Dystopian Fiction - Book 8: "On Such A Full Sea" by Change-rae Lee

We've reached the end of our first reading group. And our final book is On Such a Full Sea by Chang-rae Lee. It was somewhat difficult to find a novel to pair with Animal Farm, but dystopia is a broad enough genre that I hope we made it work.

Right as we sat down, one enthusiastic reader said, "This book is like a peony: it opens up just a little bit each day. And then it blossoms." He loved it, said the Lee led him through the novel in soft waves, and he was gently brought into the world of the novel. Two of the readers really loved the style (one of them didn't care for it too much). 

We all seemed to like the "We" narrator(s). A collective narrator has a calming and welcoming effect on the reader, at least with this group. It almost made it like a mythology of sorts--that Fan is this hero whose story has been told again and again over time.

One confounding thing is that Fan isn't exactly a hero, at least in the way we traditionally think of heroes. She doesn't change much throughout the novel and is usually acted upon. She doesn't have a lot of agency throughout the novel. She is taken advantage of as soon as she leaves B-Mor by almost every character she encounters. So what makes her exceptional? One reader she is just a mythologized runaway.

One reader, the one who didn't like it that much, pointed out some SOLID connections to "Animal Farm." He noted how the "we" narrators are akin to the collective animals on the farm. They are somewhat unsettled. And they have limited information (at least the later generations do). They are left to fill in the gaps and focus on the present, as the reasons for their current disposition are distant and foggy.

It was a great conclusion to this reading group. We covered a lot of territory and had some very vibrant discussions. Can't wait for the next one. 

Please feel free to share your thoughts on Lee, his work, and anything else related in the comments!

Here is a link to an info sheet provided to the readers. It has a brief biography of Chang-rae Lee, as well as some information on On Such a Full sea. I also try to provide some supplemental reading materials in the form of papers, essays, and Q&As. Here is a link to an essay from 2017 by Christopher T. Fan. You can also buy the book we read on Amazon, IndieBound, and Audible.

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Stay tuned for our next reading group. It's called "Rereading the Past," and we're really excited about it.

Thanks! And keep reading.

-Elliot