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emma's Reviews > Sea of Tranquility
Sea of Tranquility
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emma's review
bookshelves: historical, non-ya, sci-fi, recommend, literary-fiction, owned, reread, reviewed, 5-stars
Apr 02, 2022
bookshelves: historical, non-ya, sci-fi, recommend, literary-fiction, owned, reread, reviewed, 5-stars
Read 2 times. Last read September 30, 2022 to October 1, 2022.
i do not know how to review this book.
even at the best of times, when i am absolutely on the ball and everything is perfect and life is going my way and i am organized and well stocked in cookies and persian cucumbers (the two best foods), the very best i can hope for in terms of how much time passes between when i read a book and when i review it is 3 weeks.
but that's beside the point, because we are firmly in the two month category on this one.
i just...don't know how to do it. i've never READ anything like this - how would i know how to write about it?
this is just so stunning. so lovely.
the simulation theory and the corresponding idea of SO WHAT, to put it as basically as possible, are two things that have always fascinated me, and now here i find them transcribed so lovingly???
at first i didn't know if i'd like this book - doubted i would, really - as characters from the glass hotel popped up but wow. how different. the two couldn't be more dissimilar.
which is a compliment.
bottom line: a really good book with a perfect ending.
(update: raising to 5 stars 6 months later because i can't stop thinking about this book)
------------------
reread update
doing the normal thing i do where i reread a book i think is a 5 star almost immediately as some kind of weird gobliny test
------------------
pre-review
oh, gosh. life is so lovely.
review to come / 4.5 or 5 stars
------------------
tbr review
will this be a perfect glorious beautifully written book i never stop thinking about (station eleven) or a confusing mess that makes me almost inexplicably mad (the glass hotel).
only one way to find out
even at the best of times, when i am absolutely on the ball and everything is perfect and life is going my way and i am organized and well stocked in cookies and persian cucumbers (the two best foods), the very best i can hope for in terms of how much time passes between when i read a book and when i review it is 3 weeks.
but that's beside the point, because we are firmly in the two month category on this one.
i just...don't know how to do it. i've never READ anything like this - how would i know how to write about it?
this is just so stunning. so lovely.
the simulation theory and the corresponding idea of SO WHAT, to put it as basically as possible, are two things that have always fascinated me, and now here i find them transcribed so lovingly???
at first i didn't know if i'd like this book - doubted i would, really - as characters from the glass hotel popped up but wow. how different. the two couldn't be more dissimilar.
which is a compliment.
bottom line: a really good book with a perfect ending.
(update: raising to 5 stars 6 months later because i can't stop thinking about this book)
------------------
reread update
doing the normal thing i do where i reread a book i think is a 5 star almost immediately as some kind of weird gobliny test
------------------
pre-review
oh, gosh. life is so lovely.
review to come / 4.5 or 5 stars
------------------
tbr review
will this be a perfect glorious beautifully written book i never stop thinking about (station eleven) or a confusing mess that makes me almost inexplicably mad (the glass hotel).
only one way to find out
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Reading Progress
April 1, 2022
– Shelved
July 19, 2022
–
Started Reading
July 20, 2022
–
Finished Reading
September 30, 2022
–
Started Reading
October 1, 2022
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-31 of 31 (31 new)
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message 1:
by
Sam
(new)
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rated it 3 stars
Apr 17, 2022 04:05PM
Very curious to know because I know my answer!
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A little bit of both, honestly. I’d say it’s more like The Glass Hotel than like Station Eleven. I liked both (all three), though!
For me, it was much more similar to The Glass Hotel unfortunately.
I read it as quite the explicit sequel to Station Eleven. It's crisper (for better and for worse) and more openly a riff on her own status as a hugely successful writer. For me, The Glass Hotel is the odd novel out in this group of three.
It's very good! Even better than Station Eleven, methinks.
I read Station Eleven after seeing your review of it and fell completely head over heels in love with it!! Now I’ve read all but two of Emily St. John Mandel’s novels and they’ve all been five stars for me. She’s my favorite author! Curious to see how you like this, I definitely found it similar to both but really something unique. Hope you enjoy!!!!!
I own a signed copy of this and couldn’t be more thrilled now
the results are in!!! closer to station eleven for me, thank god
Just finished this one last night, and loved it. I will be thinking about it for a long time. Station Eleven is one of my favourite books, but I didn't get on with The Glass Hotel. I was so relieved to find that this one was more "Station Eleven"-ish in it's prose and feel.
I actually thought this one was more similar to The Glass Hotel than Station Eleven. This was good for me since I much preferred the Glass Hotel (sorry I know this is an unpopular opinion)
I just finished this book today, and I have similar feelings. The range of emotions this novel elicited from me… Like a spiritual experience. And yes,the ending is astoundingly perfect.
I try not to get too worked up about prize lists, but the part of me that enjoys following them is borderline insulted this wasn’t long listed for the Women’s Prize
I love that book so much. It pairs so well with Station Eleven and Glass Hotel. Her mind works in such a brilliant way.
brhymes wrote: "I actually thought this one was more similar to The Glass Hotel than Station Eleven. This was good for me since I much preferred the Glass Hotel (sorry I know this is an unpopular opinion)"i LOVE an unpopular opinion
Ulrika wrote: "Just finished this one last night, and loved it. I will be thinking about it for a long time. Station Eleven is one of my favourite books, but I didn't get on with The Glass Hotel. I was so relieve..."agree!!! this is why it worked for me too (love station eleven)
Bee wrote: "I just finished this book today, and I have similar feelings. The range of emotions this novel elicited from me… Like a spiritual experience. And yes,the ending is astoundingly perfect."i am a sucker for a stellar ending
Emma wrote: "I try not to get too worked up about prize lists, but the part of me that enjoys following them is borderline insulted this wasn’t long listed for the Women’s Prize"i know nothing about prize lists but immediately i'm frustrated
E.M. wrote: "I love that book so much. It pairs so well with Station Eleven and Glass Hotel. Her mind works in such a brilliant way."she is one of a kind
Wonderful review. I liked the way you shared your thoughts and feelings about the book. Sometimes we simply don't have a way to say things, other than, "this really did something to me." You said that!
Great review!! It’s one of my favorite books of all time!
I love it too and feel the same way. This was the first books of her that I read, then found out that the other two books were loosely connected, so I read Station Eleven and then last The Glass Hotel. It was interesting reading the books in that order, since Sea of Tranquility was meta fiction for Station Eleven becoming big during the 2020 pandemic (I didn’t know any of this before reading it). It was fun to think back and see the Easter eggs in reverse while reading Station Eleven. I think I also appreciate and can see the strength of St. John Mandel growing as a writer by ready the books in reverse; had I started with The Glass Hotel, I don’t know that I would a have read anything else by her. A year later and I still think about this book a lot.
Amazing book.....I loved how it all looped back together at the end. It;s the kind of book you need to read twice to appreciate.
Ulrika wrote: "Amazing book.....I loved how it all looped back together at the end. It;s the kind of book you need to read twice to appreciate."absolutely!
Nicky wrote: "I love it too and feel the same way. This was the first books of her that I read, then found out that the other two books were loosely connected, so I read Station Eleven and then last The Glass Ho..."wow i love all of this! i didn't know that — now i want to reread station eleven and sea of tranquility with that in mind! totally agree on how the order of books can throw everything off — if i hadn't read station eleven before the glass hotel, i never would have picked this up
Gary wrote: "Wonderful review. I liked the way you shared your thoughts and feelings about the book. Sometimes we simply don't have a way to say things, other than, "this really did something to me." You said t..."thank you very much!
April Flynn Davis🥀🩶 wrote: "Great review!! It’s one of my favorite books of all time!"me too!
I also didn't know how to review this book at first. It took me a couple of weeks to decide, on balance, if I really liked it. I love how you said it transcribes simulation theory and also so what.
Great Review! It actually helped put two and two together for me. I never read The Glass Hotel, so I didn’t realize Mirella and Vincent were from a completely different novel! Their time period was actually the one I had the biggest issue with😅. But the fact she was able to tie them in without exposing their full story to those who haven’t read her other works is impressive.
I'm reading it for the second time right now (I don't often re-read books)
persian cucumbers. ill look that one up lol
