Mic Breaks Only discussion

***Open discussion of Part 1, no spoiler marks needed. Be sure you have read through Part 1 before reading! Note: if this is your first visit to this topic I recommend you read this post about discussion ideas, then skip down and post your initial response, then read and respond to other people's posts.***

At the very least check in here when you finish this section and tell us if you are enjoying the book. I'll post specific discussion ideas below, along with some general topics we'll see repeated throughout the book.

Part 1 discussions:

1) Predict the fate of five characters in the novel.

2) Do you feel like the public's reaction is realistic?

General Discussions:

1) Share your favorite quote(s) from this section.

2) Share your favorite word(s) used in this section.

3) Do you have a favorite or most intriguing character at this point in the novel?

Location reminder

Good morning, your forecast includes a chance of massive comet impact.

GO!

Editor's Note: Discussions about racism, sexism, and general horribleness will come later. Maybe all the horrible people will die and we (the readers) will be happy. I shall not forget the completely inappropriate uses of "Oriental" and "Quim" that occurred on the SAME PAGE... among other things.

Fate?!?

Fred Lauren: Escapes from jail during the chaos. Goes on a sexually violent murder spree. During an attack on what appears to be a solitary female he is taken captive by a vigilante tribe of women. He will be slowly tortured and eventually sacrificed as they discover how evil he truly is.

Alim Nassor: Will lead an angry criminal group as they try to create a new anarchistic government following the chaos.

Mark Czescu: After surviving the cometfall Mark becomes the leader of a biker group. This group eventually spearheads the fight against Alim's Anarchists and helps reinstate normalcy in society.

Maureen Jellison: Falls in love with Harry Newcombe who happened to be delivering the "trash" at the politicians ranch at the time of impact.

Astronauts in space: Cut off from the world they decide that they must immediately start the repopulation effort. This endeavor ends quickly when the Americans discover the sexiest cosmonaut is actually transgender.

Scientists: Become the ultimate villains with huge bounties on their heads. The world will never forgive them for failing to accurately predict that the comet will hit the Earth.

Reaction: The reaction is confusing because the book doesn't make it clear that anyone ever actually says the comet is going to hit Earth. The last we heard the odds were still slim. The chaos in the last section involving buying canned goods and camping supplies seems overtly short sighted.

I believe times have changed drastically in the last two decades. Modern scientists generally agree that there will be massive coastal destruction in the next 60 years (or less) but "the public" generally doesn't care. In some sense this novel shows the reason for this apathy: there has been some level of media-hyped wolf crying going on for decades. People just don't believe anything anymore.

In general I don't find most of the characters or their actions believable. Maureen and Harvey's one night stand is a great example. I simply don't believe this situation would have happened - it feels like a scripted event and not a realistic situation. This type of unbelievability extends to the whole cast of the novel (including "the public").

Quotes: His arm still tingled with that unique, atavistic thrill. Man was made to use a club, and a gun is the ultimate in clubs. OK.

"One of Dad's secretaries was raped in the Capitol last year," Maureen said. "Isn't civilization wonderful?" I actually believe Maureen would say this... but it's just a stupid thing to say. I'm pretty sure there were more rapes (and other crimes) pre-civilization. I imagine Maureen is going to learn to fully appreciate the benefits of civilization soon.

There's nothing a man can't do with the right tools. Go men!

Rape artists. WTF?

Words: plonking voice, flack, blackfellahs, cocklebur, massif.

Character: Mark Czescu. I have a feeling (as I said earlier) that he might be the Larry Underwood (The Stand) of this novel.

I feel a strong desire to see a George R.R. Martin level of sudden death and destruction a la the Red Wedding because I don't feel particularly attached to any of the characters. If horror film rules prevail, Harvey Randall will die for cheating on his wife and Maureen Jellison will die for being a loose woman (I wouldn't mind if either die, but I think they both will survive). I predict Gordan Vance will not have a chance to commit suicide before hot-comet-action starts, so he too will survive. I predict nasty sex offender/murder Fred Lauren will deservedly meet a horrific demise. I think Loretta Randall is a goner, perhaps opening up an opportunity for true love to blossom for Harvey and Maureen (whatever).


I was surprised that scientists such as Dr. Dan Forrester who could potentially calculate the changing path of the comet were bit characters at best in this section. Where is the data? Where are the ever-changing predictions? Maybe this was intentional in order to keep the majority of the public in the dark. Uneducated alarmists who shouldn't have been apprised about the comet actually striking earth were preparing for mass hysteria while people with inside information, like Harvey Randall, were extremely late to the game. In truth, it would be hard to prepare for an event like the Hammer when the scope of the effect is not at all clear. In all, the lack of strong science to definitively say that the comet is going to hit Earth seemed unrealistic, but the reaction by the masses to a potential massive astrological event, for the most part, seemed realistic.


My favorite quotes included "As he worked he muttered to himself. I'm an engineer, dammit. If I'd wanted to spend all my time with legal briefs or sitting in a courtroom, I'd have been a lawyer. Or a mass murderer. "

"He'd also learned the police view of the world: All humanity is divided into three parts - cops, scumbags and civilians."

"There was ground-in dirt under his nails and fresh streaks of grease on the jeans, but his hands and clothes had been freshly washed for all of that; he just didn't have any pathological need to be scrubbed pink."


My favorite words included: paean, repartee, autoclave, eddies, widget, ambrosia, perihelon, maelstrom, kosmonaut, amorphous.


My nomination for best character in this section is Andy Randall, the single person in a Boy Scout expedition who had enough sense to stay up and watch once in a lifetime crazy comet fireworks. What is wrong with these kids? In the long term, I do see Andy rising up and becoming a leader and possible savior of this group of boys.