They say that if you love something, either keep it or upgrade; never go back in time. Right? Now whereas that certainly is not true of Internet Explorer 7, it is unfortunately true of the writing of Paul Russell.
My admiration of Russell started with The Coming Storm (1999). That book introduced me to his lovely rotating narrator shtick. He lets each of his main characters narrate the plot, each taking turns as the voice through which we see all the action. I considered the device quite breathtaking.
My admiration turned to adoration with War Against the Animals (2003). Russell halved the number of voices, but that only cleared additional space for some superb character development. In both books, there was a profound sense of how poorly the characters know each other, even those who have been closely connected for years. This adds a lot of spice and intrigue to Russell’s portrayal of the human condition.
Enter Sea of Tranquillity (1994). The writing style is hardly amateur, yet in the shadow of what’s to come, you can tell that Russell has a lot of polish to acquire. For example, he uses physical writing style differences to distinguish the characters. Later he will allow each character to evolve distinctly based on his own thoughts and actions. Allen is presented in third person; everyone else is in first person. Third person will become the standard later but here it makes Allen look more detached. He doesn’t really need this; he’s pretty detached on his own. Stayton appears to be dictating his chapters from some point in the future, which allows him to foreshadow what’s to come. Joan appears to be writing letters to Allen, each time trying in some subtle or overt way to punish him. Jonathan’s chapters look like diary entries, in the present, devoid of quotation marks, blurring the line between thought and dialog.
The potpourri of styles makes for a jarring plot, which covers a broad swath of time, from 1970 to the 1990s. Allen is a NASA astronaut who walks on the moon in a 1971 Apollo mission. He’s probably modeled after David Scott, commander of Apollo 15. Late in the book, you must endure two chapters devoted to exploration of his deteriorating mental state. The imagery is rapid-fire and scientifically interesting, but it drags too long. Joan plays the astronaut’s wife role, enduring the life for 16 years before deciding to separate in the book’s opening chapter. She takes their son Jonathan first to Tennessee where she sinks into alcoholism before proceeding to Turkey to find a life. Stayton is a Baptist preacher’s son who sneaks out to a local bar and meets and falls for Jonathan. Jonathan lives from one experience to the next, falling in love many times, and ultimately being the wrong place at the wrong time in the time of AIDS.
Gloomy, wouldn’t you say? Indeed. This is not Russell’s finest work. Die hard fans should read it for historical completeness. Folks who are really into toilets and scat might like this book too. But everyone else should start with The Coming Storm.