Comments on A Book A Week: Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague by Geraldin...

Yeah, there are a lot of books out with that theme...

2008-07-15T16:36:00.000-07:00

Yeah, there are a lot of books out with that theme. I also recommend "The Pesthouse" by Jim Crace and "Oryx and Crake" by Margaret Atwood.

But one of the best depictions of the plague I've read in a book that's brilliant for all kinds of reasons occurs in Maria McCann's "As Meat Loves Salt." I read it before "Year of Wonders" and then could not get into the latter.

Yes, anything to feel less demented.

2008-07-14T17:09:00.000-07:00

Yes, anything to feel less demented.

Expanding the genre to include both books about re...

2008-07-14T13:11:00.000-07:00

Expanding the genre to include both books about real mass catastrophes (like plagues) and fictitious ones includes the entire genre of post-apocalyptic sci-fi, which appeals to me greatly as a twisted reader. A great example is a book called "Earth Abides" - can't remember the author, but it's about a group of people trying to re-assemble some sort of society after a contemporary plague. I don't think there's anything sick about this particular fascination - I just read an essay by Michael Chabon in his latest collection of nonfiction for McSweeneys in which he discusses the sub-genre of apocalypse fiction, particularly "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy, which holds the same kind of fascination for me. I hope this makes you feel less demented and more normal.