Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

6 reviews

cloddaily's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

A well paced time-mystery with a noir lilt. I enjoyed being able to get glimpses into each characters worlds. Although it does tend to nudge the reminder that we are, in the scheme of the universe, quite small, the text also uplifts that those small things, small folk, small moments are sometimes those that change our lives, and the ones of those around us, the most. I devoured this book — incredibly unique and timely in a way that didn’t make me angry or disparate (like so many pieces described as “timely” nowadays so often do) but rather appreciative and enamored of the things that make my own world beautiful and worth enjoying. As an added bonus, the book is not a difficult or dense read. Extremely well done. I imagine I will continue to think about the events and musings of “Sea of Tranquility” for quite some time. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Mental illness, Colonisation, War, and Classism

josiee's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

pearlisarobot's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gun violence, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Colonisation, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

norwegianforestreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

miller8d's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Emily St. John Mandel is the only author I’ve ever read as an adult whose writing is effortlessly legible— I don’t have to drag myself through the continuation of the logic, the story, the names and details. She is an incredible world-builder and crafts her books in a way that kindly takes all pressure off the reader to painstakingly translate the story as they go, and she does it without losing the substance nor the sophisticated chaos of the story. She includes unnecessary yet enriching details everywhere so that you never quite catch on to the endings (unlike so many stories that make me think “Oh, well, that must be foreshadowing something”). I had a complicated

feeling of disappointment at the ending of the story: I was pulled to finish this book in two days because I was so excited to learn the explanation for the anomaly, and when I turned the final page, I said “Oh, come on” out loud because I did not feel like I got one at all in the moment. I found the twist exciting and sweet and logical but emotionally frustrating at first. But since I completed the book twenty minutes ago, I’ve realized I’m not actually disappointed because that is actually the most natural and truthful ending there ever could have been, and it rings true to the entire story, to the nature of time and space and boring explanations for exciting anomalies. It shines light on the entire hero’s journey and disarms us with a lonely sense of naked responsibility over the choices we make and especially over the universally lackluster inevitability of the logical consequences of the choices we make. I also really love how Mandel softly infused a strong clarity of anti-colonization and anti-cop sanity throughout the actions and beliefs of the lovable characters— refreshing to read a sci-fi/fictional/apocalyptic piece that doesn’t bury the lead of what evils are obviously leading us toward the darkness (colonization and cops, etc.), and refreshing to read any fictional book that pursues a leftist narrative through world-building and plot points, instead of just veering recklessly into harmful tokenization, superimposed racial dynamics written by a white author, and so on. I also just realized I liked the red herring of Vincent falling off into the sea— at the time, I was 100% sure she’d been teleported by the anomaly and that we must meet her later on. Fun to think that perhaps she did teleport somehow but that we’ll never know because Gaspery never knows.

I loved this book. 
Note: I pictured Gaspery as Jacob Wysocki from College Humor.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation, Classism, and Deportation

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Blood, Vomit, Car accident, and Alcohol

I’m quite a sensitive person and even I’d say that despite the content warnings for this book, it is not an upsetting read (at least for me). The mentions of upsetting topics are justified and unsurprising in the context of the book, and very rarely is any upsetting detail given for the sake of indulgent displeasure. The bits that did upset me were

the bit about someone losing both their two partners tragically to sudden death, and the gnarly set of detailed memories toward the end of the book about a veteran’s battlefield trauma.

pineapplesurvivor's review against another edition

lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism