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The Age of Miracles
 
 

The Age of Miracles [Kindle Edition]

Karen Thompson Walker
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (76 customer reviews)

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Review

A beautifully observed coming-of-age tale in the great American tradition ... nimble, delicate and emotionally sophisticated --Edward Docx, Observer

Hauntingly believable ... an impressive and quietly terrifying book --Alison Flood, Sunday Times

A surprisingly quiet, tender book with which many will fall in love --Ed Wood, welovethisbook.com

A powerful, mesmerising read --Woman & Home

This is not a bombastic disaster movie in book form, but a precise, localised view of dramatic change ... Thompson Walker skilfully marries the epic and the everyday: her young female narrator and Middle American setting brought to mind Alice Sebold s The Lovely Bones --The Times

A luminous, magical coming-of-age novel --Marie Claire

Gripping from the word go --Easy Living

A brilliant tale of a youngster growing up under extraordinary circumstances --Heat

A staggeringly impressive debut --Reader s Digest

Stunning in its originality, devastating in execution. The Age of Miracles is one of the most exciting debuts I ve read --Vogue

A quietly powerful and original novel --Psychologies

I asked my editor if I could give this books 6 stars out of 5. My favourite book of the year so far --Sunday Express

The book that will make you look good on the bus 5 stars, --Heat

Blending global catastrophe with a touching coming of age story, Karen Thompson Walker has created a truly remarkable novel you won t be able to stop thinking about --Good Housekeeping

The Age of Miracles spins its glowing magic through incredibly lucid and honest prose, giving equal care and dignity to the small spheres and the large. It is at once a love letter to the world as we know it, and an elegy --Aimee Bender, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

What a remarkable and beautifully wrought novel. In its depiction of a world at once utterly like and unlike our own, The Age of Miracles is so convincingly unsettling that it just might make you stockpile emergency supplies of batteries and bottled water. It also thank goodness provides great solace with its wisdom, its compassion, and the elegance of its storytelling --Curtis Sittenfeld, author of American Wife

Miracles indeed. Karen Thompson Walker s debut novel is a stunner from the first page an end-of-the-world, coming-of-age tale of quiet majesty. I loved this novel and can t wait to see what this remarkable writer will do next --Justin Cronin, author of The Passage

A genuinely moving tale that mixes the real and the surreal, the ordinary and the extraordinary with impressive fluency and flair... her novel will remind many readers of Alice Sebold s 2002 novel The Lovely Bones... it, too, creates an elegiac portrait of an ordinary world, forever rocked by terrible events. Ms Walker has an instinctive feel for narrative architecture, creating a story, in lapidary prose, that moves ahead with a sense of both the inevitable and the unexpected... Ms Walker maps [the characters ] inner lives with such sure-footedness that they become as recognizable as people we ve grown up with... one of this summer s hot literary reads --Michiko Kakatuni, The New York Times

'This is not a bombastic disaster movie in book form, but a precise, localised view of dramatic change ... Thompson Walker skilfully marries the epic and the everyday: her young female narrator and Middle American setting brought to mind Alice Sebold s The Lovely Bones' --The Times

'A luminous, magical coming-of-age novel, set in a world where time becomes meaningless and the ordinary extraordinary' --Marie Claire

'Stunning in its originality, devastating in execution. The Age of Miracles is one of the most exciting debuts I've read' --Vogue

'A quietly powerful and original novel' --Psychologies

'I asked my editor if I could give this books 6 stars out of 5. My favourite book of the year so far' --Sunday Express

'The book that will make you look good on the bus' 5 stars --Heat

'A curious tale that s gripping from the word go' --Easy Living

'Blending global catastrophe with a touching coming of age story, Karen Thompson Walker has created a truly remarkable novel you won t be able to stop thinking about' --Joanne Finney, Good Housekeeping

'A perfectly contemplative read' --Cosmopolitan

'A powerful, unsettling but mesmerising read' --Woman & Home

'Vividly captures the changing world of a 10 year old girl, which is brilliantly mirrored by the apocalyptic changes in our world. An imaginative, haunting and gripping book by a very exciting debut author' --Observer

'A genuinely moving tale that mixes the real and the surreal, the ordinary and the extraordinary with impressive fluency and flair... her novel will remind many readers of Alice Sebold's 2002 novel The Lovely Bones... it, too, creates an elegiac portrait of an ordinary world, forever rocked by terrible events. Ms Walker has an instinctive feel for narrative architecture, creating a story, in lapidary prose, that moves ahead with a sense of both the inevitable and the unexpected... Ms Walker maps [the characters'] inner lives with such sure-footedness that they become as recognizable as people we've grown up with... one of this summer s hot literary reads' ----Michiko Kakatuni, The New York Times

'A genuinely moving tale that mixes the real and the surreal, the ordinary and the extraordinary with impressive fluency and flair... her novel will remind many readers of Alice Sebold's 2002 novel The Lovely Bones... it, too, creates an elegiac portrait of an ordinary world, forever rocked by terrible events. Ms Walker has an instinctive feel for narrative architecture, creating a story, in lapidary prose, that moves ahead with a sense of both the inevitable and the unexpected... Ms Walker maps [the characters'] inner lives with such sure-footedness that they become as recognizable as people we've grown up with... one of this summer s hot literary reads' --Michiko Kakatuni, The New York Times

Review

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Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 399 KB
  • Print Length: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK (21 Jun 2012)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B007IL54DC
  • Text-to-Speech: Not enabled
  • X-Ray: Not Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (76 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #361 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 32 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Pedestrian account of the apocalypse 4 May 2012
By J. Morris TOP 100 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
The Age of Miracles is the story of Julia, a young girl living in California when the Earth's rotation begins to slow down inexplicably. As days & nights become longer, society shifts to adapt to the new time scales but the ever increasing length of the rotation means that plants & animals begin to suffer. Gravity increases and causes earthquakes & inertia-induced sickness in people. Will there be an end to this paradigm-shift? Will Julia ever manage to get together with her crush Seth? Time (ever-lengthening) will tell...

AoM is an interesting concept from the get-go, but it's juvenile perspective means that we never learn what has caused this or what science is doing to try and fix things. Rumours are constantly alluded to, but the author Karen Thompson Walker steers well clear of an actual explanation. Interesting in it's description of the break-down of society but ultimately it's an account of a young girl getting her first training bra and her feelings about her parents, friends & first-crush - which is set at odds to the far more interesting situation unfolding around the characters.

Resultantly, this reads like a young girl's diary set to a back-drop of apocalypse. I would have liked more scientific substance, but that's me - I still feel compelled to warn you that this isn't an account of a decline into dystopia though, it's an extremely middle of the road read weighing in at a meagre 268 pages that focus on the musings of a child. If that appeals to you then fair enough, but I was much more intrigued about why birds were falling out of the sky, rather than watching Julia's parents marriage fail. Hope this helps make up your mind on this book!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Great premise, but rather downhill from there 8 Feb 2013
Format:Paperback
Eleven-year-old Julia lives with her parents in California. This is the story of (about) a year in her life, as her parents' marriage flounders, as her crush on a boy develops into a pre-pubertal relationship, and as society begins to crumble due to the progressive slowing of the earth's rotation.

I was drawn to the book because of the Sci-Fi element but this was a mistake as the story is really more about Julia than the science.

Indeed, as the whole thing is told from Julia's point of view, we really learn nothing about why the earth is slowing down, or even why society is falling apart. Everything is viewed from the perspective of an 11-year-old girl. Which might be fine if you're a (pre-)teen or enjoy fiction written from that point of view.

Also, Julia's voice is a little too removed, a little too dispassionate. The story is told as though she is in her mid 20s, looking back to how she was when she was 11-12, what she felt, etc.

With some strong language, and references to things like "handjobs", I'm not sure it would suit readers under, say, 14. It's definitely a YA book so mature readers may be left wanting a lot more from it.

I loved the premise. For me, though, grafting a YA story onto a SF backdrop, and not telling us very much at all about the science, just didn't work.

5/5
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15 of 18 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Apocalypse for slow learners 13 Jun 2012
By MisterHobgoblin TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
The Age of Miracles is a book of ideas. Many of those ideas bear more than a passing resemblance to the far superior Testament Of Jessie Lamb, longlisted for the 2011 Booker Prize.

We find a teenage girl, Julia, coming into adulthood against a backdrop of a slowly unfolding apocalypse. The world's rotation is slowing day by day: days and nights are becoming longer and there's nothing anyone can do about it. This is an interesting premise, all the more so for the absence of giant tidal waves heading for the Californian coast whilst the American emergency services undertake a massive relocation exercise under the personal direction of the president.

So, as noted above, there are parallels with Jane Rogers's 2011 The Testament of Jessie Lamb. Both novels feature a teenage girl coming to growing awareness of her body, love and paternal betrayal (and both fathers were doctors). Both novels portray an impending apocalypse that people variously try to ignore or adapt to - with the focus very much on maintaining the standard of living for as long as possible, even if it is bound to end in ruins. But The Testament Of Jessie Lamb really elevated itself into serious literature by providing a clear parallel between the dystopian world of the novel and real world issues - particularly how far one generation should feel obliged to sacrifice itself for a future generation. The Age Of Miracles doesn't have this added level. The world is ending and there is nothing anyone can do. The focus is only on survival and immediate gratification with a particular focus on telling us about the workarounds and the nuclear bunkers filled with tinned food.

The characterisation in The Age Of Miracles is rather thin. Because so much of the focus is on telling the reader what happened rather than why or how it makes people feel, even Julia feels thin. The other characters, Seth, Sylvia, Hanna and all just feel really cartoonish. A standard boyfriend; a standard hippy piano teacher; a standard best friend; a standard prom queen; etc. They serve a purpose and allow Julia to vent her thoughts, but they never feel real and never really give any vent for true emotion.

There are also some really irritating tics in The Age Of Miracles. In particular, the heavy handed prolepsis (telegraphing) grates. We don't need to know that this was the last time Julia tasted pineapple or the last time for many months that she would see Hanna. This feels like a writer who has no confidence in her story telling ability to hold the interest of the reader - hence a need to telegraph that things will get more exciting soon enough. Is this a sign that the novel was aimed at a young adult audience.

For all the failings, the novel does have an interesting idea at its core and Karen Thompson Walker does give a good account of the incremental nature of the doom that awaits mankind. First the difficulties in working the mechanics of timetables; then the plight of the birds; then the failing crops. Not sure about the science behind any of it but it did hold the reader's interest. There is a clear narrative drive and the ending, when it comes, is surprisingly powerful. It's a quick and straightforward read, albeit one that might have been pitched incorrectly towards adults. The book might be entertaining for young adults, but I fear it will only seem profound to slow learners.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting and thoughtful debut
One day, the world wakes up to find that the rotation of the earth has begun to slow. As the days continue to stretch and the minutes pile in, the very notion of time is distorted... Read more
Published 2 days ago by Macey89
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating idea, compelling read
I couldn't put this book down, it was so compelling to read once I'd taken on the idea of the earth slowing. Read more
Published 9 days ago by OllyOctopus
1.0 out of 5 stars Embarrassingly lightweight
Can't think what Waterstones is doing, making a fool of itself touting this pap, possibly of appeal to American teenagers, as an adult read. Read more
Published 11 days ago by ReadInBed
5.0 out of 5 stars Ideal introduction to a different genre
My daughter, aged 11, has found this book to be an eye-opening introduction to a genre that she had not previously considered. Read more
Published 1 month ago by MR PATRICK GALE
3.0 out of 5 stars The end of miracles?
It was an interesting insight as to what might happen if the world suffered this phenomenon of slowing, but the underlying human tragedies were depressing
Published 2 months ago by J Winters
3.0 out of 5 stars Didn't end as expected
I love the premise of the book, although I wasn't particularly fussed on the ending, however I do understand why it was written that way
Published 3 months ago by K. Wright
3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed
I wanted to read this since I heard the
Author on Simon mayos radio show a while back. It was not what I expected, the ending was weak, story lines not finished, gaps in the... Read more
Published 3 months ago by SEH
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I have ever read
Forget the mean spirited comments made about the science not being right, The Age of Miracles is not a text book but a keenly observed account of a sequence of events. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr Duncan Gaylor
4.0 out of 5 stars Strangely gripping
A view of a world undergoing a slow decline. I got this book after hearing about it on the radio, plus another called `The art of fielding`, both are excellent reads and for what... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. John Wyper
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting premise, but never really lives up to the promise
The earth slowing is a good vehicle for an interesting novel, and as usual the novel is really about something else: growing up. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Patten Jack
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