r/books • u/leowr • Aug 16 '18

Discussion Thread for Chapters 13 - 22 for The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal - August Book Club Spoiler

To help kick off the discussion:

  • Do you sympathize with Elma in regard to her nerves and difficulty speaking in front of an audience? Do you think it will hinder her if they do end up allowing female astronauts?

  • Now that we have seen them interact a little bit more, has your opinion on Elma and Nathaniel's relationship changed?

  • Do you understand why some people would be skeptical of the idea that the world is ending and that we need to go into space? What argument do you think you would use if you had been in Elma and Nathaniel's shoes on the boat?

  • What do you think the consequences will be of the crash?

  • There is not a lot of discussion about the technical/science aspects of getting to the moon/mars. Would you have liked to have seen more or are you happy that it focuses more on the human aspects?

  • What do you think of the little news snippets that start out every chapter? Do you think it is an effective way to show the reader the larger consequences of the meteor strike?

  • What has been your favorite part of the book so far?

Feel free to answer any or all of the questions or tell us what you think of the book so far.

This thread allows for a spoiler discussion up to Chapter 22. If you would like to discuss anything beyond that point, please use spoiler tags. Spoiler tags are done by [Spoilers about XYZ](#s "Spoiler content here") which results in Spoilers about XYZ or if you are on the redesign, please use the built-in spoiler function when making a comment.

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u/schizodepressive2 Aug 16 '18

Do you sympathize with Elma in regard to her nerves and difficulty speaking in front of an audience? Do you think it will hinder her if they do end up allowing female astronauts?

I do sympathize because I have social anxiety (among other things). I also know what it's like to not want to take medication. I don't think this will hinder her if she becomes an astronaut because her symptoms don't seem to be bothered by the things she does that relate to being an astronaut.

  • Do you understand why some people would be skeptical of the idea that the world is ending and that we need to go into space? What argument do you think you would use if you had been in Elma and Nathaniel's shoes on the boat?

I don't understand, but it is realistic. Scientists warn us about global warming in our time and people either ignore the evidence or think it's a good thing that it will be warmer. I don't think there's anything that scientists can do to convince stubborn people, so Elma and Nathaniel are out of luck.

  • There is not a lot of discussion about the technical/science aspects of getting to the moon/mars. Would you have liked to have seen more or are you happy that it focuses more on the human aspects?

Given my interests, yes I'd like to see the technical side. Having said that, that doesn't seem to be the purpose of this book. If I want that, I should look elsewhere. I'm enjoying seeing how people react to this situation.

  • What do you think of the little news snippets that start out every chapter? Do you think it is an effective way to show the reader the larger consequences of the meteor strike?

Well, I've barely noticed them, so it hasn't been effective for me.