Reviews for Sea of Tranquility

The average rating for Sea of Tranquility based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2007-03-04 00:00:00 Michele Christopher This isn't an easy read. There are four characters revealing four points of view about a singular family. I loved it, even when I thought it was becoming a mess, I always came out the otherside appreciating where the novel finally led (and there is much less mess than beauty i in this somber tale). Paul Russell and Dennis Cooper are the two best writers of dark gay fiction. Each probes areas that make me think, shudder, find compassion for those I wouldn't think I could, and even feel thrilling, disturbingly aroused. That's worth the price of admission, isn't it. But then, like goobers and popcorn, Russell, adds a breathtaking turn of phrase; succinct character development, and surprising plot twists. I'm sold.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-12-09 00:00:00 Eric Soucy I'm torn about how much I liked this novel. For the most part, the story and writing kept me intrigued and interested in continuing but, I feel, the author lost his way a bit during certain parts, and, in turn, lost me as a reader. Sea of Tranquillity traces a disintegrating nuclear family across two tumultuous decades of American life - from the early '60s to the '80s - and is told in a quartet of voices: astronaut Allen Cloud, his wife, their gay son, Jonathan, and his friend/lover. The novel ranges in time and emotion from the optimism of the first moon shot to the dark landscape of the age of AIDS. Compelling stuff, to say the least. And Paul Russell definitely captures the essence of the differing historic periods and the world of NASA, the space mission, and all the mechanics that entails. He also does a great job at capturing the early years of the AIDS epidemic, especially by honing in on just the one character struggling with the disease versus trying to incorporate the vastness of entirety of the crisis. Unfortunately, he doesn't quite capture the vastness of his own ideas as portrayed through the lives of these 4 characters (really, just 3 of them - the astronaut, his wife, and the son, as the friend/lover is the most mentally stable of the characters, despite his own familial issues). The enormity of Russell's grasp - the moon, the universe, the actual existence of man - might be too grand for anyone to fit into a novel but he definitely gives it a shot, with some success and some failures. The characters are well drawn, for the most part, though their voices (each chapter is told from a particular characters perspective and it switches with each chapter) tend to sound a lot alike. There's one chapter toward the end that I'm still not sure who it was and I should have been able to by that point. Overall, I have a feeling certain aspects of the novel will stay with me, haunt and dog me, which is a sign of a good story and good writing. But certain aspects will continue to frustrate me, as well.