solarhwa.blogg.se - Severance ling ma

“It’s dead, but what exactly have we lost?” What does Ma’s writing reveal about our relationship with the internet and technology?

“I’d like us to think about exactly what the internet is,” the group’s leader Bob says at one point.

Did this book make you think of other works in the zombie genre you’ve seen or read before?

The “fevered” are described as having a zombie-like quality.What do the novel’s flashback scenes reveal about Candace’s immigrant identity?.Candace imagines a conversation with a business partner in China in which he critiques the way the Americans “negotiate aggressively over pennies” while they “manufacture the emblematic text to propagate your country’s Christian Euro-American ideologies.” What insights does Ma offer about U.S.-China relations?.What critiques of capitalism does Ma offer in lines such as this? “Of any book, the Bible embodies the purest form of product packaging, the same content repackaged a million times over, in new combinations ad infinitum,” Candace says in talking about her job.Why is Candace reluctant to fully pursue her photography passion, and what does this say about work culture in the U.S.?.Did Candace’s corporate book publishing job remind you of any jobs you’ve held in the past? How so?.Ma writes about a tally of virus victims published on the homepage of The New York Times that was “eventually pulled at the request of government officials, who cited its potential in inciting mass panic.” What was your reaction to this passage?.While it is a satire, did you see parallels between the effects of Shen Fever on Candace Chen’s world and the COVID-19 outbreak on your own?

The novel takes place as a virulent illness is infecting most of the population.WARNING: Spoiler alert on questions further down You can also submit your own questions for Ling Ma on our Google form. Learn more about the book club here.īelow are questions to help guide your discussions as you read the book over the next month. Our December 2020 pick for Now Read This, the PBS NewsHour’s book club with The New York Times, is Ling Ma’s “Severance.” Become a member of the Now Read This book club by joining our Facebook group, or by signing up to our newsletter.