Severance
By Ling Ma
Publication Year: 2018
Type: Fiction
Genre: contemporary, post-apocalyptic
Read on 2020-07-24
View additional specs on this book in Muhan’s 2020 Reading Survey ➞
★★★★★
I don’t give out many 5 stars and books like this are the reason why - it’s so resoundingly good that I couldn’t bear to lump it in with lesser books. So beautifully composed, toggling between post-apocalyptic survivalism and an urban capitalist grind. Touched upon global capitalism; systems of not just consumerist consumption but also production; immigrant family structure; motherhood; millenial relationships; and careerism.
I know it’s impossible not to compare this book to current events but I really think it would be equally a success without an actual global pandemic. It’s just another thing I’m impressed by that the research was clearly so well done and thoughtful that the facts and details of how an imperfect society crumbles under pandemic rang true to reality. It also isn’t a book about pandemics in the end, but about the systems and lifestyles of our present reality.
The plot is riveting, the commentary is amazing, the imagery is haunting, this book is just fantastic. Brilliant. Cannot recommend enough.
