Tournament of Books discussion

Space to discuss the TOB contender Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel.

I don’t give out a ratings of 5 easily and this one got that for me. I didn’t think it was perfect but it put me in a happy place when I was reading it. I was actually trying to slow down so I wouldn’t finish it too quickly. I liked the characters, the pacing, the tension and the unpredictability. What didn’t impress me so much was that the time travel aspect, the bureaucratic institution behind it, and even the (view spoiler)[simulation hypothesis (hide spoiler)] were not that original. Still didn’t take away from my enjoyment though. Despite the shortness of it, I felt for all of the characters and that was something too.

I definitely thought there were a few plot hole gaps in how the science of the story works, but they just weren't that important to me in the overall scheme of things. Much like the simulation hypothesis, "So what. A life lived in a simulation is still a life." And a heck of a good book is still a good book.

I couldn't help but feel that Mandel was slyly winking at me through the Olive portions of the story, especially because so much of Olive's authorial experience mirrors that of Mandel yet at one point she responds to a journalist by saying: "I've never been interested in auto-fiction."

I agree with everything you said Phyllis! I also really liked Olive’s chapter. The line about how “kind” it was that her husband was taking care of his own child to the sexist reporter was the best! After reading that chapter, I’m resolved to read Station Eleven next year.

Phyllis wrote: "I definitely thought there were a few plot hole gaps in how the science of the story works, but they just weren't that important to me in the overall scheme of things. Much like the simulation hypo..."

All of this! Olive is clearly inspired by Mandel's own experience with Station 11. And the winks to the audience are delightful. She can do little wrong with me. I have just one more book from her back catalog to read (after I'm through the shortlist) and so far they've all been at least very good and most have been excellent.

The structure reminded me of David Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas."

I think emily st john mandel's books get compared to cloud atlas frequently - I definitely remember that a lot when Station Eleven was new and people were talking about it a lot. Mandel has said the structure of Sea of Tranquility is based on Cloud Atlas https://www.bookweb.org/news/qa-emily...

I also think it's interesting that she wrote the book in 2020. When I was reading it, I was thinking a lot about her experience, being in NYC, living near a hospital, the constant sirens and calamity all around you - how much of the book is a reaction to that? What audacity to dream a future during a present moment like that!

Anyway, I loved it, but that's predictable for me. I love everything she writes.

I really enjoyed much of what has already been mentioned, the metanarrative of Olive's experience as an author with the throwaway auto-fiction line. The clear and stated inspiration of Cloud Atlas. As mentioned above by Meera, I was just very happy while I read it and I loved the way it incorporated the previous two books as well as part of her David Mitchell inspiration.

Hmmm...I enjoyed this, the twists and time shifts were interesting enough, and I love the sense of hope Mandel brings in her novels. But the auto-fiction was my least favorite part, the snarkiness she's showing to her readers and interviewers and people just asking innocent questions. It felt like her way of getting back at them, for having been annoyed IRL for what she sees as their stupidity and triteness.

Elizabeth wrote: "Hmmm...I enjoyed this, the twists and time shifts were interesting enough, and I love the sense of hope Mandel brings in her novels. But the auto-fiction was my least favorite part, the snakiness s..."

Interesting -- I didn't read it as snarky. But perhaps this reflects my bias toward ESJM. I'll confess that I had a much more positive reaction to Olive than I did to whatever that character's name was in the last Rooney novel -- the one who was always nattering on to her comparatively impoverished friend about the hardship of being a popular (and well-compensated) author. Though I actually liked the epistolary portions of that novel, I did find myself sighing loudly, "Child, PLEASE!" whenever that character was bemoaning her privileged state.

Like jess, I love every thing she writes. She did a great interview about this and her writing as well.

I read this book last year, and that was too many books ago for me to remember specifics, but I know I loved it, it was my favorite read of the month when I read it. I just love Mandel's writing, I love spending time in any world she creates.

Nadine in NY wrote: "I read this book last year, and that was too many books ago for me to remember specifics, but I know I loved it, it was my favorite read of the month when I read it. I just love Mandel's writing, I..."

Big Same to all of this.

I just finished this one, and had pretty much the same reaction as I did to Station Eleven - enjoyed the read, feel she has so much potential, ultimately a little let down. I find that she gets to the edge of a truly interesting, deep idea and then backs away rather than plunging in and exploring it. I thought the first half was much stronger than the second and that the characters lacked unique voices from each other.

I clearly don't have the ESJM gene. I haven't cared much for her prior books, and like those, I DNF'd this one about 2/3rds the way through. I just don't get it. Maybe if I'd made it to the end, I'd have been wow'ed by the two big SF elements (are we trying to avoid spoilers here?) but ...

And I'm with Elizabeth on the "not that interested in auto-fiction" author tour. I rolled my eyes so hard I was dizzy the rest of the day.

Maybe it all gets explained somewhere later, but (view spoiler)[time travel (hide spoiler)] seemed like it was being managed by a bunch of amateurs - not by a civilization that was headed to the stars.

I'm sure the fault is in me as a reader.

I just finished this and it was my first book by this author and I think I must be too stupid to understand it.

I really liked the beginning of it; I also liked Gaspery's parts, especially the parts that were with Zoey and/or Talia. I liked some of the Olive parts but hated other parts of hers. They were way too "Poor Little Famous Author" for me.

I felt like I couldn't get to really know any of characters well enough before it would shift to others. And I felt that the world-building and character back stories would start to really pull me in with certain details (especially in Olive's parts... the translation bots and the AI that could read her stories, the fact that she was raised on the Moon Colony, etc.) but then it would zoom out and become really vague, like this stuff could be happening anywhere at any time. Maybe that was the whole point of it but I wanted to feel more present with the overall picture instead of just with some very detailed portions.

I can't even remember the other woman's story because it didn't seem very unique or relevant to me. And Edwin's story was a let-down to me because it pulled me in but then went everywhere else and we didn't get to hear much more about Edwin except depressing stuff sprinkled in towards the end.

This isn't my normal genre although I do like it and would like to read more in it. But I was left feeling frustrated and confused and even kind of mad at the author, for teasing me but not delivering on much except maybe the parts that were about her. Not knowing much about her, I was left wondering if she's a narcissist who is toying with me. I guess that's a harsh judgement but it IS something I wondered.

It also seemed like she wanted to bring in so many different characters and storylines but then make the book so short that she couldn't possibly flesh them all out. I kept wondering about her choice to do that and why she wouldn't focus on less characters and/or make the book longer.

Towards the end I got too frustrated and bored with it, which is a shame because when it started out I thought I had found a new favorite author. I lost track of what was going on and couldn't figure out all the details of how everything connected together, although I think I understood the overall gist of it, like what happened with the violin and the interview.

I also liked the part about the cat and when he finds out the news about the cat (I don't want to include too many spoilers).

I guess I'd give this book 2 stars, and that's for the concept and for some of the parts I liked, although I felt that the execution was really lacking.

Sea of Tranquility feels like minor Emily St. John Mandel. It's a fine novel in its own right, but it's pretty simple and somewhat stereotypical (time travel, moon colonies). The world-building feels amateur, and the characters are sketchy and not fully realized. Mandel's Station Eleven and Glass Hotel were such rich and complex novels that Sea of Tranquility was a disappointment for me. I still enjoyed it but it's not the masterpiece that Station Eleven and Glass Hotel are.

Gwendolyn wrote: "Sea of Tranquility feels like minor Emily St. John Mandel. It's a fine novel in its own right, but it's pretty simple and somewhat stereotypical (time travel, moon colonies). The world-building fee..."




You're not alone in feeling that way!! I've seen a lot of comments to that effect in this group. But I loved it! It was one of the best books I read last year. Glass Hotel didn't do much for me so I was a little worried when I started Tranquility. I was immediately drawn in.

I agree, Gwendolyn. She is such an immensely talented author that she can take the writing innovations and the beautiful sentence building that she perfected in Station Eleven, and pour these skills into a new, book-length manuscript, and for me it was almost enough just to be reminded of the rhythms and the particularities of Station Eleven...but then I realized it felt a little counterfeit, like the relationship between an actual house vs. a movie set of that house.