Sea of Tranquillity: A Novel

Sometimes I wonder if Paul Russell had the right idea with regard to writing about how he felt about life as a gay man and how the AIDS crisis affected him. I mean I don't know the man so I could be wrong in assuming that's what motivates his writing .There's only one book of his that I haven't read :" Boys of Life". I should have dealt with being Gay ,HIV , and many other things by writing instead of the myriad other ways I chose to , and still choose to sometimes ,to this day. This book was poignant, and almost ethereal ,in its telling of love, regret , fear, loathing and loss. It's odd. I would not have been able to read this in 1994. It would have unearthed me in some negative way. It would have made me even more angry than I was , or possibly still am. It's funny too that we now have the recent announcement of 2 infants who had seroconverted from being HIV+ to HIV -. One case more significant than the other since the child was kept off anti retrovirals in high doses (standard protocol for babies born to HIV+ mothers) and yet , when the mother and child resurfaced for care ,the child remained seronegative. There's also the probability that very soon the dosing of antivirals will be able to be done at higher doses and with less frequency. These is obviously very good news. Especially in areas of the world where the infant mortality rates due to HIV are still unfairly high . It also makes me sad . So many Jonathan's ; and still to this day , so many intractable " families " with their small minds and limited capacities for love . Sweet melancholia, perhaps ?

A beautifully written though somewhat uncentered look at the breakdown of an American family - an astronaut, his wife and their gay son - through the turbulence and the disillusionment of the 1970's and 80's. Russell's insights into his characters verge on the poetic, but though it leaves the reader with a feeling something like redemption, in the end it feels a bit unearned. The center does not hold.Still, all of Russell's books are worth reading, for the vividness of his prose, the emotional transparency of his characters, and the affection of the author for their - and our - brokenness and thwarted attempts at love.

This is a very well-written story about growing up gay in the 1960s and '70s, when prejudice against gays was much more prevalent than now. It is as much as story about a homophobic, and emotionally limited, astronaut father as it is about his gay son. I can't say I enjoyed being reminded of the rejection gay youth experienced at that time -- and some still do -- but it was a good story that kept me turning pages right till the end.

Elegiac ode to flight of spirit and illness of body and world. I have alwys liked the way Paul Russell writes and the metaphors he uses. This was not his best, but even his least is better than most

Buy this book. Its a story about two families both with gay sons and the storyline follows all of the participants, not just the gay sons.Beautifully written. One of the best gay oriented book I have ever read

4.0 of 5 stars –This was an intriguing story of a splintering nuclear family through the highs and lows of two turbulent decades over the 70s and 80s. It was realistic and telling - depicting the dysfunctional dynamics that pulled them apart. There was sadness - the rejection of gays and the coming of AIDS. And there was hope - showing how familial and romantic bonds held them together.What I noticed, and enjoyed, right away was Paul Russell’s literary quality. His writing was educated, observant and prosaic, and at times emotional where it moved me to tears. I appreciated that it was not romantic, in an m/m romance way, but broadened to be more about living, as well as symbolic. It started out somberly, dealing with divorce, regrets and relationships, and went on through various mood swings and events in the MCs’ lives. And in that same way, I loved that the ending was true to life ***SPOILER***[ (not as much HFN as LGO - life goes on) ]***END SPOILER***.I find it interesting to read this particular kind of “historical” of the recent past – in that it wasn’t written as HF but as contemporary and current for its time. So in that way, over 20 years later, Russell was able to take me back and make me feel I was there. He captured the people and culture, especially that of the space race and then the early AIDS era. In fact, I liked the Houston locale and the framing around the space race that I grew up with. I’ve thought that I’m the first generation that could add to saying a policeman or fireman, that “When I grow up I want to be an astronaut.” So while some thought less of it, I relished the little bits of info about space flights and didn’t feel it was too much, but served to give a sense of it.Paul Russell told the story from four different povs in alternating chapters (Allen, Joan, Stayton and Jonathan). This worked fairly well, especially the device of using first person except for Allen. It gave a sense of his being more removed and not as connected emotionally – symbolically like an astronaut far away out in space (which might also explain the choice of his being an astronaut). Of minor note, it sometimes took awhile to figure out who was talking, which created unnecessary confusion and could have been easily remedied with a name to start each chapter.What I found most compelling were the gay aspects of the story, which centered around the two boys/young men. I felt they were better developed and likable, in different ways, because they did provide an intriguing contrast. Russell captured and gave me a good sense of what the gay culture was like then, both the good and bad; and depicted well the thoughts and desires of teens and young men from a male pov.There were times when the characters flirted with being stereotypes; and while I applaud Russell’s diversity, this included a lack of depth on those interracial aspects. But ultimately the story he wove around his MCs made them more three dimensional, so I came to think of them as more symbolic representatives of certain kinds of people in our lives, even in some respects of who I myself am.Overall, making this an interesting and thought-provoking look into the lives of four people.

I have mixed emotions about this book.It a book that drags the reader kicking and screaming through the lives of several characters. It's good because you really end up liking and caring about the characters. It's bad because you end up caring about the characters and all their flaws.Some of the characters, at least for sections of their life, come directly out of 'characters' in my life. Sometimes it hits too close to home.Well written, kept me engaged even when I didn't want to be (the dragging the reader part), and it flowed well.I even approve of the ending, it was appropriate, and tidy (I hesitate to use the word tidy, but it fits).

I got it but have had trouble getting into the book. It was highly recommended. I put it down to re-read a book I really enjoyed. Hopefully will give it another try in the new year. . .