The last few years have seen a number of heralded literary novels that criss-cross time and geography in artistically daring ways, taking us from prehistory through high-tech futures, making philosophical commentary all the while. I feel a little ambivalent about these books. I’ll find myself re-reading the rapturous praise on the cover, trying to coax myself to keep going. Is this really a work of genius, I’ll wonder, or is it a work designed to prove that the author is a genius?
When I turned to the table of contents in Emily St. John Mandel’s latest novel, “Sea of Tranquility” (Knopf, 272 pp., ★★★★ out of four), I started to worry. It begins in 1912, then travels to 2020 and 2203 and 2401 before snapping back to its earlier time periods. Then I started reading, and my fears slipped away.
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“Sea of Tranquility” is full of grandeur, but without even a whiff of grandiosity. It’s transporting and brilliant and generous, and I haven’t ever read anything quite like it.
We begin by following a young man across 1912 Canada after he’s been exiled by his family in England. In a forest near Vancouver, he encounters a strange man dressed as a priest, with an unplaceable accent. From there we jump to the year 2020 and the story of Mirella, whose husband killed himself after losing everything in a Ponzi scheme. Then we jump again, to a section called “Last Book Tour on Earth,” in…
