Livingston Parish Library discussion
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The Age of Miracles
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Karen Thompson Walker was born and raised in San Diego, California, where The Age of Miracles is set. She studied English and creative writing at UCLA, where she wrote for the UCLA Daily Bruin. After college, she worked as a newspaper reporter in the San Diego area before moving to New York City to attend the Columbia University MFA program.
A former book editor at Simon & Schuster, she wrote The Age of Miracles in the mornings before work—sometimes while riding the subway.
She is the recipient of the 2011 Sirenland Fellowship as well as a Bomb Magazine fiction prize. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband.
About the book:
“It’s never the disasters you see coming that finally come to pass—it’s the ones you don’t expect at all,” says Julia.
On an ordinary Saturday in a California suburb, Julia awakens to discover that something has happened to the rotation of the earth. The days and nights are growing longer and longer; gravity is affected; the birds, the tides, human behavior, and cosmic rhythms are thrown into disarray. In a world that seems filled with danger and loss, Julia also must face surprising developments in herself, and in her personal world: divisions widening between her parents; strange behavior by her friends; the pain and vulnerability of first love; a growing sense of isolation; and a surprising, rebellious new strength. With crystalline prose and the indelible magic of a born storyteller, Karen Thompson Walker paints a breathtaking portrait of people finding ways to go on in an ever-evolving world.
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1. As readers, why do you think we’re drawn to stories about the end of the world? What special pleasures do these kinds of narratives offer?
2. Julia is an only child. How does this fact affect who she is and how she sees the world? How would her experience of the slowing be different if she had a sibling?
3. How much do you think the slowing alters Julia’s experience of adolescence? If the slowing had never happened, in what ways would her childhood have been different? In what ways would it have been the same?
4. Julia’s parents’ marriage becomes increasingly strained over the course of the book. Why do you think they stay together? Do you think it’s the right choice? How much do you think Julia’s mother does or does not know about Sylvia?
5. Julia’s father tells several crucial lies. Discuss these lies and consider which ones, if any, are justified and which ones are not. Is lying ever the right thing to do? If so, when?
6. How would the book change if it were narrated by Julia’s mother? What if it were narrated by Julia’s father? Or her grandfather?
7. Why do you think Julia is so drawn to Seth? Why do you think he is drawn to her?
8. Did you identify more with the clock-timers or with the real-timers? Which would you be and why?
9. The slowing affects the whole planet, but the book is set in southern California. How does the setting affect the book? How important is it that the story takes place in California?
10. How do you feel about the way the book ends? What do you think lies ahead for Julia, for her parents and for the world?
11. The slowing throws the natural world into disarray. Plants and animals die and there are changes in the weather. Did this book make you think about the threats that face our own natural world? Do you think the book has something to say about climate change?
12. If you woke up tomorrow to the news that the rotation of the earth had significantly slowed, how do you think you would respond? What is the first thing you would do?
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“But I guess it never is what you worry over that comes to pass in the end. The real catastrophes are always different - unimagined, unprepared for, unknown.”
― Karen Thompson Walker
Although I did not care for this book because it was difficult for me to focus upon as I read, and then because I only rated it with two stars, I feel like it was the perfect book for the world's present day Covid-19 pandemic situation.
Answers to discussion questions for The Age of Miracles:1,) Maybe it is because the end of the world is unknown, so the information read adds to any collection of information peoples mind’s have already been subjected to. Special pleasures(?), perhaps it will be a ‘better or worse’ idea for an ending to the world people have already surmised.
2.) In the beginning of the story, being an only child probably does not make any difference in the way Julia sees the world, because she has both parents, she goes to school with other children, and she is exposed to the outside world around her; playing soccer, and taking piano lessons, etc. Later on, as things happened, she would probably have appreciated a sibling ‘sounding board’, or more someones to relate to near her own age.
3.) She did not have the ‘normal’ day-to-day experiences 13 year olds to 23 year olds would have had prior to 2020 and the pandemic being experienced today. If the slowing had never happened Julia would have had a regular 24-7 day with AM and PM weather activities, Monday through Sunday, and January through December. However, Julia’s parents would have probably stayed the same; still together, but each going in their own separate directions.
4.) Julia’s parents probably stay together, because of their preconceived roles in life. Whether it is the right choice or not, would probably depend on a person’s own preconceived notions. With Julia’s parents, the father is the ‘breadwinner’ and the mother is the ‘family caregiver’. If Julia’s mother does know about Sylvia, it seems to be out of her realm of duties as ‘family caregiver’. Her imagination does not seem to stretch or recognize any kind of ‘infidelity’.
5.) One lie Julia’s father tells his wife is that the transient man she hit on the way to the New Year’s party had lived and recovered, when in actuality he was DOA at the hospital. Julia had ‘The Syndrome’, so her father lied to ease her mother’s guilt. Other times, Julia’s father lied and said he was at work, but he was actually spending time with Sylvia. When he visited Sylvia he would sneak around the back of her house, so nobody was supposed to know he was there, etc, etc.
6.) Julia’s mother was kind of a ‘space cadet’ with her actress background, so her efforts would probably be headed in the direction of catching a ride on the Explorer and being an interpreter for the historical disc contained on it. Julia’s father and grandfather have the same notions about people’s roles; male and female. Her father catalogs the grandfather’s belongings, and lies about working to cover for his infidelity, and the grandfather goes the ‘bomb shelter’, because of his belief in a conspiracy theory, so their narratives would be more in line with a more manly, ‘watch your back and cover your tracks’, perspective.
7.) Julia seems to think Seth’s character is like ‘Fonzie’ on ‘Happy Days’, or ‘my hero’; a ‘standing out’ of the crowd kind of fellow, and Seth seems to think Julia’s character is like ‘Lois Lane’ in ‘Superman’ movies; consistently saving her from the bullies of the world, and introducing her to new concepts.
8.) I would probably identify with the clock-timers, because I grew up with alarm clocks and schedules; being places at certain times, etc.
9.) My perception of California suggests lots and lots of sunshine, heat, and little rain, basically desert conditions. I know this is not true for the northern part of the state, but when I visited Los Angeles, I saw very little REAL grass, and the buildings were mostly light colored and made from concrete. The vegetation is along the lines of cactuses, or plants that survive with little water. Bottled water was expensive, so regular water usage is probably rationed or limited from whatever reservoir it comes from, and because of the distance in miles it is piped. Also, California has always been considered PROGRESSIVE; stricter EPA standards and/or one of the FIRST states to do new and different things. Greenhouses would seem probable for growing vegetation, etc.
10.) The book ends with a ‘GLOOM and DOOM’ scenario: the Explorer leaving with a disc containing the history of the 21st Century on Earth. NOTHING lies ahead for Julia, her parents, or the world! The end of the world is coming! Accept it! It is only a matter of when and where.
11.) So, if I would consider the many ‘goings on’ happening today with the Covid-19 pandemic, etc, I would be reminded that the governor came on the news on a Thursday afternoon closing schools the following day. Nothing else was really said until the 5:00 pm news, leaving the public in limbo. The borders closed and from that point forward, the United States became an entity within itself. Products from China and elsewhere were no longer available, people lost jobs due to closures, grocery stores could not get the regular items normally stocked, social distancing became the ‘new normal’, and crude oil tankers were stranded in west coast harbors, because there was no longer a demand for oil. Unemployment checks were higher than normal, and there were stimulus checks to supposedly compensate, and provide income for people to pay bills; inevitably ‘jump-starting’ the economy, but no real ideas about how that deficit would be accounted for in the future.. So in retrospect, my question would have been; how could the situation ideally be changed? Perhaps that would be the perfect time to introduce climate change initiatives, and start the United States anew.
12.) If I woke up tomorrow to the news that the rotation of the earth had significantly slowed, I would respond like, “What? Overnight?” And then I would think about my family, hiding my money, and gearing up for battle! Basically everything else would be beyond my control.
The age of miracles by Karen Thompson Walker.
Discussion questions and bio will be added throughout the month of August. Thoughts and comments about this book may be posted at anytime.