Chaotic Theory

Chaotic Theory

by J. Conrad Guest

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What power, to hold in one's own hands the ability to affect the present by altering the past ... In the 22nd century the world population has dwindled to fewer than a billion, with total extinction expected within a decade. Chaotic Theory centers around three profiles of a solitary individual, Antanas Rupkus, a young Lithuanian. In one he is a musician endeavoring to keep alive the work of American jazz musicians of the 20th century. Stoic and aimless, Antanas is incapable of intimacy the result of having witnessed, as a boy, his parents killed by Estonian immigrants in search of fresh water. In another profile, Antanas is a sculptor, filled with hope and the belief that love can overcome all obstacles, until he loses the object of both his inspiration and desire. In the third, he is a writer whose essays accurately define the mid to late 20th century as the point in history that set man on the path to extinction. But alas, his wisdom comes too late ... if only Antanas had lived two hundred years earlier ... but perhaps he can, if what Kazys Galdikas tells him is true ...

Discussion questions for Chaotic Theory

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  1. 1

    How does the framing of the 22nd century as a time of impending extinction set the emotional tone for the book, and how does knowing humanity's end is near change the way we value human achievement, like the jazz music Antanas preserves?

  2. 2

    In what ways do the three different versions of Antanas—the musician, the sculptor, and the writer—reflect the different facets of grief, hope, and despair in response to a traumatized world?

  3. 3

    Trauma and witnessed violence define the musician version of Antanas, preventing him from forming intimate connections; how does the novel explore the lingering, generational, and personal impacts of resource scarcity and societal collapse?

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