Hardcover, 248 pages
Czech language
Published Nov. 24, 2023 by Argo.
Edwinu St. Andrewovi je osmnáct, když se parníkem přeplaví přes Atlantik, poté co jej kvůli politickým názorům vyloučí ze společnosti britské aristokracie. Okouzlen krásou kanadské přírody vstoupí do lesa a náhle zaslechne tóny houslí odrážející se od stěn rozlehlé stavby – tento zážitek jím hluboce otřese. O dvě století později se známá spisovatelka Olive Llewellynová vydává na propagační turné své knihy. Cestuje po celé zeměkouli, avšak vlastní domov má v druhé měsíční kolonii. V textu jejího bestselleru o pandemii se nachází zvláštní pasáž: houslista hraje v rezonující chodbě dopravního terminálu a kolem něj se zvedá lesní stromoví. Když začne Gaspery-Jacques Roberts pátrat po jisté anomálii v severoamerické divočině, narazí na několik rozvrácených životů – mladík z britské šlechtické rodiny podlehne šílenství, spisovatelka odtržená od rodiny uvízne na Zemi uprostřed pandemie a jeho vlastní kamarádka z dětství se zřejmě také pokusila o něco, čím narušila časové linie vesmíru.
Zadna hvezda nesviti na porad.
Zadna hvezda nesviti na porad.
Zadna hvezda nesviti na porad.
Krasna knizecka. Opet trosku obava z pandemicke vlozky, prezil sem. Pro fandy hard bude cestovani casem jiste usmevny. Ale proste podobne jako ve Stanici 11 je tady spousta "poezie" v pribehu. Zaokrouhluju na ctyri hvezdy.
Although the time anomaly and time travel in this book are of the standard variety the author manages to give the concept an uniqie and compelling spin. It's more about the characters that encounter the anomaly and are linked through it while they're unstuck and kind of isolated in their own time. I appreciated the inclusion of pandemics in the narrative but it's a little depressing that people don't seem to have learned from them even centuries in the future. There are some minor flaws but I liked the overall feel of the book.
Was easy to read - that's what I needed at this time, and enjoyed the characters and plot. A great author.
I found this touching and hopeful, I liked how poignantly the characters were drawn, and the themes of kindness and the vicissitudes of life.
My main complaint was that I think the simulation theory stuff was basically an unnecessary macguffin and didn't add to the themes (at least as far as they interested me).
Another exciting time travel story with a cool twist at the end. I appreciate the conclusion around the Simulation Hypothesis. Made me think of Cloud Atlas or the Years of Salt and Rice.
I didn't think I'd love this book as much as I did. It was a fascinating story, with very compelling characters. I love the references to Station Eleven (and I'm hearing that there's even more with Glass Hotel that I haven't read yet). The pandemic is woven into the story in a very sensible way that really spoke to me. My only criticism is that it's too short. Some characters and storylines really should have been more developed. Maybe in future books, as it seems that the author is slowly building a more or less shared universe.
I liked the story of isolated humans trying to find meaning in their lives, all tangled together and touched by the miraculous. It left me feeling hopeful and reassured.
Nice short book. Nothing groundbreaking but adequately conveyed it's purpose.
a little overrated
I liked it because it was well written and short. Longer would have been boring, shorter would have cut too much. I wonder how the author's experience during the pandemic influenced the Last Book Tour Before the End of the World chapter (at least one discussion in the book was real—but from 2015). I liked this book very much, but I liked Station Eleven better, hence the 4 stars.
This book washed over me. I loved the story and the way it made me feel about family, about time. The way the different stories knit together, the moments of realization that the author flawlessly sets up and executes... all of it. Lovely.
Content warning Contains slight spoilers after 1st paragraph
Emily St. John Mandel is such an incredibly talented author and this book is richly written. The characters are intriguing and the plot will kind of blow your mind, put it back together, and then blow it again.
When Emily St. John Mandel wrote her first book about pandemics (Station Eleven), very few of us had ever lived through one. Now, we all have the experience of COVID lockdowns, being confined to career/education-by-Zoom, not seeing another human in person for weeks on end, not hugging family members for months on end...this book is highly informed by those experiences, and this author is the exact write person to write us through that shared experience (even if this pandemic is set a few hundred years in the future).
I am an Emily St. John Mandel fanboi for life.
A breezy, fun(ish, given some of the subject matter) read. The resolution of the book hinges, somewhat, on a twist that is revealed near the end, and I must confess that I was finding the book far more satisfying up to the point that the twist was revealed. It just felt a bit too “plotty” to me in a book that otherwise revels in nice details.
