Sign in with FacebookDwight Okita's Reviews > The Age of Miracles
The Age of Miracles
by Karen Thompson Walker (Goodreads Author)
by Karen Thompson Walker (Goodreads Author)
I loved this book. I read it in one 24 hour period. Great example of soft sci-fi/fabulist fiction. It's like a cross between Alice Sebold's book The Lovely Bones and Lars Van Trier's film Melancholia. In some ways, I also thought about Diary of Anne Frank. A young girl faces a possible apocalypse in MIRACLES. It's YA dystopia but more charming and whimsical than, say, The Hunger Games. Ultimately it is a book that celebrates life with one hand, as it erases life with the other.
The language of the book is poetic and intoxicating. The consequences of the slowing earth are imagined in rich and provocative detail.
SPOILER ALERT.
I did think the author cheated just a bit here and there. It's a brilliant cheat. There are times the hero Julia says things like: "That was the last time I EVER ate strawberries." Or I NEVER saw so and so again. That kind of language hints that she might die at the end, or that the world ends in the last chapter. In fact, the character and the world still go on by the novel's end, albeit precariously. I think the more honest phrasing would have been: "That was the last time I ate strawberries this spring." Because as long as the earth spins and she is alive, she can't truly know that she will NEVER eat strawberries again. Even if strawberries become extinct, technically she can not know that by some twist of fate she won't eat them again.
It's a small thing and I think the author was very clever to use this sleight of hand. It made me think that the girl or the world were going away.
It's a book I will think of for some time. As a writer myself of speculative, trippy fiction -- I am in the process of analyzing the many things this book did right!
By the way, I love fabulist fiction like this. If you do too, you might check out my novel THE PROSPECT OF MY ARRIVAL. It's about a human soul that's allowed to preview the world before deciding whether to be born. (It's soft sci-fi so it may not appeal to hard sci-fi readers.) The book was a finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards. http://amzn.to/ozbXC4
The language of the book is poetic and intoxicating. The consequences of the slowing earth are imagined in rich and provocative detail.
SPOILER ALERT.
I did think the author cheated just a bit here and there. It's a brilliant cheat. There are times the hero Julia says things like: "That was the last time I EVER ate strawberries." Or I NEVER saw so and so again. That kind of language hints that she might die at the end, or that the world ends in the last chapter. In fact, the character and the world still go on by the novel's end, albeit precariously. I think the more honest phrasing would have been: "That was the last time I ate strawberries this spring." Because as long as the earth spins and she is alive, she can't truly know that she will NEVER eat strawberries again. Even if strawberries become extinct, technically she can not know that by some twist of fate she won't eat them again.
It's a small thing and I think the author was very clever to use this sleight of hand. It made me think that the girl or the world were going away.
It's a book I will think of for some time. As a writer myself of speculative, trippy fiction -- I am in the process of analyzing the many things this book did right!
By the way, I love fabulist fiction like this. If you do too, you might check out my novel THE PROSPECT OF MY ARRIVAL. It's about a human soul that's allowed to preview the world before deciding whether to be born. (It's soft sci-fi so it may not appeal to hard sci-fi readers.) The book was a finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards. http://amzn.to/ozbXC4
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read The Age of Miracles.
sign in »
Comments (showing 1-13 of 13) (13 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Dwight
(new)
-
rated it 5 stars
Aug 02, 2012 09:32pm
I appreciate the "likes" people have given me for this review. Feel free to add your two cents here too. It's always fun to compare notes with other folks who read the same book.
reply
|
flag
*
Read up to the spoiler part. Did you have a problem with the lack of actual science it concrete, defined science. Lots of people complained about this but most decided to downgrade because of it. I was just curious if this was an issue. Also loved the comparison with Ann frank. Can't wait to get this one
Melissa wrote: "You're comparison to Melancholia and Lovely Bones is dead on. Nice review."Thanks. I enjoyed both of those works. Some others have compared it to Lovely Bones. I think I'm one of the first to compare it to Melancholia or Anne Frank. She's kind of an Anne Frank of modern times.
Jason wrote: "Read up to the spoiler part. Did you have a problem with the lack of actual science it concrete, defined science. Lots of people complained about this but most decided to downgrade because of it. I..."Jason, I'm more of a soft sci-fi guy, so for me the author provide enough science for my taste. I thought she looked at a lot of possible impacts of the slowing on a wide range of things. Did you want more scientific explanation of why the slowing happened? I know she doesn't address that, though I didn't mind. Though I do think she could have explored that more. Maybe overpopulation was causing the earth to turn more slowly. Maybe it was an unexpected outcome from global warming.
You pretty much summed up my thoughts about this book. I'm also glad to see that you and other men liked the book. I want to recommend it to my husband, who likes science fiction, but I'm afraid he might consider it a "chick book."
Yeah, Beverly, I can't speak for all men but this was exactly my kind of book. I'd tell your hubby that it's soft sci-fi rather than hard sci-fi. Or he might complain there's not enough science.
I'm delighted that 47 people thus far have "liked" my review of Age of Miracles. That's cool. Maybe some will take a peek at my like-minded novel THE PROSPECT OF MY ARRIVAL.
Hi all. Thanks for "liking" my review. Now 73 have liked it. I'm glad my review resonated with folks.
Here's another thumbs up review on YOUR review of The Age of Miracles! I was pondering the many things I could say about that book, I decided to see how & where others had issues with the book. Being a gal who loves to try new authors & refuses to be sold by publishers what genre a book falls into (unless it's a REALLY obviously targeted book). I agreed with your point about the authors' use of that
phrasing about "the last time I would ever," to the point where I even ceased to wonder where this 1st time novelist would go with this in-your-face over-foreshadowing, and instead, I chose to ignore it altogether for the very reason you pointed out: how could SHE know???
What I was left to wonder, with such a glaring, repetitive, device, a wise editor could have easily improved upon, reigned in, or omitted this all together!
However, I thought for a 1st effort, the book was very good and wisely classified as an adult novel for its' sensitivity, character exploration and lack of need to spawn a video game at publication.
A refreshing break from the nearly assembly-line in your face, many times poorly written, teen dystopian tomes with packed with nail-biting love interests and/or a mad scientist in the family (usually the main characters closest family member), added in liberally to distract from the obvious fact that these are ALL books recycled from the classics novels of 19thc writers I read & were thrilled by in my teens!
Best of luck on your writing career and you can always do some Lit Crit as well, since you seem to be so well received! Best regards!
Thanks, Anne. Always nice to read comments here. You were a smarter reader than I to realize how could she know it's the last time. Though I actually liked being fooled.Most dystopian novels bum the heck out of me. Like NEVER LET ME GO (which I found more engaging as a movie than as a book). AGE OF MIRACLES was written with such an obviously love of the world and its inhabitants. So it was more bittersweet than depressing. I love Margaret Atwood's poetry but her novels can numb me with depression.
82 people have liked my review of Age of Miracles. Thanks. Please check out my novels if you liked hers. Here's my website. My debut novel is THE PROSPECT OF MY ARRIVAL. My newest novel is called THE HOPE STORE which is about a store that claims to install hope in the hopeless. It's currently a contender in the 2013 Amazon novel contest. http://dwightland.homestead.com
