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Blue Skies
The joyfully freewheeling, funny and profound new novel from 'one of the most inventive, adventurous and accomplished fiction writers in the US today' (Lionel Shriver)
Welcome to America. On the east coast, homes are being swallowed by the ocean; on the west coast, California is engulfed with wildfire.
But for one family, the impending environmental disaster is the least of their worries. Party girl Cat just impulse-purchased a snake; her pious brother Cooper is wrestling with a tic bite; and their mom Ottilie has resorted to cooking with crickets. Everyone is drinking too much – and the bugs seems to be disappearing. It seems as if it's anything but blue skies ahead...
A delightfully dark comedy of manners about family life at the end of the world, Blue Skies is a masterful new adventure from one of the America's great comic writers.
_______________
'Always enjoyable, virtually incapable of dullness or slack sentences … His stories reveal truths about modern life while still feeling beautifully invented' - NEW YORK TIMES
'A virtuoso craftsman' - ANNIE PROULX
'Boyle is a writer who chooses a large canvas and fills it to the edges' - BARBARA KINGSOLVER
Welcome to America. On the east coast, homes are being swallowed by the ocean; on the west coast, California is engulfed with wildfire.
But for one family, the impending environmental disaster is the least of their worries. Party girl Cat just impulse-purchased a snake; her pious brother Cooper is wrestling with a tic bite; and their mom Ottilie has resorted to cooking with crickets. Everyone is drinking too much – and the bugs seems to be disappearing. It seems as if it's anything but blue skies ahead...
A delightfully dark comedy of manners about family life at the end of the world, Blue Skies is a masterful new adventure from one of the America's great comic writers.
_______________
'Always enjoyable, virtually incapable of dullness or slack sentences … His stories reveal truths about modern life while still feeling beautifully invented' - NEW YORK TIMES
'A virtuoso craftsman' - ANNIE PROULX
'Boyle is a writer who chooses a large canvas and fills it to the edges' - BARBARA KINGSOLVER
414 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 22, 2023
518 people are currently reading
10240 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 724 reviews
June 29, 2023
Einer der besten Romane T. C. Boyles.
Er inspiriert mehr etwas gegen den Klimawandel zu unternehmen,
als sämtlich Aktionen von "Friday for future" und "The last Generation" zusammen.
Er inspiriert mehr etwas gegen den Klimawandel zu unternehmen,
als sämtlich Aktionen von "Friday for future" und "The last Generation" zusammen.
September 18, 2023
The west coast is on fire, the east coast, under water. Insects are disappearing. It is the end of the world as we know it, we may just have ruined things to the point of no return. Despite this,life must go on, people need to live their lives. Odille raised her two children, daughter Cat and son Cooper and now they are living their own lives. Things, however, are not going well for either, their lives very much in flux.
Realistic, but also humorous, something for which Boyle's books are noted. A mother trying to hold her family together despite physical distances. Weather that is extreme doesn't help in her endeavour,nor does the selfishness of her children. It is, after all, selfishness that has helped get us where we are, we seem to want what we want, when we want it, despite the dangerous and negative, results.
I have enjoyed most of this authors books. He inserts pertinent messages, causes, inside a humorous rendering.
The narration was superb.
Realistic, but also humorous, something for which Boyle's books are noted. A mother trying to hold her family together despite physical distances. Weather that is extreme doesn't help in her endeavour,nor does the selfishness of her children. It is, after all, selfishness that has helped get us where we are, we seem to want what we want, when we want it, despite the dangerous and negative, results.
I have enjoyed most of this authors books. He inserts pertinent messages, causes, inside a humorous rendering.
The narration was superb.
Read
May 23, 2023Global warming is real and T.C. Boyle highlights some of the unfortunate consequences in this seriocomic, climate fiction (cli-fi) novel. California is getting drier, Florida is getting wetter, and we observe the effects through the eyes of a family split between the coasts.
*****
Ottilie and Frank raised their children, Cooper and Catherine (Cat), in Santa Barbara, California, a coastal city that lies between the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Ynez Mountains.
Santa Barbara
Cooper, a Ph.D. student in entomology, now lives in the nearby Santa Ynez Valley;
and Cat, a would-be influencer, lives in a beach house near St. Augustine, Florida, with her fiancé Todd.
Until Ottilie retired three years ago, she'd run her husband Frank's medical practice, overseeing everything, 'hiring and firing, the supply chain, billing, insurance, even rotating the dracaena and umbrella plants in the waiting room.'
Ottilie's life is more relaxed these days, with laps in the pool every morning; socializing with her best friend Sylvie; cocktails, wine, and gourmet dinners; etc. Now, at the behest of her environmentalist son Cooper, Ottilie has taken up cricket farming - growing the insects in a home cricket reactor.
Cricket Reactor
According to Cooper's mantra, this would produce an 'endless supply of high-fiber, low-fat protein' and would 'reduce the methane load produced by the earth's billion or so cattle and the felling of all those forests to provide pasture for them.' Ottilie prepares insect recipes like cricket chapulines and cricket tacos for her family, and even (clandestinely) serves disguised cricket dishes at a dinner party.
Cricket Chapulines
Cricket Tacos
Unfortunately, home insect farms don't do much to attenuate climate change, and California has been experiencing a drought for four or five years. This results in water shortages, wildfires, and widespread death and destruction. The converse is true of Florida, where the constant humidity and frequent storms result in wetness and mold everywhere, and the ubiquitous odor of mold, rot, and decay.
Drought in California
Flooding in Florida
Thus Ottilie, Frank, and Cooper have too little water; and Cat has too much.
The story is told in the rotating voices of Ottilie, Cooper and Cat, all of whose lives are (more or less) unstrung over the course of the story.
When Cat first moves to Florida with Todd, she's at something of a loose end. Todd is a brand ambassador for Bacardí rum, which involves hosting parties all over the world. Todd's frequent travels often leave Cat home alone, and though she picks up a little work here and there, Cat's ambition is to be an influencer. Thus Cat is trying to build up followers, but it's slow going, and she needs a 'hook.'
Cat is wandering around the local shopping district one afternoon, planning to drop into Bobo's for a mojito or two, when she spots a shop called 'Herps.' The reptile store has a huge, eye-catching snake in the window and Cat hits on the idea of buying a snake - a beautiful brown and gold serpent she can drape around her neck for social media pictures.
Cat ends up with a Burmese python named Willie II, and the photos of Cat and Willie II collect like after like. Cat thinks she's stumbled onto an identity that will elevate her as an influencer, 'the Snake Lady here to sell your line of tops, or jewelry or designer tees or whatever it was.'
Todd isn't thrilled about having a snake in the house, but he lets it go, and the serpent is installed in a glass cage in the living room. Willie II plays an important role in the following chain of events.
In the meantime, things get worse and worse along Florida's beachfront. Because of the rainstorms, hurricanes, and tides, Cat can't trust her driveway or even the peninsula road, a whole section of which keeps washing out as fast as it's repaired. So Cat often leaves the car (Todd's showy Tesla) in Bobo's parking lot, and pilots a skiff to town.
Cat also has to deal with 'the mold creeping insidiously up the walls and the pilings rotting under the house.' Add to that the threat of termites, 'a kind of metastasizing arthropodal cancer that would devastate everything if you didn't get right on it', and Cat has troubles galore.
Cat's lucky in one way, because her mother Ottilie is a force of nature. When Cat needs her mom, Ottilie hops on a plane and hurries to Florida, which isn't always easy with hurricanes and flight changes.
Ottilie is most often home in California though, where she struggles to be environmentally conscious and bemoans the increasingly dire drought. Ottilie starts to rear mealworms and to host beehives, while she severely limits water use. Eventually Ottilie limits herself to one three-minute shower a week, 'wet the hair, twist off the faucet, lather up, then turn it back on for a quick rinse....and forget the hair conditioner.' Ottilie also does her best to help her grown son Cooper, who has troubles of his own.
Cooper is doing his Ph.D. research on monarch butterflies, which are becoming increasingly scarce. This year, Cooper has seen precious few of the lepidopterans, 'which was beyond worrisome, considering they were reaching the point of no return, one more species sinking into the void.'
Monarch Butterflies
In fact all insects seem to be enduring a crisis, with a mass disappearance of many types. For Cooper, this signals 'the food chain imperiled, the world in collapse....doom atop doom.' Besides that, Cooper experiences personal troubles, one of which begins when he's helping his girlfriend Mari, a science nerd who studies ticks.
Tick
Cooper's fellow researcher Elytra, who does research on kissing bugs, does have a suggestion to curb climate change.
Kissing Bug
Elytra posits, 'The solution [to global warming] is simple,' she says. 'You go up twelve miles in a fleet of jets and spray sulfuric acid, which combines with water vapor to form sulfate aerosols to reflect sunlight back into space.' But this notion infuriates Cooper, who calls the idea delusional.
Geoengineering with sulfates would produce a white sky
I won't say more to avoid spoilers, but there's plenty of drama - and some comedy - in the book.
The story is compelling, and Boyle does a good job bringing home the (possibly) horrific consequences of human despoliation of the earth. Some of the main characters, however, are not especially likable, with a tendency to be selfish, and to dull their lives with alcohol. The story seems very realistic though, and I highly recommend the book to interested readers.
Thanks to Netgalley, T.C. Boyle, and W.W. Norton & Company for a copy of the manuscript.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com
December 14, 2024
Was erwartet man von einem Roman, der den Klimawandel thematisiert? Aufrüttelnde Katastrophen, Menschen in Grenzsituationen, dystopische Verhältnisse, Metaphern, Zaunpfähle und am Ende am liebsten noch Lösungsansätze.
All das gibt es bei T.C. Boyle nicht, denn er macht das, wofür ich ihn schon bei so vielen anderen Romanen geliebt habe. Er pickt sich eine Person oder Personengruppe heraus (hier eine Familie mit zwei erwachsenen Kindern in Florida und Kalifornien) und beschreibt, wie sie mit einer bestimmten Situation umgeht. In diesem Fall das Leben in einer Zukunft, die wirklich nicht all zu fern ist. Vielleicht sogar fast schon Realität, denn Dürre und Überschwemmungen durchziehen schon jetzt unsere Nachrichten. Vom Insektensterben haben wir auch schon gehört, wollen uns aber nicht so recht mit den absoluten Konsequenzen auseinandersetzen. Die Familie in Blue Skies kommt aber nicht darum herum. Sie bilden die Gesellschaft in einem Mikrokosmos ab. Der Sohn ist Etmologe und Warner. Die Mutter will nachhaltig leben und geht jeden neuen Trend mit (bis zur Aufzucht der Grillen als neue Proteinquelle). Der Vater hat die Scheuklappen auf und die Tochter ist ein Kind der sozialen Medien: Reichtum, Spaß und Likes sind ihre Welt.
Es gibt eigentlich keinen Spannungsbogen in dem Buch. Die 400 Seiten haben nie den Anspruch, auf einen Höhepunkt zuzustreben. Stattdessen ist es jedem selbst überlassen, das Lebensgefühl in diesen turbulenten Zeiten aufzunehmen und zu spüren, was die Menschen beschäftigt. Sich Gedanken zu machen, wie man selbst in dieser Welt leben möchte, die einen mit hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit noch zu Lebzeiten erwartet. Sich überlegen, was man für eigene Konsequenzen daraus zieht. Ich glaube, deswegen mag T.C. Boyle so gerne: weil es nicht darum geht, was der Autor auf zig Metaebenen ausdrücken will. Sondern in guter, alter, amerikanischer Erzähltradition: eine Geschichte erzählen, unterhalten und bestenfalls einen Prozess im Leser dabei auslösen. Hab es mit großer Freude gelesen, trotz des beängstigenden Themas.
All das gibt es bei T.C. Boyle nicht, denn er macht das, wofür ich ihn schon bei so vielen anderen Romanen geliebt habe. Er pickt sich eine Person oder Personengruppe heraus (hier eine Familie mit zwei erwachsenen Kindern in Florida und Kalifornien) und beschreibt, wie sie mit einer bestimmten Situation umgeht. In diesem Fall das Leben in einer Zukunft, die wirklich nicht all zu fern ist. Vielleicht sogar fast schon Realität, denn Dürre und Überschwemmungen durchziehen schon jetzt unsere Nachrichten. Vom Insektensterben haben wir auch schon gehört, wollen uns aber nicht so recht mit den absoluten Konsequenzen auseinandersetzen. Die Familie in Blue Skies kommt aber nicht darum herum. Sie bilden die Gesellschaft in einem Mikrokosmos ab. Der Sohn ist Etmologe und Warner. Die Mutter will nachhaltig leben und geht jeden neuen Trend mit (bis zur Aufzucht der Grillen als neue Proteinquelle). Der Vater hat die Scheuklappen auf und die Tochter ist ein Kind der sozialen Medien: Reichtum, Spaß und Likes sind ihre Welt.
Es gibt eigentlich keinen Spannungsbogen in dem Buch. Die 400 Seiten haben nie den Anspruch, auf einen Höhepunkt zuzustreben. Stattdessen ist es jedem selbst überlassen, das Lebensgefühl in diesen turbulenten Zeiten aufzunehmen und zu spüren, was die Menschen beschäftigt. Sich Gedanken zu machen, wie man selbst in dieser Welt leben möchte, die einen mit hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit noch zu Lebzeiten erwartet. Sich überlegen, was man für eigene Konsequenzen daraus zieht. Ich glaube, deswegen mag T.C. Boyle so gerne: weil es nicht darum geht, was der Autor auf zig Metaebenen ausdrücken will. Sondern in guter, alter, amerikanischer Erzähltradition: eine Geschichte erzählen, unterhalten und bestenfalls einen Prozess im Leser dabei auslösen. Hab es mit großer Freude gelesen, trotz des beängstigenden Themas.
May 29, 2023
T.C. Boyle ist ein großartiger Geschichtenerzähler. Schlangen, Insekten, Alkohol und das Leben mit dem Klimawandel stehen im Zentrum seines neuen Romans. Wie so oft bei seinen Büchern hatte ich auf den ersten Seiten etwas Mühe in die Geschichte reinzukommen. Ab der Mitte des zweiten (von insgesamt sechsundzwanzig) Kapitels war ich aber wieder gefangen. Der Roman wurde schnell für mich zu einem Pageturner. Er hat die Spannung dann bis zum Ende gehalten.
In Kalifornien führt der Klimawandel zu Hitze und Dürre. In Florida regnet es unentwegt. Statt Auto nimmt man jetzt immer häufiger das Boot. Cat und ihr Mann Todd stehen im Dauerregen. Ihre Eltern und ihr Bruder leiden unter der Hitze an der anderen Küste Amerikas. Das Leben der Familie wird geschildert. Neben den Klimaauswirkungen kommt es zu anderen dramatischen Ereignissen, die ich aus Spoiler-Gründen nicht ausführe. Auffällig ist auch der starke Alkoholkonsum aller Charaktere. Die Erzählperspektive wechselt von Mutter Ottilie, zu Tochter Cat und Sohn Cooper.
Es ist eine dystopische Welt, die eindrucksvoll aufgebaut wird. Aber Boyle beschränkt sich nicht darauf. Er hat interessante Charaktere und vor allem eine spannende Handlung entwickelt. Die Sprache ist nicht übermäßig kunstvoll, sondern funktional. Sie unterwirft sich komplett dem Plot und der Atmosphäre. Der Plot, das Tempo, die Dramatik und die Charaktere sind somit überaus kunstvoll. "Blue Skies" ist ein großartiger, ernsthafter Unterhaltungsroman im allerbesten Sinne.
In Kalifornien führt der Klimawandel zu Hitze und Dürre. In Florida regnet es unentwegt. Statt Auto nimmt man jetzt immer häufiger das Boot. Cat und ihr Mann Todd stehen im Dauerregen. Ihre Eltern und ihr Bruder leiden unter der Hitze an der anderen Küste Amerikas. Das Leben der Familie wird geschildert. Neben den Klimaauswirkungen kommt es zu anderen dramatischen Ereignissen, die ich aus Spoiler-Gründen nicht ausführe. Auffällig ist auch der starke Alkoholkonsum aller Charaktere. Die Erzählperspektive wechselt von Mutter Ottilie, zu Tochter Cat und Sohn Cooper.
Es ist eine dystopische Welt, die eindrucksvoll aufgebaut wird. Aber Boyle beschränkt sich nicht darauf. Er hat interessante Charaktere und vor allem eine spannende Handlung entwickelt. Die Sprache ist nicht übermäßig kunstvoll, sondern funktional. Sie unterwirft sich komplett dem Plot und der Atmosphäre. Der Plot, das Tempo, die Dramatik und die Charaktere sind somit überaus kunstvoll. "Blue Skies" ist ein großartiger, ernsthafter Unterhaltungsroman im allerbesten Sinne.
June 1, 2023
T. C. Boyle is an award-winning, best-selling writer of tremendous energy and creativity who’s not afraid to go where a reader fears he’ll tread. For instance, as Ottilie Cullen, one of the three narrators of "Blue Skies," tries to navigate through a Florida hurricane late at night, she realizes that the “thick brown slurry” on which she is driving her rented SUV is actually thousands of catfish that “squirted and popped under the wheels.”
But for all its dramatically dystopian setup and sensuous descriptions, this novel falls surprisingly flat. The plot sags, except for one horrifying twist, and the characters are largely unlikable. The main problem may be that Boyle, in his thirty-first book of fiction, has chosen too easy a target for satire – the ways people caused and now deal with climate change.
"Blue Skies" takes place apparently a few years from now. Covid is still a fresh memory, Florida is inundated with constant rain and floods, California is withering in nonstop drought and winter temperatures in the 90s, and almost all the bugs on the planet have abruptly disappeared.
Ottilie seems the most sympathetic member of the extended Cullen family at the center of the story, the one with the most backbone and common sense. And if she’s painted in extremes, raising crickets to replace more traditional meat in “grillons poeles roti” and bees to help save the planet, she means well. Plus, her dinners are usually delicious.
The crickets and bees are due to the influence of her son, Cooper, an entomologist. Are his increasingly dire warnings about climate change meant to be satirical? It’s not clear. Early in the book, his right arm is amputated at the elbow after he is bitten by a MRSA-carrying tick. Moreover, climate change has rendered his unfinished PhD dissertation worthless. So he can be forgiven for becoming an embittered couch potato, but he’s still not very likable.
By far the most annoying character is Cooper’s younger sister, Cat. The novel begins with her purchasing a dangerous Burmese python to drape around her shoulders as a fashion accessory, because she thinks the photos will boost her social media ranking.
The first two-thirds of the book are page-turning, but after the much-foreshadowed plot twist the pace just drags until close to the end. Is it slogged down by the incessant rain of Florida, or desiccated by California’s drought? Either way, the reader gets the point.
(Adapted from my review in the New York Journal of Books:)
https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book...
But for all its dramatically dystopian setup and sensuous descriptions, this novel falls surprisingly flat. The plot sags, except for one horrifying twist, and the characters are largely unlikable. The main problem may be that Boyle, in his thirty-first book of fiction, has chosen too easy a target for satire – the ways people caused and now deal with climate change.
"Blue Skies" takes place apparently a few years from now. Covid is still a fresh memory, Florida is inundated with constant rain and floods, California is withering in nonstop drought and winter temperatures in the 90s, and almost all the bugs on the planet have abruptly disappeared.
Ottilie seems the most sympathetic member of the extended Cullen family at the center of the story, the one with the most backbone and common sense. And if she’s painted in extremes, raising crickets to replace more traditional meat in “grillons poeles roti” and bees to help save the planet, she means well. Plus, her dinners are usually delicious.
The crickets and bees are due to the influence of her son, Cooper, an entomologist. Are his increasingly dire warnings about climate change meant to be satirical? It’s not clear. Early in the book, his right arm is amputated at the elbow after he is bitten by a MRSA-carrying tick. Moreover, climate change has rendered his unfinished PhD dissertation worthless. So he can be forgiven for becoming an embittered couch potato, but he’s still not very likable.
By far the most annoying character is Cooper’s younger sister, Cat. The novel begins with her purchasing a dangerous Burmese python to drape around her shoulders as a fashion accessory, because she thinks the photos will boost her social media ranking.
The first two-thirds of the book are page-turning, but after the much-foreshadowed plot twist the pace just drags until close to the end. Is it slogged down by the incessant rain of Florida, or desiccated by California’s drought? Either way, the reader gets the point.
(Adapted from my review in the New York Journal of Books:)
https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book...
February 8, 2023
This book is sharp! But this is not for the faint of heart. Some of the events are traumatic, to say the least.
The world is heating up. Climate change is a known factor and this family is experiencing rising tides and destructive rains.
Cat is living a mundane life. She fights for her boyfriend's attention and his commitment. She is still seeking a purpose in life. Her mother is seeking purpose as well after a long tenure as her husbands office manager. Her brother is seeking an etymology degree and her husband is retired.
As this family seeks purpose and a place in this hectic and chaotic world, the choices made are questionable at best. They seem somewhat undaunted by the effects, I for one, will always remember them!
If you like climate change dystopia, uncomfortable family dynamics, and dark comedic prose, Blue Skies is for you!
#wwnortoncompany #wwn #TCboyle #Blueakies
The world is heating up. Climate change is a known factor and this family is experiencing rising tides and destructive rains.
Cat is living a mundane life. She fights for her boyfriend's attention and his commitment. She is still seeking a purpose in life. Her mother is seeking purpose as well after a long tenure as her husbands office manager. Her brother is seeking an etymology degree and her husband is retired.
As this family seeks purpose and a place in this hectic and chaotic world, the choices made are questionable at best. They seem somewhat undaunted by the effects, I for one, will always remember them!
If you like climate change dystopia, uncomfortable family dynamics, and dark comedic prose, Blue Skies is for you!
#wwnortoncompany #wwn #TCboyle #Blueakies
May 15, 2023
Blue Skies is like reading a AITA post, where the person is clearly the A**hole, except it's almost 400 pages and that all characters in the book are A**holes.
Blue Skies combines the story of a family, with all its family dramas, with the effects of climate change in our daily lives. There's Cat an entitled woman who dreams of being an influencer. Her fiancee turned husband who doesn't care about anyone except himself. Connor, Cat's brother, who also only cares about himself and his own happiness.
I am giving it two stars because I couldn't relate to any of the characters. To be honest, I was rooting for climate change these people are awful. Plus, there's no story here. There's no conflict, resolution, ending. The book just ends and I felt like something was still missing.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy is exchange for my honest review.
Blue Skies combines the story of a family, with all its family dramas, with the effects of climate change in our daily lives. There's Cat an entitled woman who dreams of being an influencer. Her fiancee turned husband who doesn't care about anyone except himself. Connor, Cat's brother, who also only cares about himself and his own happiness.
I am giving it two stars because I couldn't relate to any of the characters. To be honest, I was rooting for climate change these people are awful. Plus, there's no story here. There's no conflict, resolution, ending. The book just ends and I felt like something was still missing.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy is exchange for my honest review.
January 24, 2024
Während Florida im Regen versinkt und von Überschwemmungen bedroht ist, herrscht in Kalifornien anhaltende Dürre, Wasserknappheit und Brände stehen auf der Tagesordnung. Die Klimakrise ist hier, sie ist real und in der Familie rund um Mutter Ottilie, Sohn Cooper und Tochter Cat findet jede*r einen eigenen Umgang damit - oder versucht es zumindest. Während Cat in Florida in einem Strandhaus wohnt und immer öfter mit dem Boot statt mit dem Auto unterwegs ist, stellt Ottilie in Kalifornien ihren Essensplan auf Insekten um, nachdem Entomologe Cooper sie nachdrücklich auf das Sterben des Planeten aufmerksam gemacht hat. Als Cat sich an einem Nachmittag vor dem Regen in ein Reptiliengeschäft rettet und Tigerpython Willie als neues Haustier und Accessoire für ihren Instagramaccount ersteht, nimmt die Katastrophe ihren Lauf.
"Blue Skies" von T.C. Boyle, aus dem Englischen übersetzt von Dirk van Gunsteren, ist ein gesellschaftskritischer Unterhaltungsroman, bei dem einem das Lachen ob der realistischen Zukunftsdarstellung oft im Hals stecken bleibt. Boyle konzentriert seine Erzählung auf die Dynamiken innerhalb dieser amerikanischen Familie und lässt die Auswirkungen der Klimakrise parallel stattfinden, er integriert sie gekonnt in das Leben der verschiedenen Figuren und generiert so Aufmerksamkeit, ohne den Zeigefinger zu heben, er warnt und überlässt den Lesenden dabei selbst, was sie aus dem Roman mitnehmen möchten.
Ich habe zu Beginn von "Blue Skies" wenig Zugang zu der Geschichte gefunden, nach und nach nimmt die Story aber immer mehr Fahrt auf, es passieren unglaublich viele Wendungen, was das Buch nach einem etwas zähen Einstieg zu einem wahren Pageturner werden lässt. Die Figuren boten für mich sämtlich wenig Identifikationspotential (allein dieser extreme Alkoholkonsum, puh!), das hat mein Lesevergnügen aber nicht geschmälert, vielmehr mochte ich gerade dieses Spannungsfeld zwischen absurden Charakteren und dystopischer, aber sehr realitätsnaher Zukunftsvision sehr (was macht die Klimakrise mit uns? Zu welchen Handlungen verleitet sie uns?). Von mir gibt es eine Leseempfehlung, mitreißend, alarmierend und voll schwarzem Humor!
"Blue Skies" von T.C. Boyle, aus dem Englischen übersetzt von Dirk van Gunsteren, ist ein gesellschaftskritischer Unterhaltungsroman, bei dem einem das Lachen ob der realistischen Zukunftsdarstellung oft im Hals stecken bleibt. Boyle konzentriert seine Erzählung auf die Dynamiken innerhalb dieser amerikanischen Familie und lässt die Auswirkungen der Klimakrise parallel stattfinden, er integriert sie gekonnt in das Leben der verschiedenen Figuren und generiert so Aufmerksamkeit, ohne den Zeigefinger zu heben, er warnt und überlässt den Lesenden dabei selbst, was sie aus dem Roman mitnehmen möchten.
Ich habe zu Beginn von "Blue Skies" wenig Zugang zu der Geschichte gefunden, nach und nach nimmt die Story aber immer mehr Fahrt auf, es passieren unglaublich viele Wendungen, was das Buch nach einem etwas zähen Einstieg zu einem wahren Pageturner werden lässt. Die Figuren boten für mich sämtlich wenig Identifikationspotential (allein dieser extreme Alkoholkonsum, puh!), das hat mein Lesevergnügen aber nicht geschmälert, vielmehr mochte ich gerade dieses Spannungsfeld zwischen absurden Charakteren und dystopischer, aber sehr realitätsnaher Zukunftsvision sehr (was macht die Klimakrise mit uns? Zu welchen Handlungen verleitet sie uns?). Von mir gibt es eine Leseempfehlung, mitreißend, alarmierend und voll schwarzem Humor!
January 20, 2024
“You sure you really want to go out there in this heat?”Think of this as a downbeat, minor key coda to 2000's wonderfully blistering Jeremiad, A Friend of the Earth, in that while that earlier novel was set in 2025 (and the late 1980s/early 1990s, IIRC) it was really more about warning its contemporary world, circa 2000, to mend their anti-Earth ways before it was too late, and—and, well, now it decidedly is too late. Too late entirely.
“What heat? It’s only going to be one-fifteen.
Her biggest regret was not having installed solar panels when she had the chance—now they were impossible to come by because everybody had the same idea, the whole world sweating as one.This book, then, is set in some unspecified future present in which there is no longer much point in prophecy, for the disasters they are already a-piling up (see partial catastro-list in reading notes below), and the characters (a fair bit less interesting to me personally to the wonderfully-wrought eco-terrorists of the earlier book) try to cope. And so they do cope, more and/or less—as shall we, I guess.
The memory carved out a pit inside her and suddenly she was on the verge of tears. Was it morally defensible to grieve over an animal when the world was such a vast sink of loss?[The answer, or my answer, of course, to that question, and TCB's answer as well, I feel/hope, is a decided yes. Take your pup, your dad, your world for all in all, we shall not look upon their like again, my friends...]
All in all: this was never without its trademark TCB charms (superb characterization; nature read all red, in tooth &c; a cold eye always-already cast on the "culture"...I could go on), but for me it lacked a little in that "something else" category that its earlier sibling had a most pleasing surplus of, and that the best of TCB always provides...an emotional punch, certainly, intellectual gravitas, perhaps, but a real sense of writerly urgency, too, not just about the subject matter, but as if the writing itself were a matter of life or death for him....
But if you are going to read this one, prepare to be bummered (a la Voltaire's Candide and Other Stories to the max, you could say, and pretty much continually, too, albeit with plenty of Candide's wit and—almost—avec its dark picaresque, its litany of horrors, though sans its intentional satiric cartoonisms), as is only a propos in these endish times I guess.
But I suggest that you do read A Friend of the Earth first, not for all our sins, so much, as for the opportunity to see what TCB at the top of his game can do. And also cos it also kinda makes for two thirds of a trilogy hopefully in the making...
Here's to hoping, in several senses!
3.5*
February 2, 2023
Of Blue Skies I am two minds, as perhaps was T.C. Boyle when he set down to write this book. A simple family tale or a polemic on climate change? Are the characters agents of their own actions, or has climate change replaced fate as the controller of lives? Are we doomed by our past actions, or do we simply make do?
It’s a plodding plot, not so much a plot as a situation—situation dystopia. The world is seen alternately through the eyes of earnest mother Ottile (the wife of a doctor, comfortably middle-class) and her grown children, the somewhat superficial daughter Cat, and son Cooper, an entomologist and the Cassandra figure of the tale. Cat lives with fiancé Todd in Florida, while he other two are in California. One coast in perpetual drought and the other perpetually water-logged. Whole neighborhoods go up in flames on one coast while whole neighborhoods are reclaimed by the sea on the others.
The setting is not some future dystopia, but the dystopia of today and perhaps the next eight or so years in the future. The story captures the mundanity of experience at the end of the world. Sundowners and king tides (two weather phenomena I’m not familiar with, but apparently soon will be) intrude on the rituals which mark our lives, marriages and births and deaths. There are moments of joy and tragedy, as in any lives, and whether those tragedies are caused by a collapsing planet or human inertia and hubris is rather fuzzy.
This was by no means a slog to read. The story is underpinned by diamond-hard prose which is a pleasure to read. Characters are fully realized and complex. Perhaps it’s the author’s ambivalence, whether our world is truly at an end, or whether we can survive on cricket cookbooks and drones for pollinating our crops, that leaves me scratching my head. We’ll all muddle through somehow.
It’s a plodding plot, not so much a plot as a situation—situation dystopia. The world is seen alternately through the eyes of earnest mother Ottile (the wife of a doctor, comfortably middle-class) and her grown children, the somewhat superficial daughter Cat, and son Cooper, an entomologist and the Cassandra figure of the tale. Cat lives with fiancé Todd in Florida, while he other two are in California. One coast in perpetual drought and the other perpetually water-logged. Whole neighborhoods go up in flames on one coast while whole neighborhoods are reclaimed by the sea on the others.
The setting is not some future dystopia, but the dystopia of today and perhaps the next eight or so years in the future. The story captures the mundanity of experience at the end of the world. Sundowners and king tides (two weather phenomena I’m not familiar with, but apparently soon will be) intrude on the rituals which mark our lives, marriages and births and deaths. There are moments of joy and tragedy, as in any lives, and whether those tragedies are caused by a collapsing planet or human inertia and hubris is rather fuzzy.
This was by no means a slog to read. The story is underpinned by diamond-hard prose which is a pleasure to read. Characters are fully realized and complex. Perhaps it’s the author’s ambivalence, whether our world is truly at an end, or whether we can survive on cricket cookbooks and drones for pollinating our crops, that leaves me scratching my head. We’ll all muddle through somehow.
May 20, 2023
This book is a rollercoaster of domesticity, peril, and tragedy in a changing environment — some inversions hinted at, pulling the reader on, and others out of the blue slapping the reader upside the head — all exceptionally and realistically depicted. It's the best of T. C. Boyle I've read yet.
June 25, 2023
Blue Skies ist ein Meisterstück des gesellschaftlichen und ökologischen Realismus.
Menschlich, witzig, bissig und unheimlich, ein wirklich köstlicher Lesespaß. Boyle in Hochform
Menschlich, witzig, bissig und unheimlich, ein wirklich köstlicher Lesespaß. Boyle in Hochform
March 30, 2024
Langweilig, langatmig, humorlos, chaotisch. Bissig? Nein. Charakterentwicklung? Nein. Weder eine Klimadystopie noch ein Familiendrama, die zu lesen sich lohnt. Ich bin einfach nur enttäuscht. Und ja, das ist unpopular opinion.
May 11, 2023
*3.5 stars rounded up.
Let's pretend life is all blue skies and sunshine, shall we? Hah! Not when the realities of climate change make themselves felt.
This is the story of one family's experiences of life in the near future. The mother, Ottilie, lives with her husband Frank in Santa Barbara, California. Her son Cooper is an entomologist who works in the next valley. He has been preaching about climate change for many years and has gotten his mother to start farming insects and substituting them for meat in their meals. Her daughter Catherine lives with her boyfriend in a Florida beach house he inherited. Cat's plan is to become an Instagram influencer with her pet python Willie II.
The family quickly learns that their lives and plans are at the mercy of Mother Nature, be it a wedding, a funeral, or even going about a job. Drought and fires plague California while hurricanes and tropical storms inundate the Florida coast.
Although these characters were well-developed, I did not like them at all. Did I learn anything from their situations and problems? Ummm, no. Is that where Boyle's black humor comes in? I was glad the book ended on a seemingly upbeat note. One can hope, at any rate. But I don't think I'll be eating grasshoppers or crickets any time soon.
I received an arc of this new novel from the author and publisher via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.
Let's pretend life is all blue skies and sunshine, shall we? Hah! Not when the realities of climate change make themselves felt.
This is the story of one family's experiences of life in the near future. The mother, Ottilie, lives with her husband Frank in Santa Barbara, California. Her son Cooper is an entomologist who works in the next valley. He has been preaching about climate change for many years and has gotten his mother to start farming insects and substituting them for meat in their meals. Her daughter Catherine lives with her boyfriend in a Florida beach house he inherited. Cat's plan is to become an Instagram influencer with her pet python Willie II.
The family quickly learns that their lives and plans are at the mercy of Mother Nature, be it a wedding, a funeral, or even going about a job. Drought and fires plague California while hurricanes and tropical storms inundate the Florida coast.
Although these characters were well-developed, I did not like them at all. Did I learn anything from their situations and problems? Ummm, no. Is that where Boyle's black humor comes in? I was glad the book ended on a seemingly upbeat note. One can hope, at any rate. But I don't think I'll be eating grasshoppers or crickets any time soon.
I received an arc of this new novel from the author and publisher via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.
July 8, 2023
Entertaining but I'm unsure about how well the mashing of the elements of satire and realistic handling of climate change worked.
May 28, 2025
DNF @ 34%
I just couldn't get past the ableism. Sometimes, these things resolve in the course of the plot, but I already didn't like the book that much. I'm not a fan of Boyle's style. But beyond that, I just don't think he handles his material well. The one thing I do find redeeming is the audiobook narrator, Alyssa Bresnahan. She actually entertained me.
Reading notes and partial review:
I found an audiobook copy of BLUE SKIES by T. C. Boyles on Libby. Read by Alyssa Bresnahan. All views are mine.
She didn't feel sorry for the crickets, or for the waste of money, or for the fate of the natural world. But for herself. Only that. (1:32:47)
Three (or more) things I loved:
1. I like the insect protein line. I learned a great deal from this and I think it adds an interesting dimension to tge corresponding character. I really hope this subject persists.
Three (or less) things I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. Not even through chapter 1 and I can already smell the unplanned pregnancy trope. I would think a writer as accomplished as Boyle would know that unplanned pregnancy is like loading your plot with a cliché cake cannon.
2. Her brother, Cooper, ...had lost his right arm from the elbow down. It was something she couldn't picture, not at all. (4:08:38)
3. These characters and the narrator are unbearably ableist. I can just hardly stand it. *edit I'm throwing in the towel. Once it was suggested that the character whose arm had been amputated had no romantic future outside of being objectified by amputee fetishists, I was revolted and done. At the very least, this book needs some serious content warnings in the front matter. DNF @ 34%.
Rating: DNF @ 34%
Recommend? Not unless you don't care about disabled representation
Finished: Aug 18 '24
Format: Audiobook, Libby
Read this book if you like:
🪶 lit fiction
🌏 eco fiction
👨👩👧👦 family stories, family drama
👰 weddings
🐍 "Burmies"
I just couldn't get past the ableism. Sometimes, these things resolve in the course of the plot, but I already didn't like the book that much. I'm not a fan of Boyle's style. But beyond that, I just don't think he handles his material well. The one thing I do find redeeming is the audiobook narrator, Alyssa Bresnahan. She actually entertained me.
Reading notes and partial review:
I found an audiobook copy of BLUE SKIES by T. C. Boyles on Libby. Read by Alyssa Bresnahan. All views are mine.
She didn't feel sorry for the crickets, or for the waste of money, or for the fate of the natural world. But for herself. Only that. (1:32:47)
Three (or more) things I loved:
1. I like the insect protein line. I learned a great deal from this and I think it adds an interesting dimension to tge corresponding character. I really hope this subject persists.
Three (or less) things I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. Not even through chapter 1 and I can already smell the unplanned pregnancy trope. I would think a writer as accomplished as Boyle would know that unplanned pregnancy is like loading your plot with a cliché cake cannon.
2. Her brother, Cooper, ...had lost his right arm from the elbow down. It was something she couldn't picture, not at all. (4:08:38)
3. These characters and the narrator are unbearably ableist. I can just hardly stand it. *edit I'm throwing in the towel. Once it was suggested that the character whose arm had been amputated had no romantic future outside of being objectified by amputee fetishists, I was revolted and done. At the very least, this book needs some serious content warnings in the front matter. DNF @ 34%.
Rating: DNF @ 34%
Recommend? Not unless you don't care about disabled representation
Finished: Aug 18 '24
Format: Audiobook, Libby
Read this book if you like:
🪶 lit fiction
🌏 eco fiction
👨👩👧👦 family stories, family drama
👰 weddings
🐍 "Burmies"
April 12, 2023
T.C. Boyle has written about climate change before, but in, shall we say, a more restrained way. in Blue Skies he uses a cleaver instead of a scalpel, a bludgeon instead of a switch. Set in the two coastal climate hell-holes of Florida and California (what's keeping you there, Tom?) --the former drowning in Biblical deluges, the latter drought-stricken and frying under relentless sun -- Boyle chronicles the travails of an extended family as they try to deal with Motherfrigging Nature. Black humor is always a signature dish on a Boyle menu, but Blue Skies goes Michelin four-star in bringing the Dark. A Florida gal who drinks too much fancies a Burmese python as a pet, then has twin girls. A California lad who studies bugs gets a tick bite on his arm that he fails to notice until.... Heatstroke,, water shortages, floods, bee die-offs -- all features of the New World Odor. A cautionary tale brought to you by a master of disaster with mordant wit.
September 10, 2023
"Wenn die Menschen verschwunden waren. Wohin würden sie gehen? Dorthin, wohin auch der Beutelwolf und der Riesenalk und der Auerochse gegangen sind.....und es würde kein Bewusstsein mehr geben, dass groß genug war, um sich Gedanken über Wiederherstellung oder Klimawandel zu machen."
Diese Buch hat mich extrem gut unterhalten, hat mir einiges beigebracht und mich auch vor Spannung die Luft anhalten lassen.
Diese Buch hat mich extrem gut unterhalten, hat mir einiges beigebracht und mich auch vor Spannung die Luft anhalten lassen.
November 10, 2023
Eine erschreckende Utopie, wohin der Klimawandel noch führen kann… aber wahnsinnig unterhaltsam!
May 24, 2023
Herrliche Parodie auf unsere Gegenwart
Wie konnte T. C. Boyle es nur wagen, diesen Roman zu schreiben? Die Frage ging mir direkt nach Lesen der letzten Seite durch den Kopf. Selten hatte ich das Gefühl, die Menschheit derart verhöhnt zu sehen wie in Blue Skies und muss zugeben, es war mir ein absoluter Genuss. Boyle beschreibt eine nicht genau datierte, aber nah wirkende Zukunft, in der die klimatischen Veränderungen unserer Zeit immer größeren Einfluss auf das alltägliche Leben der handelnden Personen haben.
Wir erleben die Geschichte aus der Sicht von drei sich abwechselnden Personen. Catherine (Cat) lebt mit ihrem Lebensgefährten Todd in einem Strandhaus in Florida und möchte ihre stagnierende Influencer-Karriere pushen, indem sie sich eine Tigerpython kauft, die ihren Social Media Posts das gewisse Etwas verleihen soll. Ihr Bruder Cooper lebt in Kalifornien und verdingt sich als Entomologe, bis er durch einen Zeckenbiss seinen rechten Unterarm verliert und sich folglich dem Alkohol und Selbstmitleid ergibt. Die Mutter der beiden, Ottilie, lebt mit Vater Frank ebenfalls in Kalifornien und bemüht sich, ihrem auf nachhaltigen Lebensstil bedachten Sohn gerecht zu werden, indem sie ihre Ernährung auf Insekten umstellt. Während in Kalifornien ein Hitzerekord nach dem anderen aufgestellt wird und Dürre und Großbrände zum Alltag werden, wird Florida auch abseits der Hurrikansaison von schweren Stürmen und Dauerregen heimgesucht und die Sonne ist teilweise über Wochen nicht zu sehen. Diese äußeren Bedingungen machen sich auch im Alltag von Mutter, Sohn und Tochter bemerkbar und beeinflussen deren Leben erheblich.
Virtuos, wie man es von ihm gewohnt ist, entwirft T. C. Boyle Charaktere, auf die man zunächst einmal verächtlich herabschaut oder sich zumindest fragt, wie man bloß so sein könne. Aber gleichzeitig verleiht er ihnen genug Menschlichkeit, um sie so nahbar und zugänglich zu machen, dass man mit ihnen fühlt und in gewissen Momenten sogar Sympathie empfindet. Dazu kommt die für den Autor typische nonchalante Erzählweise, die den eigentlich dramatischen Geschehnissen ein wenig Drama entzieht und sie dadurch absurd komisch erscheinen lässt. Thematisch hat T. C. Boyle meiner Meinung nach ins Schwarze getroffen und dabei seinen großartigen Humor perfekt in Szene gesetzt. Für mich schon jetzt ein Lesehighlight im Jahr 2023.
Wie konnte T. C. Boyle es nur wagen, diesen Roman zu schreiben? Die Frage ging mir direkt nach Lesen der letzten Seite durch den Kopf. Selten hatte ich das Gefühl, die Menschheit derart verhöhnt zu sehen wie in Blue Skies und muss zugeben, es war mir ein absoluter Genuss. Boyle beschreibt eine nicht genau datierte, aber nah wirkende Zukunft, in der die klimatischen Veränderungen unserer Zeit immer größeren Einfluss auf das alltägliche Leben der handelnden Personen haben.
Wir erleben die Geschichte aus der Sicht von drei sich abwechselnden Personen. Catherine (Cat) lebt mit ihrem Lebensgefährten Todd in einem Strandhaus in Florida und möchte ihre stagnierende Influencer-Karriere pushen, indem sie sich eine Tigerpython kauft, die ihren Social Media Posts das gewisse Etwas verleihen soll. Ihr Bruder Cooper lebt in Kalifornien und verdingt sich als Entomologe, bis er durch einen Zeckenbiss seinen rechten Unterarm verliert und sich folglich dem Alkohol und Selbstmitleid ergibt. Die Mutter der beiden, Ottilie, lebt mit Vater Frank ebenfalls in Kalifornien und bemüht sich, ihrem auf nachhaltigen Lebensstil bedachten Sohn gerecht zu werden, indem sie ihre Ernährung auf Insekten umstellt. Während in Kalifornien ein Hitzerekord nach dem anderen aufgestellt wird und Dürre und Großbrände zum Alltag werden, wird Florida auch abseits der Hurrikansaison von schweren Stürmen und Dauerregen heimgesucht und die Sonne ist teilweise über Wochen nicht zu sehen. Diese äußeren Bedingungen machen sich auch im Alltag von Mutter, Sohn und Tochter bemerkbar und beeinflussen deren Leben erheblich.
Virtuos, wie man es von ihm gewohnt ist, entwirft T. C. Boyle Charaktere, auf die man zunächst einmal verächtlich herabschaut oder sich zumindest fragt, wie man bloß so sein könne. Aber gleichzeitig verleiht er ihnen genug Menschlichkeit, um sie so nahbar und zugänglich zu machen, dass man mit ihnen fühlt und in gewissen Momenten sogar Sympathie empfindet. Dazu kommt die für den Autor typische nonchalante Erzählweise, die den eigentlich dramatischen Geschehnissen ein wenig Drama entzieht und sie dadurch absurd komisch erscheinen lässt. Thematisch hat T. C. Boyle meiner Meinung nach ins Schwarze getroffen und dabei seinen großartigen Humor perfekt in Szene gesetzt. Für mich schon jetzt ein Lesehighlight im Jahr 2023.
May 15, 2023
Catherine und Todd leben in der nahen Zukunft an der amerikanischen Südostküste. Hätte Todd das simple Strandhaus in Florida nicht geerbt, würde das verlobte junge Paar finanziell keine großen Sprünge machen können. Als Cat an einer Tierhandlung vorbeikommt, hat sie die Idee ihres Lebens. Sie wird sich einen dekorativ gemusterten Tigerpython anschaffen und mit dem wie eine Stola umgelegten „Willie“ Karriere als Influenzerin in den Sozialen Medien machen. Während der Klimawandel an der amerikanischen Ostküste den Wasserspiegel bereits steigen lässt, erleben dagegen an der Westküste Cats Eltern eine fatale Serie aus Hitze, Trockenheit, Buschbränden und Insektensterben. Cats Bruder Cooper als Insektenforscher verfolgt an vorderster Front, dass die reinen Pflanzenfresser der Insektenwelt nahezu ausgestorben sind. Blutsaugende Artgenossen übertragen jedoch häufiger multiresistente Keime und lösen fatalere allergische Reaktionen aus. Ob die Insekten aggressiver geworden sind oder die Immunsysteme der Menschen versagen, daran könnten Cooper und seine Partnerin Mari forschen, wenn es denn noch Versuchstiere geben würde. Cooper muss sich fragen, ob der von Menschen heruntergewirtschaftete Planet ihn zukünftig noch als Forscher benötigen wird. Für ihn hatte es seit seiner Kindheit kein anderes Thema gegeben als Insekten …
Ottilie, die Mutter der Geschwister, will stets alles richtig machen und ist dabei, in ihrem Haushalt die Ernährung auf Insekten und Insektenmehle umzustellen, um den Methanausstoß durch Viehzucht zu verringern. Wenn Ottilie täglich stoisch Blätter und anderes Sturmgut von der Wasseroberfläche ihres Swimmingpools abschöpft, wirkt sie wie ein Relikt einer sterbenden Kultur.
In Florida schlägt derweil die Natur in sintflutartigen Regenfällen zurück. Todd beglückt die Welt mit Bacardi-Events, während die verplante Cat Zwillinge erwartet. Boyles Leser:innen ahnen, dass weder ein Strandhäuschen noch ein PKW zweckmäßig sind auf einer Landzunge, die von allen Seiten vom - stetig steigenden - Wasser umgeben ist. Immerhin denkt Cat soweit, dass ein steigender Wasserspiegel Alligatoren aus den Sümpfen in bewohnte Gebiete transportieren wird. Cooper könnte ihr erklären, dass unverantwortliche Tierfreunde mit dem Import invasiver Arten das natürliche Gleichgewicht zerstört haben … In filmreifen Szenen aus den Untiefen des Influenzer-Daseins muss schließlich - ausgerechnet - Cat um ihr Leben, ihre Kinder und ihren Ruf kämpfen.
Fazit
Boyles unvergleichlicher Zynismus sorgt dafür, dass die drei zentralen Figuren samt Partnern ihr Fett wegbekommen. (O-Ton Cat: Männer stürzten ja nach dem Sex sofort zurück an den Gamecontroller oder ihr Fantasy-Buch …). Der Blick des dystopischen Szenarios auf Nicht-Sympathieträger wie Moskitos, Termiten, Schlangen und Alligatoren hat mich sofort eingefangen. Dass die offenbar simpel gestrickte Cat in eher klamaukartigen Actionszenen ins Rampenlicht gerückt wird, lässt für Cooper und Ottilie leider nur Nebenrollen übrig. Bei allem Spaß an Boyles Scharfzüngigkeit finde ich das unbefriedigend.
Ottilie, die Mutter der Geschwister, will stets alles richtig machen und ist dabei, in ihrem Haushalt die Ernährung auf Insekten und Insektenmehle umzustellen, um den Methanausstoß durch Viehzucht zu verringern. Wenn Ottilie täglich stoisch Blätter und anderes Sturmgut von der Wasseroberfläche ihres Swimmingpools abschöpft, wirkt sie wie ein Relikt einer sterbenden Kultur.
In Florida schlägt derweil die Natur in sintflutartigen Regenfällen zurück. Todd beglückt die Welt mit Bacardi-Events, während die verplante Cat Zwillinge erwartet. Boyles Leser:innen ahnen, dass weder ein Strandhäuschen noch ein PKW zweckmäßig sind auf einer Landzunge, die von allen Seiten vom - stetig steigenden - Wasser umgeben ist. Immerhin denkt Cat soweit, dass ein steigender Wasserspiegel Alligatoren aus den Sümpfen in bewohnte Gebiete transportieren wird. Cooper könnte ihr erklären, dass unverantwortliche Tierfreunde mit dem Import invasiver Arten das natürliche Gleichgewicht zerstört haben … In filmreifen Szenen aus den Untiefen des Influenzer-Daseins muss schließlich - ausgerechnet - Cat um ihr Leben, ihre Kinder und ihren Ruf kämpfen.
Fazit
Boyles unvergleichlicher Zynismus sorgt dafür, dass die drei zentralen Figuren samt Partnern ihr Fett wegbekommen. (O-Ton Cat: Männer stürzten ja nach dem Sex sofort zurück an den Gamecontroller oder ihr Fantasy-Buch …). Der Blick des dystopischen Szenarios auf Nicht-Sympathieträger wie Moskitos, Termiten, Schlangen und Alligatoren hat mich sofort eingefangen. Dass die offenbar simpel gestrickte Cat in eher klamaukartigen Actionszenen ins Rampenlicht gerückt wird, lässt für Cooper und Ottilie leider nur Nebenrollen übrig. Bei allem Spaß an Boyles Scharfzüngigkeit finde ich das unbefriedigend.
October 8, 2023
I loved this book! I just finished it and immediately ordered a hard cover copy to give to someone who I know will also enjoy reading it. Thank you so much Netgalley for the audio ARC!
I’d already devoured two other books by TC Boyle, The Tortilla Curtain and Friend of the Earth, so I had an idea of what to expect from Blue Skies. TC Boyle’s characters are going to have problems, big problems, devastating problems, and at least one of them will probably die. They will also do some asshole things but some redemptive things as well. All in all, his characters are like me, like my family members, like people I’ve known all my life and love despite their flaws.
The family in Blue Skies drinks a lot. And who can blame them? Some of them live in California and contend with water restrictions so severe that they can only take one 3 minute shower a week. Heatstroke is a constant threat as brown outs cause temperatures inside the house to reach the 90s.
Catherine, the grown daughter of the family, leaves CA for coastal Florida, where there’s so much rain and flooding that she has to park a mile away from her house and walk through knee deep water every time the full moon causes tides to rise. Her fiancée travels frequently for work, and, lonely and bored, Cat mostly hangs out at the local bar.
I love the way this novel unfolds. TC Boyle takes his time setting up everyone’s situations, and it’s like a bunch of tiny explosives primed and ready to go off. About a third of the way through the book, the first shockingly bad thing happens, and then another, and then another. As readers, we know that when a character says “well, we’ve made it through the worst and things can only get better from here on out,” that means the absolute most catastrophic event is coming soon. And it does.
The suspense builds and builds, as one poor decision starts an unstoppable cascade of new problems. It’s all exceptionally well written and hard to put down!
I’m giving five stars to Blue Skies, the best book I’ve read so far in 2023.
I’d already devoured two other books by TC Boyle, The Tortilla Curtain and Friend of the Earth, so I had an idea of what to expect from Blue Skies. TC Boyle’s characters are going to have problems, big problems, devastating problems, and at least one of them will probably die. They will also do some asshole things but some redemptive things as well. All in all, his characters are like me, like my family members, like people I’ve known all my life and love despite their flaws.
The family in Blue Skies drinks a lot. And who can blame them? Some of them live in California and contend with water restrictions so severe that they can only take one 3 minute shower a week. Heatstroke is a constant threat as brown outs cause temperatures inside the house to reach the 90s.
Catherine, the grown daughter of the family, leaves CA for coastal Florida, where there’s so much rain and flooding that she has to park a mile away from her house and walk through knee deep water every time the full moon causes tides to rise. Her fiancée travels frequently for work, and, lonely and bored, Cat mostly hangs out at the local bar.
I love the way this novel unfolds. TC Boyle takes his time setting up everyone’s situations, and it’s like a bunch of tiny explosives primed and ready to go off. About a third of the way through the book, the first shockingly bad thing happens, and then another, and then another. As readers, we know that when a character says “well, we’ve made it through the worst and things can only get better from here on out,” that means the absolute most catastrophic event is coming soon. And it does.
The suspense builds and builds, as one poor decision starts an unstoppable cascade of new problems. It’s all exceptionally well written and hard to put down!
I’m giving five stars to Blue Skies, the best book I’ve read so far in 2023.
November 18, 2023
It felt like this book was really going nowhere. There is no plot or character development. The characters couldn't even be called that with their lack of emotions and motivations.
April 7, 2023
"Blue Skies" is exactly the cli-fi novel that you hoped T.C. Boyle would write. It's acutely observed, funny, a little snarky, and a story you'll want to ride from start to finish.
Set in the near future, it follows Ottilie and her family. She and husband Frank live in the formerly cool and moist Central Coast of California, which is now a a blast furnace of heat and fire. Son Cooper is a an entomologist;, seeing the doom of species up close, and daughter Cat is in Florida, living in a beach house inherited by her Bacardi brand-rep fiancee as she's striving to become an influencer. Taking refuge in a pet store during one of Florida's torrential rains, she sees a beautiful snake and buys it to enhance her online presence. This snake will set off a chain of events that will cost them all.
Boyle has chosen two geographic areas where he can show the most dramatic impacts of climate change. There are a few mentions of tornadoes or storms in other parts of the country, but as near opposites California and Florida take center stage. Florida has big storms several times a week, and the insects have grown to hamster-size and are increasingly bold. Scorching, dry winds scrape California and fires overwhelm homes in minutes. Ottilie takes her son's advice and begins cultivating insects as protein, to mixed results. But there's plenty of alcohol and everybody's drinking.
After another winter of crazy weather across the US, setting this novel in the near future plays well. Eco-activists Ottilie and Cooper are doing their best to mitigate disaster while the oblivious Cat and brings a highly invasive snake species into her home, one that has killed off a great percentage of Florida native wildlife. Who is more or less effective?
Excellent characterizations and an intelligent premise make this book a winner.
Set in the near future, it follows Ottilie and her family. She and husband Frank live in the formerly cool and moist Central Coast of California, which is now a a blast furnace of heat and fire. Son Cooper is a an entomologist;, seeing the doom of species up close, and daughter Cat is in Florida, living in a beach house inherited by her Bacardi brand-rep fiancee as she's striving to become an influencer. Taking refuge in a pet store during one of Florida's torrential rains, she sees a beautiful snake and buys it to enhance her online presence. This snake will set off a chain of events that will cost them all.
Boyle has chosen two geographic areas where he can show the most dramatic impacts of climate change. There are a few mentions of tornadoes or storms in other parts of the country, but as near opposites California and Florida take center stage. Florida has big storms several times a week, and the insects have grown to hamster-size and are increasingly bold. Scorching, dry winds scrape California and fires overwhelm homes in minutes. Ottilie takes her son's advice and begins cultivating insects as protein, to mixed results. But there's plenty of alcohol and everybody's drinking.
After another winter of crazy weather across the US, setting this novel in the near future plays well. Eco-activists Ottilie and Cooper are doing their best to mitigate disaster while the oblivious Cat and brings a highly invasive snake species into her home, one that has killed off a great percentage of Florida native wildlife. Who is more or less effective?
Excellent characterizations and an intelligent premise make this book a winner.
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June 27, 2023
An der Westküste brennt es, an der Ostküste regnet es. Und die Familie, die im Zentrum von „Blue Skies“ steht, ist unmittelbar von den Auswirkungen des Klimawandels betroffen. Dieser neuste Roman des amerikanischen Meisters für Zynik wirkt ungewohnt desillu-sioniert, der Frust gegenüber seinen naiv-ignoranten Mitbürger*innen ist überdeutlich aus jeder Zeile herauszulesen.
Viel Recherche steckt in diesem Roman, der ein durchwachsen-pessimistisches Bild von den nächsten Jahren in Florida und Kalifornien zeichnet. Aber auch viele skurrile Szenen, garniert mit dem für Boyle üblichen bitterbösen Humor. Und obwohl einem bei diesen düsteren Zukunftsaussichten absolut nicht nach Lachen zumute ist, provozieren Boyles Protagonist*innen doch immer wieder mal ein Grinsen - irgendwo zwischen Verzweiflung und Fassungslosigkeit.
T.C. Boyle erfüllt mit diesem Roman all meine Erwartungen, die ich an topaktuelle CliFi habe. Erwartungen, die zuletzt von Maja Lundes neustem Roman eher enttäuscht wurden. Wer also Bock auf einen zynischen Blick in die nicht ganz so ferne Zukunft hat, sowieso Fan von T.C. Boyle ist oder wer den allgemeinen Boyle-Hype mal nachvollziehen will, kann mit “Blue Skies“ absolut nichts falsch machen.
Content Notes: Alkoholkonsum, Gewalt, Tod
Viel Recherche steckt in diesem Roman, der ein durchwachsen-pessimistisches Bild von den nächsten Jahren in Florida und Kalifornien zeichnet. Aber auch viele skurrile Szenen, garniert mit dem für Boyle üblichen bitterbösen Humor. Und obwohl einem bei diesen düsteren Zukunftsaussichten absolut nicht nach Lachen zumute ist, provozieren Boyles Protagonist*innen doch immer wieder mal ein Grinsen - irgendwo zwischen Verzweiflung und Fassungslosigkeit.
T.C. Boyle erfüllt mit diesem Roman all meine Erwartungen, die ich an topaktuelle CliFi habe. Erwartungen, die zuletzt von Maja Lundes neustem Roman eher enttäuscht wurden. Wer also Bock auf einen zynischen Blick in die nicht ganz so ferne Zukunft hat, sowieso Fan von T.C. Boyle ist oder wer den allgemeinen Boyle-Hype mal nachvollziehen will, kann mit “Blue Skies“ absolut nichts falsch machen.
Content Notes: Alkoholkonsum, Gewalt, Tod
January 9, 2025
Keine Dystopie, sondern eine Zukunftsvision, vermutlich, aber nur auf die USA bezogen, was ja völlig in Ordnung ist. Allein schon die unterschiedlichen Lebenslagen an der Ost- und Westküste sind schwindelerregend.
Die handelnden Figuren sind mehrheitlich nicht gerade Sympathieträger, stellen aber ganz gut typische Charaktere da; Vertreter der älteren Generation, die ihren Kindern zuliebe versuchen sich umzustellen, aber trotzdem nach Enkelkindern fragen und den Ernst der Lage nicht wirklich anerkennen. Wohlhabende junge Menschen, die auf keinen Luxus verzichten wollen und egoistisch leben, und wissenschaftlich arbeitende Mahner, die aufklären und zurecht verzweifeln.
Dazu kommen dann noch mal mehr, mal weniger realistische Klimawandel-bedingte Probleme bzw. Katastrophen, die das Leben dieser Figuren durcheinander bringen und die ganze Zeit über bleibt der Tonfall eher leicht, fast amüsiert, was eine komische Stimmung erzeugt.
Mein erstes T. C. Boyle Buch war auf jeden Fall unterhaltsam und thematisch durchaus nach meinem Geschmack, wenn auch tatsächlich etwas dystopisch, es zu lesen, während in den USA gerade tatsächlich katastrophale Brände stattfinden
Die handelnden Figuren sind mehrheitlich nicht gerade Sympathieträger, stellen aber ganz gut typische Charaktere da; Vertreter der älteren Generation, die ihren Kindern zuliebe versuchen sich umzustellen, aber trotzdem nach Enkelkindern fragen und den Ernst der Lage nicht wirklich anerkennen. Wohlhabende junge Menschen, die auf keinen Luxus verzichten wollen und egoistisch leben, und wissenschaftlich arbeitende Mahner, die aufklären und zurecht verzweifeln.
Dazu kommen dann noch mal mehr, mal weniger realistische Klimawandel-bedingte Probleme bzw. Katastrophen, die das Leben dieser Figuren durcheinander bringen und die ganze Zeit über bleibt der Tonfall eher leicht, fast amüsiert, was eine komische Stimmung erzeugt.
Mein erstes T. C. Boyle Buch war auf jeden Fall unterhaltsam und thematisch durchaus nach meinem Geschmack, wenn auch tatsächlich etwas dystopisch, es zu lesen, während in den USA gerade tatsächlich katastrophale Brände stattfinden
February 11, 2024
Genial! Mein erstes Buch von diesem Autor, mein letztes ganz sicherlich nicht.
January 30, 2024
I found Blue Skies shelved in the science fiction section of the library and unequivocally disagree with this classification. There is nothing speculative in it until the very end; the events could take place this year or next. Moreover, there is none of the sci-fi sensibility. Boyle is playing within the stolid subgenre of literature about wealthy white American family problems, complete with heavy drinking and affairs. The innovative and interesting element is the importance accorded to climate change. Thus the wealthy family problems include flooding in Florida, droughts and wildfires in California, and insect die-off everywhere. The tone is ambivalent, which seems appropriate to the topic of climate change in the context of wealthy American lifestyles. It flits somewhat maniacally between light-hearted discussion of cooking with crickets and much more serious incidents involving serious illness or death. This could seem satirical, if the events weren't so plausible and indeed factual in many cases. Expensive coastal real estate in Florida is certainly falling into the sea; plush California neighbourhoods are more and more frequently burning down; many bees are suddenly dying.
I therefore found Blue Skies an intriguing new experience in climate change fiction, as it seems to be asking: what if a boring family drama fully acknowledged climate change? That is, to my mind, a different thing from novels like Something New Under the Sun, The Living Sea of Waking Dreams, etc which are actually about climate change's wider implications for the future. Blue Skies has nothing much to say about that, although the observations of what climate change is doing now to wealthy American individuals are quite neatly done. To be honest, I didn't find the protagonist family themselves particularly interesting, as they feel like stock characters, but the encroachment of environmental breakdown into their lives was pretty compelling. Notably, the business with pet snakes was bleakly amusing. Although I don't think the narrative has much emotional depth, the constant extreme weather conveys freshness upon what would otherwise be a very tired plot. I couldn't help noticing that it shares with many other climate change novels the struggle for a suitable ending; how to balance hope and catharsis with grim reality? I found Blue Skies's ending a bit of a cop-out, which seemed oddly fitting given the general tone. Overall it's a fun experiment of the kind Amitav Ghosh called for in The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable. Absolutely not a science fiction novel, though.
I therefore found Blue Skies an intriguing new experience in climate change fiction, as it seems to be asking: what if a boring family drama fully acknowledged climate change? That is, to my mind, a different thing from novels like Something New Under the Sun, The Living Sea of Waking Dreams, etc which are actually about climate change's wider implications for the future. Blue Skies has nothing much to say about that, although the observations of what climate change is doing now to wealthy American individuals are quite neatly done. To be honest, I didn't find the protagonist family themselves particularly interesting, as they feel like stock characters, but the encroachment of environmental breakdown into their lives was pretty compelling. Notably, the business with pet snakes was bleakly amusing. Although I don't think the narrative has much emotional depth, the constant extreme weather conveys freshness upon what would otherwise be a very tired plot. I couldn't help noticing that it shares with many other climate change novels the struggle for a suitable ending; how to balance hope and catharsis with grim reality? I found Blue Skies's ending a bit of a cop-out, which seemed oddly fitting given the general tone. Overall it's a fun experiment of the kind Amitav Ghosh called for in The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable. Absolutely not a science fiction novel, though.
May 4, 2025
Sprachlich wirklich wunderschön. Der Schreibstil hat mir gut gefallen.
Erschreckend was eventuell irgendwann auf uns zukommen könnte, wenn wir weiterhin nichts gegen den Klimawandel machen.
Ich gebe nur drei Sterne, da mir die Handlung und die Charaktere nicht richtig zugesagt haben.
Erschreckend was eventuell irgendwann auf uns zukommen könnte, wenn wir weiterhin nichts gegen den Klimawandel machen.
Ich gebe nur drei Sterne, da mir die Handlung und die Charaktere nicht richtig zugesagt haben.
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