Sea of Tranquility
January 15, 2025 — Emily St. John Mandel
Review
Notes
p189 - “I think, as a species, we have a desire to believe that we’re living at the climax of the story. It’s a kind of narcissism. We want to believe that we’re uniquely important, that we’re living at the end of history, that now after all these millennia of false alarms, now is finally the worst that it’s ever been, that finally we have reached the end of the world.”
Review
I picked this up, brand new and in its shining jacket, from a little free library months and months ago. I read Station Eleven and thought it was pretty good (I did not love the TV series). I quite enjoyed this, probably more than I did Station Eleven, even. Despite that, I have few thoughts.
I’ve seen it described as “quiet” science fiction. Fitting title. The story is quiet, not exactly contemplative but patient. That is not to say slow: I found it paced very well. In fact, despite a rotating setting and cast of characters, each character feels separate and well formed. That is impressive. This helps the pacing a lot, I think, because we never get bored of anyone.
I don’t think it tries to hide anything or obscure itself. It is very pleasant to read and when the action comes it is not the world ending whatever of other books, it feels more personal. I like that.
"I think, as a species, we have a desire to believe that we're living at the climax of the story. It's a kind of narcissism. We want to believe that we're uniquely important, that we're living at the end of history, that now after all these millennia of false alarms, now is finally the worst that ti's ever been, that finally we have reached the end of the world."(p189)
I didn’t flag many passages (just this one, basically), but this stands out to me. I think it is true and yet I think it is completely understandable. Of course we always feel that we’re at the climax, we are the ones living through all of this. And, my, do we get tired. There’s another quote in here somewhere where the speaker is contemplating if a fascination with post-apocalyptic storytelling is a yearning for a time of less technology. I like both of these ideas.