+34
Emily St John Mandel's latest novel, Exit Party, explores two dystopian futures-one marked by civil war and regional fragmentation, the other by authoritarian control and surveillance. The story follows Ari Waker, a former criminal released from prison, as she navigates these parallel realities filled with doppelgängers, missing persons, and societal chaos. Mandel reflects on the theme of the "counterlife," the roads not taken, and the resilience of human spirit in the face of collapse.
The bestselling Canadian writer returns with a near-future vision of the world - well, two of them Emily St John Mandel: 'An idea that I've been fascinated with for a long time is this notion of the counterlife.
' Photograph: Laura Barisonzimily St John Mandel knows "it sounds deranged", especially given everything she has just been saying about the political devastation of the, is "a hopeful book", she feels. "Who will you be at the end of the world? I think of that as the book's central question. It does imply that you're going to be something and that things will go on.
There is hope and art.
"author, best known for literary phenomenon Station Eleven, is at her standing desk in Queens, New York - "That's the East River out the sliver of window" - and explaining the genesis of Exit Party, in which she explores two distinct visions of the near future, both of them nightmarish, yet ameliorated to some degree by human resilience, connection and a Mandelesque belief in the beauty of the world. "An idea that I've been fascinated with for a long time is this notion of the counterlife, the life you didn't live," she says.
"I think about the way I would be a somewhat different person if I'd remained in western Canada, say, instead of coming to New York City when I was 22. " She started writing her seventh novel in the spring of 2022, well before the reelection of Donald Trump, but even then there was a sense of brokenness in the country in which she has lived most of her adult life.
"I cannot overstate how fractured and stressful this country is at the moment. "'All I could think about was getting cocaine': Mothers share their stories of addictionÓmós review: Faultless cooking already at two-star Michelin level. Get in before prices rise She cites The City and the City, China Miéville's speculative fiction novel, in which the citizens of two cities occupying the same geographical space are trained not to see the other city. They have two completely different understandings of reality.
"That notion has seemed less and less fantastical to me with the passage of time," she says. Mandel does not write to a plot outline, preferring not to know exactly where she's going to allow for "the possibility of weirdness".
But as she started to write the "A-side" of Exit Party, which opens in an unstable, violent and militia-ridden version of 2031 not long after a second American civil war and the collapse of the United States, she began to think about the flipside, or the "B-side" as it is demarcated in the book. Mild spoiler ahead.
In this counterlife, there is no Republic of California, no Republic of Ohio, but a singular, authoritarian United State, in which total compliance is secured by surveillance technology and the enforcement powers of a Stasi-like "Service". Events such as "the last of the pro-democracy demonstrations" are recalled as distant history.
"I had this fairly chilling experience of struggling to stay ahead of the news cycle on the B-side. All of a sudden, with the Ice raids in American cities, the idea of masked secret police sweeping up civilians and disappearing them into unmarked cars was suddenly not at all fictional.
" 'I feel much more in common with people in, say, London or Paris than I do with people in upstate New York'Enter Ari Waker. It is not necessary to have read Mandel's second novel, The Singer's Gun, to read Exit Party, but a villain from that earlier novel returns as the central protagonist this time.
Newly released from prison, Ari goes to a party in a chaotic, tent-filled Los Angeles, where a stranger - who seems to have a twin - mysteriously calls her by her unused legal name, Ibari. The host, Kareem, goes missing. Later, Ari encounters a woman who looks exactly like her old flatmate Gloria, only this version has no scar. The idea of doppelgängers as "the physical embodiment of the counterlife" has been on her mind since she was a kid.
"I had a nightmare about doppelgängers when I was quite young that kind of stayed with me. It's just such an unsettling idea.
" What's more unsettling, the idea that there's a worse version of you out there somewhere, or a better one? "Neither is great, honestly. " With Ari, who thinks of herself as a reformed character but still retains her ruthless edge, Mandel wanted to examine "the essential components" of a person's soul and how this might be shaped by their world.
"I love the idea that the thing you don't like about yourself might be one of the things that keeps you alive. " The act of parenting is also key to the novel in a way it didn't tend to be in Mandel's writing before she had her daughter - with former husband, Kevin Mandel - in 2015.
"I didn't know enough about parenting to put it into my work before I was a parent, which is not to imply in any way that an author who isn't a parent couldn't write about those themes. For me, personally, it took being a parent to understand some of those nuances.
Emily St John Mandel Exit Party Counterlife Dystopian Future Doppelgängers Civil War Authoritarianism Resilience Parenting Station Eleven
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
John Mahon of Waterford FC named August Player of the MonthWaterford FC's John Mahon has been named the August Player of the Month, earning the award ahead of Daryl Horgan and Michael Duffy. The centre-half has been instrumental in Waterford's recent surge in form and their advancement to the FAI Cup semi-finals.
Read more »
John Kiely to remain as Limerick hurling manager for 2027 seasonLimerick GAA has confirmed that John Kiely will continue as senior hurling manager for the 2027 season, with an option to extend for a further season, subject to ratification by county board delegates in October.
Read more »
Michael O’Flynn wins challenge to ex business partner’s personal insolvency arrangementJohn O’Driscoll ‘unequivocally not insolvent’ at relevant time, High Court rules
Read more »
John Wilson: From light whites to robust reds, there's plenty more to Spain's wine offering than the most popular optionsWe are big fans of two Spanish wines in Ireland: albariño from Rías Baixas and Rioja. I have nothing against either of these, but Spain offers a huge range of other wines, from the lightest fine white wines to robust reds, as well as Sherry, one of the world's great wines. This week, we feature four wines, all made from Spanish grape varieties, three costing less than €20, and not an albariño or Rioja in sight!
Read more »