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A review by larawalden
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
4.0
I wish I could give this a 3.5 or a 3.75. I really liked this book, but it just falls shy of a solid four stars.
A wise friend mentioned in her review that if you focus on the accuracy/plausibility of the science, it will drive you crazy and take away from enjoying the story. That advice was spot-on and extremely helpful - heed it! (Thanks, Francine!)
Julia is eleven years old when it is discovered that the earth's rotation is slowing. What scientists don't know is what is causing it, how to predict the rate of slowing, or how to stop or reverse it. As a result, the world as we know it is drastically changing - most of society still follows traditional twenty-four hour "clock time" while fringe groups follow "natural time," longer days and nights mean that crops must grow via artificial light, the changing effects of gravity cause birds to die off, soccer balls are harder to kick and don't fly as far or as high.
Walker is a gifted wordsmith; the writing is beautiful. I don't know if this was intentional (or if my explanation makes any sense whatsoever) but as the book progresses, Julia (our narrator) seems to gradually gain temporal distance from the story, as if the first few chapters were written shortly afterward while each subsequent chapter was written at progressively longer intervals following the events, mirroring the gradual slowing of the earth's rotation.
The ending left me wanting - it felt like Julia lacked sufficient life experience to give her conclusion any heft. I would love to read an addendum written thirty or forty years later, when Julia is in her fifties or sixties (if the earth survives that long).
A wise friend mentioned in her review that if you focus on the accuracy/plausibility of the science, it will drive you crazy and take away from enjoying the story. That advice was spot-on and extremely helpful - heed it! (Thanks, Francine!)
Julia is eleven years old when it is discovered that the earth's rotation is slowing. What scientists don't know is what is causing it, how to predict the rate of slowing, or how to stop or reverse it. As a result, the world as we know it is drastically changing - most of society still follows traditional twenty-four hour "clock time" while fringe groups follow "natural time," longer days and nights mean that crops must grow via artificial light, the changing effects of gravity cause birds to die off, soccer balls are harder to kick and don't fly as far or as high.
Walker is a gifted wordsmith; the writing is beautiful. I don't know if this was intentional (or if my explanation makes any sense whatsoever) but as the book progresses, Julia (our narrator) seems to gradually gain temporal distance from the story, as if the first few chapters were written shortly afterward while each subsequent chapter was written at progressively longer intervals following the events, mirroring the gradual slowing of the earth's rotation.
The ending left me wanting - it felt like Julia lacked sufficient life experience to give her conclusion any heft. I would love to read an addendum written thirty or forty years later, when Julia is in her fifties or sixties (if the earth survives that long).