You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

One of the group reads for May is How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu Please discuss the book in this thread.

Katrisa will be leading the discussion.

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1. have read the book before or during May 2024.
2. discussed it in this thread. Discussion must be more than "I read the book and I liked it". Discussion requires something more substantial and analytical of what you read, for example, thoughts, opinions, impact it had on you, what was your favorite part, was it what you expected it to be like etc. You may also like to review the book and post a link to the review in this thread. Please refer to our group spoiler policy for further information.
3. Report that you have read AND discussed the book in the reporting thread (include a brief summary of what you thought of the book).

A note on discussion: Discussion must be more than "I read the book and I liked it". Discussion requires something more substantial and analytical of what you read, for example, thoughts, opinions, impact it had on you, what was your favorite part, was it what you expected it to be like etc.

In addition to this, the group reads are meant to be a "read along" so it is preferable that you discuss the book as you read rather than wait until you've finished the book.

And finally, discussion is not about just listing your thoughts. Please interact with the other group members, comment on their thoughts, and if they comment on yours, respond to them. This is what makes a good book discussion!

You may also like to review the book and post a link to the review in this thread.

Please refer to our group spoiler policy for further information.

General Rules:
1. Please mark your spoilers with the spoiler tags along with mentioning what stage of the book you are at so other's don't get a nasty shock. Chapter numbers/titles are generally best as they are the same across all formats and editions. See our spoiler policy
2. The book may be combined with the Year Long Challenge, Topplers, and Monthly Challenges.

Happy reading!

Picked it up from the library, but have a few books to read first.

I am 10% in and at the start of City of Laughter. My copy doesn’t have chapter numbers ( kindle plus audiobook.)

The first section/chapter was 55 minutes long on audio. For a relatively short book (304 pages) that seems long.

(view spoiler)[ I am seeing a lot of symbolism or maybe metaphors would be more correct of past vs present. How the present climate catastrophe is going to bring up past sins ( the virus.)

Clara has died and her grieving father has come to Siberia to understand her choices. She has a daughter who her parents are raising which makes me judge her a bit.

Back to my metaphor…Clara left her daughter to try and prevent further extinctions. So abandoning her present to study the past to help the future.

Am I reading too much into chapter one? lol (hide spoiler)]

I’m at 20% and just finished The city of Laughter.

(view spoiler)[ omg. I don’t have any words. It was horrifying. Going to move to a lighter read tonight. (hide spoiler)]

I also just finished The City of Laughter and ya - that chapter is harsh! This is actually a reread for me. I read it when it first came out and I loved it then. But I really wanted to reread it now that I have a bit of distance from our pandemic. So far it is holding up for me.

About your ch 1 spoiler Marnie (view spoiler)[I think you are right on with your thoughts. Clara "abandoning her present to study the past to help the future" which really just ended not only in her death, but her team released the virus which is now ravaging the planet. I mean, I think the virus would have been released at some point anyway with the ice caps melting, but had she not been out there, she could have had more time with her family. BUT maybe it's better to die early on than have to watch the children in your life die from this horrible disease. (hide spoiler)]

Now on to The City of Laughter (view spoiler)[ You are right that it is horrifying and I definitely going to need a literary palate cleanser after that! At first I was just like that is so messed up! But the more I think about it, the more I can see why some people might want a place like that, but this chapter was hard. I can see letting your child go on a high note like that though rather than die painfully on machines in a hospital. I guess with humans though we always hope and how awful would you feel if shortly after you sent your child on the Osiris they made a breakthrough. (hide spoiler)]

I’m at 33% the start of Elegy Hotel.

I’m going to need therapy after this book. (view spoiler)[ I can’t find anything hopeful in this story yet. The pig story was very emotional. It’s very very bleak. (hide spoiler)]

I am also at the start of Elegy Hotel. Just like yesterday, I felt like I had to put the book down after that last chapter. It felt odd to be so emotionally affected by a chapter called "Pig Son". (view spoiler)[I thought that the afterlife(?) chapter - The Garden of Memory - was kind of cool. I like how they could visit each other's memories even though they couldn't see each other where ever it was they were.

The Pig Son chapter was interesting as I just finished reading Next which has a lot of transgenic stuff going on and several human/animal transgenic characters. In this story/chapter we get to meet Fitch's dad so we got to see a bit how how he felt about his son's illness and death. (hide spoiler)]

I’m at 47% The beginning of Songs of your decay.

(view spoiler)[ I read about the morgue hotel and the robo pets.

If there is a profound message in all these stories I’m missing it. It was published in 2022 and I do remember feeling such hopelessness which the author is capturing. Is that is? (hide spoiler)]

Katrisa wrote: "I am also at the start of Elegy Hotel. Just like yesterday, I felt like I had to put the book down after that last chapter. It felt odd to be so emotionally affected by a chapter called "Pig Son". ..."

Pig son was my favorite so far.

Marnie wrote: "I’m at 47% The beginning of Songs of your decay.


I am in the same place as you.
(view spoiler)[The way I am reading it is how a global catastrophe affects everyone generally, but the stories show how individuals deal with their losses and how something like a global pandemic makes things that were once totally unimaginable (like death amusement parks and morgue hotels) common. How people find themselves dealing with grief while performing these new jobs. Did you notice in Pig Son that Dorrie apparently works at the death park now? And Fitch's dad tells her "I am sorry about your friend." I went back and relistened to City of Laughter to see if Dennis died and I missed it, but I think that is something that must have happened after that story - unless he was the one in the memory bubble place?
I think I see this collection of stories as just the myriad ways humans try to cope. The robo dog story made me sad too (hide spoiler)]

Katrisa wrote: "Marnie wrote: "I’m at 47% The beginning of Songs of your decay.


I am in the same place as you.
(view spoiler)[ I think that’s a good explanation. It’s a book about coping but if this is what it’s like to survive a catastrophe like this I’d rather not. Sign me up for the roller coaster. (hide spoiler)]

For real, Marnie!

Up to 68% The Used To Be Party

(view spoiler)[ If you had a chance to go space exploring would you? I live on The Space Coast of Florida so this question comes up a lot. My answer is always no. Still would be even if the earth was like this book.

I want to call in a welfare check on this author. My guess is he is severely depressed or at least was when he wrote this. I like apocalyptic books and am struggling with this one. Maybe it’s the short story format. I’m not connecting with the characters and it is over the top bleak.

The story about the troubled marriage and the emotional affair with the dead guy… that is just some twisted stuff. (hide spoiler)]

I listened to the last 30% of the book and must say the audiobook is a completely different reading experience for me. Reading it did not work for me…but the audio was much better. I don’t think I was in the right headspace for this one.

I know I’m in the minority ( it was very well received when it was published) and am really curious to read how others view this one. Makes it a fantastic group read.

I will be checking back when others get to this one.

Random interesting side note about The City of Laughter

(view spoiler)[In a case of art imitating life or life imitating art (as I am not sure who came up with the idea first and if one inspired the other but a while back ago I came across an article about an individual who actually proposed the idea of a euthanasia roller coaster for terminally patients who didn’t want to just linger on to give them one last thrill of life.

In regards to the book while I can understand the tragedy for the parents I have different views on death than a lot of the Western World. The City of Laughter is painted as this cynical kind of sinister thing but if I knew I could spend the last of my life at an amusement park I would. While loosing someone is terrible death can also be a celebration of life and if I knew I was going to die soon I would want to spend what was left of my time living as much life as I could, not wasting away in a hospital bed. (hide spoiler)]

Hey All - I was planning on reading this one next, but after reading some of your thoughts, I'm not so sure. I'm in a place where I really don't want to read anything super heavy. Should I pass on the book right now?

The Garden of Memory

(view spoiler)[I liked the sort of Jungian collective conscious aspect of this story. The idea that there is this shared space that all consciousness inhabits and interacts. It also shows how everyone/everything had a certain connectivity to it. As was mentioned before in a post regarding Clara in the first chapter we see the cycles of past, present, and future. I think this book does perpetrate the idea of time being cyclical rather than linear. (hide spoiler)]

Jayme wrote: "Hey All - I was planning on reading this one next, but after reading some of your thoughts, I'm not so sure. I'm in a place where I really don't want to read anything super heavy. Should I pass on ..."

I am hesitant to put anyone off from reading a book. We all come to books so differently. I have several times read a book only because it’s a group read and finished it happy that I read it even thought it wasn’t especially my cup of tea. I did have other, lighter books, I read at the same time as this one so I could go back and forth with my mood. That would be my suggestion.

Silver wrote: "Random interesting side note about The City of Laughter

I like your perspective on this topic. I think it sounds like a much healthier approach. (view spoiler)[ For me, it was the children riding which I think is way different than someone who has lived a long life and seen some of their dreams come true. I think if the author used older people, I would have reacted differently. (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[ Yes I can see how the whole scene of parents having to watch their children go can put a different perspective on it. <\spoiler> (hide spoiler)]

Marnie wrote: "Jayme wrote: "Hey All - I was planning on reading this one next, but after reading some of your thoughts, I'm not so sure. I'm in a place where I really don't want to read anything super heavy. Sho..."

Sounds like sage advice :)

Silver wrote: "Random interesting side note about The City of Laughter
.."

(view spoiler)[That is so interesting that someone wanted to do this in real life! I have similar ideas regarding death. Especially with the insane cost of medical care even with insurance I see zero benefit to living out your remainder of days spending so much money to be tied to a bed when you could just opt out of life on a better note and not bankrupt your family. I have been looking up states with physician-assisted suicide so when I age out I can go peacefully (hide spoiler)]

I finished today and I loved the ending! (view spoiler)[I love when books are stories with connected threads like this one, but I really loved how they came full circle back to the Arctic Plague with the World Builders. I know that some of this was kinda bleak, but I thought that throughout the stories there was still the longing for connection that kept it from being too depressing in my book. I gave the book 5 stars when it came out and I will keep that rating (hide spoiler)]

Speak, Fetch, Say I Love You was thus far my favorite chapter

(view spoiler)[ One of the things I find interesting about this book is the way in which the author explores ideas relating to consciousness or the “soul” and what it means to be human. In “Through the Garden of Memory” there was this sort of void where the consciousness of the patients collected together and interacted. In “Pig Son” the introduction of human parts gave the pig self-awareness and in “Speak, Fetch, Say I Love You” the dead are preserved through recordings they make in robotic dogs. It is interesting how through the “death” of the dogs as their parts start to fail the dead themselves sort of die again. Also the parallels to the way in which the robo dogs systematically fail and the organ failure of the plague victims. Replacing parts of the dogs prolongs them as replacing organs prolongs the sick. And the one thing that saves the dogs is the removal of the motherboard (which is a computers brain) and the people ultimately die because the one organ that cannot be replaced is the brain. (hide spoiler)]

Katrisa wrote: "I finished today and I loved the ending! [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ I rather enjoyed the ending too and how everything kind of came full circle. I also loved how there were so many connecting elements throughout the different stories. Little subtle things that would pop up throughout different stories. I also agree that while many of the stories were quite sad overall in nature I could still feel this pulse of hope running through the book. While I would not call this book uplifting as is referenced in the last chapter I think this story is more about possibility than despair. (hide spoiler)]

Well said Silver. I agree