt compelled to finish what I started. I literally rolled my eyes at a few passages. Millet approaches some interesting topics in admittedly innovative ways, nuclear non-proliferation, the evangelical shift in America, yet is spread so thing with poor character development and scattered plot lines that she fails to make much of a point. "
— Julie, 1/19/2014 -
" An awesome book that Jeremy recommended to me, I would like to read some more of her stuff "
— Von, 1/9/2014 -
" i didn't expect to like this book as much as how the dead dream, but i was held completely enthralled throughout... "
— Alison, 12/22/2013 -
" couldn't finish it, alas. Just so much internal dialogue of the poetic big-deep-thoughts-about-life sort so frequently, I tired of it quickly. "
— medi, 12/20/2013 -
" The exsistentialist ending got on my nerves. The interspersed facts on the engineering of the Atom bomb were interesting. "
— Kory, 12/20/2013 -
" I had never heard of this book or author before, but it was a great surprise. It's pretty dark, but also truthful and fun. "
— Laura, 11/14/2013 -
" Good but a little slow... "
— Lexr77, 11/12/2013 -
" For everything this book is and everything it has to offer both in terms of craft and subject, I couldn't finish it. "
— Ian, 11/11/2013 -
" Oodles of WTF. "
— Danica, 6/18/2013 -
" Oppenheimer, Fermi and Szilard show up in present day Santa Fe, and hijinx ensue... keeping my eyes out for 'Oppie' now, though the desert here ain't. "
— Opal, 12/17/2012 -
" I love books where the prose starts affecting the way I think. This book makes it so easy to slip into the minds of the characters and for them to slip into yours. "
— Jen, 9/10/2012 -
" by turns funny, whimsical, surreal and profound. while parts of it would have benefitted from stronger editing, there were many moments of real insight into the human condition. a really unique piece of work... existentialist historical science fiction. "
— Josh, 8/20/2012 -
" I wanted to like this book because the premise was amazing--transport nuclear scientists from 1945 to 2003 in the blink of an eye, but I got bored and had to skip around and hated the end. "
— Joell, 11/25/2010 -
" I'm glad you're reading this! I've read it twice and enjoyed it both times. Be sure and post a review. "
— Kristine, 11/13/2010 -
" Millet hates on vegans in this novel, but I have to admit that this story is pretty damn good. It's about a librarian, a landscape artist, Oppenheimer, Szilard, Fermi, doubt, the bomb, war, peace, traveling, smoking, love, hate, hippies, religious fanatics etc, and it will amaze you. "
— Amber, 4/6/2010 -
" Oppenheimer, Fermi and Szilard show up in present day Santa Fe, and hijinx ensue... keeping my eyes out for 'Oppie' now, though the desert here ain't. "
— Colleen, 6/26/2009 -
" The exsistentialist ending got on my nerves. The interspersed facts on the engineering of the Atom bomb were interesting. "
— Kory, 4/26/2009 -
" I'm glad you're reading this! I've read it twice and enjoyed it both times. Be sure and post a review. "
— Kristine, 10/23/2008 -
" what and unfortunate turn of events - i never give up on books but i did on this one. with such and interesting premise, i had really hoped for much, much better "
— Liddy, 10/6/2008 -
" I had never heard of this book or author before, but it was a great surprise. It's pretty dark, but also truthful and fun. "
— Laura, 9/20/2008
About Lydia Millet
Lydia Millet is the PEN Award-winning author of eleven works of fiction, including Sweet Lamb of Heaven and Magnificence, which have been named New York Times Notable Books of the Year and finalists for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.
About Hillary Huber
Hillary Huber, a Los Angeles–based voice talent with hundreds of commercials and promos under her belt, was bitten by the audiobook bug in 2005. She now records books on a regular basis and has been nominated for several Audie Awards and won numerous Earphones Awards.