"The Signature of All Things" by Elizabeth Gilbert

“You see, I have never felt the need to invent a world beyond this world, for this world has always seemed large and beautiful enough for me.”

This book combines a biography, a historical novel, a Bildungsroman and a scientific essay – all under one cover. It is the story of a woman, and a scientist, a daughter, a lover, a friend, an explorer and a philosopher, a lady and a heathen… One can go on and on speaking about Alma Whittaker as throughout this very massive (but worthwhile!) novel she tries on so many different roles that by the end the answer to the question: “Who was she?” would be very much confused. Still, one thing that is truly important that this character has a mind great enough to be compared to the greatest scientists of the period, including  Charles Darwin&nbsp. But before Alma gets to the point where her and Darwin’s name can appear in one sentence, she lives a life, a long and interesting time journey which Gilbert proudly presents to the reader.

Frankly speaking I wasn’t much impressed by highly acclaimed Eat, Pray, Love as I found it rather amusing and emotional but not exactly full of original ideas (or feministic enough to my taste). So I was a bit reluctant to read this one at first. But the plot appealed to me very much, plus I’ve been interested in neovictorian novels since I discovered Antonia Byatt, who is undoubtedly the master of this genre, so after Peter Ackroyd, Eleanor Catton and Sarah Perry I decided it’s time for this one.

Firstly, I really adored the main character, a strong, well-educated and passionate woman, brave and hard-working but at the same time feeling. In the beginning, when Alma is still a child the Whittakers give a huge party in their mansion and one of the guests decides to recreate the structure of the solar system using other people invited as stars and planets. But while all of them remain solid and move only within their orbits, Alma has to play a very different role: she is a comet, bright and rapid, moving in any direction she wishes. The metaphor describes Alma’s temper very vividly, for during all her life she is going to be moveable, and quick-minded too, and unstoppable in her investigations.

Hanneke, their maid, also has an expressive phrase to describe her ward: “There is a Dutch word, uitwaaien, “to walk against the wind for pleasure.” And that is what she does! Whether she likes it or not, Alma goes against everything and everyone in her search of the truth, and always likes to have her own way. And although at times her story may appear melancholic and slow-moving, it makes up for it in other parts, and I see miss Whittaker as a real adventurer and explorer.

Gilbert represents the period in a masterful way and the profound study through the ways of 19th century as well as through different cultures (including Dutch and Tahitian) is quite obvious. The reader is sure to enjoy a traveller’s glimpse into many faraway places and generally the writer managed to catch the spirit of journeys to the end of the world performed by the greatest explorers of the past centuries, which is surely an absolutely exquisite reading experience.

In this way the novel reminded me of Richard Flannagan’s Wanting which I highly recommend in connection with especially Tahiti part of the book.

I must admit, in this novel the author exhibits much more developed writing skills than in her previous works, I liked the fact that eroticism common for neo-Victorian literature is introduced in quite appropriate portions and is not exaggerated. In my opinion its main purpose is to make the reader see that Alma, but for all her appreciation of science, is very human and sensitive, and able to perceive the beauty of the world while searching for consequences and connections within it.

The idea of everlasting confrontation of science and religion, as well as scientific and sensual perception of the world is represented quite vividly. Throughout the novel Alma confronts a lot of people (Retta Snow, Ambrose Pyke, Tamatoa Mare, Alfred Wallace, who have a quite different type of perception, for whom their senses are the main guide in this world. All of them express this feature of character in a different way so Alma receives new ideas and experiences (as well as new challenges) with each new acquaintance.

But the main question remains unchanged: how can you combine science and emotion? Evolution and religion? Violent strive to survive and pure altruism? How come they exist hand in hand for centuries contradicting each other in so many points? “There is no evolutionary need, you see, for us to have such acute sensitivities of intellect and emotion. There is no practical need for the minds that we have”, says one of the characters, and indeed, how do emotion and intellect fit into the theory of evolution proposed by Darwin (and Alma)? It appears to be a lifelong question for Alma and is left for the reader to think about.

The title is connected with a work of a German philosopher, Jacob Boehme, published in 16th century under the same name, which claims that nature itself is the argument is favour of divine presence:

“The old cobbler had believed in something he called "the signature of all things"-namely, that God had hidden clues for humanity's betterment inside the design of every flower, leaf, fruit, and tree on earth. All the natural world was a divine code, Boehme claimed, containing proof of our Creator's love.”

Alma does not believe in this theory but cannot deny at the same time that there is something she does not understand in the world, trying during all her life to solve the problem of above mentioned contradictions and unite them in some way. Curious enough, without realizing it she was moving in the same direction as Boehme and his followers did. Exploring nature, searching for differences and connections between the species of plants she was trying to move closer to their Creator and understand how and why he created them. Are the search for divine signs very different from the search for the inner features of species? Aren’t both about the signature of all things?

Of course, each reader will choose for himself which theory he would like to stick to, but for me they are almost the same. Elizabeth Gilbert mentions that when Darwin first published his The Origin of Species, there were many priests who agreed with his ideas and even looked for the supporting quotes from the Bible. Well, I would be one of them. For exception of scientific ideas does not prevent me from believing in God. The world is beautiful and miscellaneous, there is so much interesting and unrevealed in it. For me, this beauty and mystery is the signature of all things.