Yesterday afternoon, we had our first Book Club discussion of August and began to dig into the themes of An Yu’s Sunbirth. Readers found in the spare, strange, enigmatic novel a tale that operates on multiple levels: interpersonal dramas of family authority parallel the invisible boundaries of power in the mysterious town of Five Poems Lake; workaday challenges mirror the large-scale threat of an unfolding disaster about which little is known and over which no one sees to have any control; the everyday difficulties of understanding the motivations of neighbors and acquaintances blend into the uncanny mysteries of the transformed people — the Beacons — at the heart of the book.
We talked about how the concerns of the book’s surreal world reflect our own — and how the flights of fancy of speculative fiction give authors and readers ways to think through the most difficult personal and political challenges of our time, or any time.
Let us know what you thought in the comments below, and we’ll be following up in live chat all week.
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How to participate in the Book Club
We’ll post questions — our discussion guide — every Sunday, and every other Wednesday we’ll meet for a discussion with the Club or a visit from an author or other special guest. Look out for posts with further details. We’ll also host chat threads to get your insight on key questions in advance of our meetings. For our next meeting, on Wednesday, August 27, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, we’ll be hosting An Yu, author of Sunbirth.
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