Sea of Tranquility, by Emily St. John Mandel

 

Caiette – Northern Vancouver Island File corruption
Remittance 1912	Mirella and Vincent 2020	Last Book Tour on Earth 2203	Bad Chickens 2401
Edwin St John St. Andrew Father Mother – Abagail Gilbert – oldest brother – inherit all Niall – middle brother   “Raj” – English children born in India   Reginald -headed out west Thomas – Niall’s friend   Priest (Gaspery) – in forest, met Edwin	Mirella Kessler Faisel – husband   Vincent Alkaitis Jonathan – husband, Ponzi scheme   Paul James Smith – Vincent’s brother, musician and video artist, showed video of file corruption during concert   Gaspery Roberts	Olive Llewellyn – author Aretta – publicist Dion – husband Sylvie – daughter   Marienbad – book, about pandemic, being made into a movie   Gaspery-Jacques – character in book   Gaspery Roberts – with “Contingencies Magazine”	Colony Two – on moon Olive Llewellyn lived there 200 years ago   Periphery Road – circled dome inside   Gaspery Zoey – sister, Time Institute   Ephrem – arborist, works at Time Institute   Anderson – live in Olive’s house Daughter – Natalia/Talia
2172 Zoey sent Gaspery to this year and location Alan Sami – new name, violinist Clara and Mariam – sisters, own farm, time travelers Lina “Talia” – violin teacher
2195 Alan Sami playing violin in airship terminal Olive Llewellyn walking in corridor Gaspery (#2) interviewed Alan Sami (Gaspery #1) Gaspery (#3) in forest at Caiette

  For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the 2022 paperback edition.

1.       Garpery warned Olive about the approaching pandemic, even though he was not supposed to.  If you knew something bad was to happen to someone, would you be able to not tell them?

2.       During the pandemic of 2203 Olive attended holographic meetings.  Most of us have experienced zoom meetings during COVID, how would a holographic meeting be better or not?

3.       After these holographic meetings, Olive said that they were very tiring, maybe because they weren’t real.  Dion replied, “Maybe you’re right.  Turns out reality is more important than we thought” (page 182).  What do you think he meant?  Do you agree with him?

4.       In one of her author talks in 2203 Olive was talking about the interest in postapocalyptic fiction.   She thought it possibly might indicate that people “long secretly for a world with less technology in it” (page 191).  Can you imagine we will ever get to that point?  What would the advantages and disadvantages be?

5.       When Gaspery was the security guard at the hotel in 2401, he lived in Colony One in an apartment complex so close to the edge of the dome that the dome was just above the building roof.   The author also described the Periphery Road that circled the city right inside the dome.  Were you able to imagine those situations through the author’s descriptions?

6.       Also in 2401, Gaspery and Zoey were reading a “handwritten document in a foreign alphabet” (page 125) but Gaspery could not understand.   Zoey told him it was cursive.   How many people would have trouble reading cursive now or in 20 years?

7.       Discuss your reading experience.  Did you enjoy the book?  Were you able to keep everyone and the timeline straight?

8.       Have you read this type of novel before?    If no, did you like it and would you read another of this author’s books?  How would you explain this book to someone else?