Covid Reading

Back in the spring and early summer of 2020 when it started to become clear that we would be in staying home for far longer than two weeks, I wondered how the pandemic would play out in books. Would authors simply ignore it and keep writing their usual fare? Because writers were living under the same conditions that readers were, it began to feel like the subject might be difficult to avoid.

Ali Smith's Summer was published in August of 2020, and she included quarantine life. As it was the fourth in her seasonal series and presumably in progress, I think it would have been difficult to write about the state of the nation and leave out covid and lockdown.

"In the present, Sacha knows the world's in trouble. Her brother Robert just is trouble. Their mother and father are having trouble. Meanwhile the world's in meltdown - and the real meltdown hasn't even started yet."

In December of last year, I read the covid memoir, What Just Happened by Charles Finch. It was a library book and I figured why not? The answer to that question is because it's a covid memoir, something that all of us could have written ourselves. Covid memoirs are just not for me.

Because I hadn't completely learned my lesson, I also read Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult. It's a full-on pandemic novel, with the whole story revolving around covid. The author had an original take on things, but I decided that covid fiction was also not for me. 

Despite swearing that I would not, could not, read any more about the pandemic, there is only one author that I was willing to make an exception for. Sarah Moss wrote The Fell, and all I knew was that coronavirus played a part. After getting a copy through Netgalley and reading it in a day, I was thrilled to find that the author had written a completely original take on covid. It was simply great fiction and not covid fiction. A two-week quarantine sets the stage for the story of Kate, and several other characters contribute their perspectives on the feelings of claustrophobia, isolation, vulnerability, and the almost overwhelming uncertainty that we have all felt for several years. Sarah Moss has written much of this book in an internal, stream-of-consciousness way, which I appreciated because it seemed to closely match my thinking. There are daily details along with larger philosophical questions. The story takes place over a single day with interesting chapter titles, and as always, Moss' thoughtful prose is a joy to read. In my opinion, this is one book that is not solely about covid, but so much more, and a very worthwhile read. 

I have considered several books about the development of the vaccine, like The First Shots or A Shot to Save the World, but while these might be interesting, I think I have finally learned my lesson and won't be doing any more covid reading for a while. We're all living it every day, so this isn't something I want to read any more about. 

So how about you? Have you done any covid reading, fiction or nonfiction, or do you think you might in the future? Or are you smarter than I was and avoiding it? 

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Also, our discussion of Matrix will be next Tuesday, January 11. Carole, Kym, and I will each post a question on our blogs that day, and then we will have a Zoom discussion at 7:00 pm that evening. You can send me an email (email address is in the upper right) to RSVP and I will make sure you get an invitation with the Zoom link. I hope you'll Read and Discuss With Us!