BOOK REVIEW: The stories inside the stories of the lockdown
This collection shows that in times of terrible loss and suffering, humans find shelter from the storm
“Fear, like the thought of dying, makes us feel alone, but the recognition that we are all experiencing a similar anguish draws us out of our loneliness,” Orhan Pamuk wrote while the world was in the grip of the pandemic. During lockdown, I turned to dystopian fiction to feed my own grim curiosity about disaster and survival and to feel less isolated during the first six long months of quarantine.
People around the globe sought relief in apocalyptic novels that mirrored our uncertain reality. Many turned to Stephen King’s 1978 doorstopper, The Stand, about a particularly lethal and rather disgusting influenza outbreak. Others revisited Emily St John Mandel’s Station Eleven, my top pick from 2014, which portrays art as a source of meaning, offering stability and endurance in a terrifying world. I buried myself in Bethany Clift’s darkly funny, unsettling Last One at the Party, one of the early forays into fiction about our very own plague...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.