Play Book Tag discussion

Polly and her fiance, Frank are on a vacation to Galveston, Texas, when a worldwide flu pandemic explodes . They are caught up in it when Frank comes down with the flu. The only hope is that Polly journey to the future and the company who will employ Polly will pay for Frank's treatment and cure. They decide on a meeting point in the future where they can get back together.

This is the premise upon which Thea Lim's novel, An Ocean of Minutes is based. It sounded intriguing as I love time-travel books. Be warned that it isn't a simple time travel but a dystopian book as well. The first part of the book was both bland and depressing. I noticed that another book tag participant who was reading this book at the same time as me, abandoned it, but I felt compelled to forge ahead.

I saw parallels with the current state of the world and our country regarding refugees and immigrants. Polly was forced into negotiating a world unknown to her and often penalized for it much as refugees and immigrants are in today's world.

I also was held by the unfolding love story and how it would play out. It proved more interesting than I had anticipated.

I found that this stagnated for me and I’ve given up at the half way mark. Your review makes me want to get back to it. I think the fault is mine as I have been so busy that I’ve only been reading in fits and starts so I wasn’t able to immerse myself.

Susie, it did reach a point where it was so depressing and didn't seem to be moving forward.

Given that it is in a make believe world, there was one point, that I really question, but it couldn't have moved ahead without it.

I do like to think about it in terms of the refugee immigrant and the difficulties they face.

I think that if the book wasn't holding you it is just as well to abandon it.

Yes, the parallel with refugees in the here and now is interesting (and so saddening) to think about, how she felt completely powerless to do anything about her situation and was at the mercy of those in more powerful positions and had to trust people she barely knew. I’m feeling like going back now that we are discussing it!

Everything Polly did kept digging her deeper. It was so frustrating. The thing was that not enough of her personality was revealed to make you really root for her, but I think that is also realistic. People keep themselves hidden for safety sake.

Yes, I think that might have been the issue. I didn’t feel emotionally connected to her.

And this is always why I struggle to quit a book! Well, this and my sense of loyalty to an author I don't even know.:) What if it gets better!!! Good review.

It is on the Scotiabank Giller Shortlist, which is an award for excellence in Canadian fiction, so obviously some think it is a worthy read. I just think it is not for everyone, but that is really the way with all books.

https://scotiabankgillerprize.ca/2018...
https://scotiabankgillerprize.ca/about/

Here is what the jury said about it:
"America is in the midst of a deadly flu pandemic. In order to afford medical treatment for her husband, a young woman agrees to travel through time. They agree to meet in the future. What is five minutes for her is twelve years for him. And, in the briefest of moments, they have become irreconcilable strangers. In an Ocean of Minutes, debut novelist, Thea Lim asks the reader to confront contemporary issues – social class, immigration, citizenship, corporate power, poverty, and the all too familiar, love and loss. The novel is beautifully written and guides us through a plot that moves backwards and forward – yet, never lets us go."