#78: Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

and Top Gun Maverick!

Hello readers,

This week I’m reviewing a book and a movie that are both great but have nothing to do with each other!

After a recent trip to the library, I had 6 exciting books and I couldn’t decide what to read next. I decided to read the first chapter of each one to see what hooked me. That is how I came to read Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel.

Pages: 255 | Published: 2022

What’s it about?

A man in 1912 sees and hears things in the woods of Canada, things that are incongruous with his time and place. A woman in 2020 attends a musical performance in New York where those same sights and sounds are integrated into the show. A woman in 2203 is on tour promoting her book, which has a scene describing the same strange occurrence. A man living on a moon colony in 2401 is recruited by the mysterious “Time Institute” to follow the breadcrumbs through time, investigate this strange occurrence, and figure out what it all means.

This book has science fiction and futuristic elements, but I wouldn’t consider it sci-fi. There is time-travel and moon settlements, but nothing is overly described or explained. Much like Station Eleven, the characters are what is central to the story.

How did it make you feel?

After the first chapter I was hooked and curious. This is my second Emily St. John Mandel novel (the first being Station Eleven, which I wrote about here) and I think her writing just works for me. It moves along at a good pace and is engaging throughout. I felt a sense of serenity and peace and humanity in its pages.

I feel like I’m in good hands with Emily St. John Mandel. She is a curious person and her curiosity comes out in her writing. She seems to have lots of questions and writes novels to work through the answers.

Do you recommend it?

I do! This got 4 stars from me on Goodreads. I dig stories like this where the characters are connected across space and time. Cloud Cuckoo Land is similar, just with a lot more words. I don’t think this will go down as a favorite of all time, but certainly a favorite of the year. I was very happy to spend time in its pages. Living and working through the COVID-19 pandemic certainly left its mark on this story, so if you have any pandemic fatigue, now might not be the time to pick it up. If you do, let me know!

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Top Gun Maverick

Quick shout out to the most fun movie of the year, maybe even the past 5 years. This has been on my “most anticipated movies” list for a couple of years now and it finally came out last month! I’m trying to remember the last time a movie thrilled me like this. Capital ‘T’ Thrilled. Probably not since Mad Max Fury Road have I been this gob-smacked; it is a RIDE. It was so immersive that I had to be careful driving home from the theater so I wouldn’t crash my minivan trying to take a turn at top speed!

I grew up watching a VHS taped-from-TV version of the original Top Gun. I quoted it with my buddies all the time (“because I was inverted”) and had a blast imagining what it would be like to fly a jet. This sequel surpasses that movie in every conceivable way. So much of it was done practically with real planes and real G forces. The actors went through 3 months of flight training and learned cinematography so they could direct themselves in the flying scenes.¹ So cool.

I love movies about highly skilled people bringing all their skills to bear on a difficult task. This is a celebration of excellence and bravery and sacrifice. It even has forgiveness and letting go of the past. It pays a nice homage to the original, has great music, and I had a tear or two in my eye by the end. Go see it!

That’s all for me this week! Let me know what you’re into lately.

Kyle

1. Top Gun Actors Extreme Training Behind The Scenes - YouTube the whole video is good but be sure to check out time stamp 6:30