Vi-fi stands for virus fiction, which refers to contemporary fiction about the devastating events of epidemics and epidemics that change the world. Rooted in science fiction, vi-fi depicts parallel worlds with bio-thrilling realism and multiple dystopian possibilities.
Since 2020, we have seen a surge in vi-fi by authors from the coronavirus generation who experienced the pandemic in real time and emerged from isolation.
we Introducing a podcastthe pandemic page, the latest information on pandemic novels, and five books about the new coronavirus to watch this year.
“Day” by Michael Cunningham, released January 18th
Published 25 years after his literary masterpiece, business hoursCunningham's new book, Daywhich taps into the time-warping sense of the Covid genre.
The plot follows married couple Dan and Isabel, their children Nathan and Violet, and Isabel's wayward younger brother, who lives a secret Instagram life in the attic, as they deal with the pressures of lockdown in their Brooklyn brownstone townhouse. It depicts the problems faced while overcoming them.
The story is built around the events of three days, one year apart. The first time was during the pandemic in 2019, the second time was during the lockdown in 2020, and the third time was as we were coming out of the lockdown in April 2021.
Although the coronavirus is never mentioned by name, this story is about incarceration and isolation, the extremely difficult responses families have had to make, and the things that remain untold among people. It promises a turbulent theme of how many people there are.
'Fourteen Days' by Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston, released February 6th
This long-awaited collaborative pandemic novel is inspired by the books of Italian Renaissance author Giovanni Boccaccio. Decameron (1353) A collection of short stories by and new york times called Decameron project (2020).
The story, which begins during the first week of lockdown in March 2020, takes place in a dilapidated apartment complex in New York City, where tenants share stories on the rooftop.
This book features Emma Donahue (star pull), John Grisham, Celeste Ng (small fires everywhere) and Wake Wang (joan is okay).
This book promises to be filled with secrets, ghost stories and sensational revelations from self-isolation, with the story of the latest anonymous tenant, Super, changing the way residents view their situation forever.
“Blue Ruin” by Hari Kunzru, released on May 16th
Kunzulu's pandemic novel could be the most fascinating corona noir novel yet.
In 2020, 20 years after graduating from art school in London, Jay is working as a delivery driver in New York. Having just returned to work from his first lockdown, he collapses unknowingly on the balcony of a huge mansion in the middle of a remote forest. . There, Alice, his ex-girlfriend from art school, lives with her ex-best friend Rob, and gallery owner Marshall and his girlfriend.
Ill and exhausted, Jay confronts his past that he tried to push into the rearview mirror. But this chance encounter in the middle of lockdown begins to unravel the secrets of his dark and destructive past, with fateful consequences.
“Dear Dickhead” by Virginie Despentes, translated by Frank Wynn, released in September
dubbing Virginie Despentes, the “French Punk of Literature” and the “Balzac of Literature” – shortlisted for the 2018 Man Booker International Prize for her novel vernon subtex 1 – In your new book, you explore #MeToo, Covid, and social media cancel culture.
Author Oscar Jayak, threatened by public attention for his “cheating” with a woman, has gone on a social media rant about 50-year-old struggling actress Rebecca Latte, after he repeatedly insulted her. A brutal insult that denigrated her as a dirty, jaded, loud old woman who found herself at the center of Instagram hate.
Despentes uses email exchanges between characters, but the author's actual messages comment on a range of contemporary social issues, including transphobia, addiction, abuse, and the impact of coronavirus policies. .
“Real Americans” by Rachel Conn, published April 30th
Director Conn's take on the popular genre of intergenerational stories takes us through the past, across three continents, and to post-pandemic Washington Island.
This is an epic social novel that follows seven decades of the lives of three members of a Chinese-American family: Mei (who meets in 2030), Lily (2000), and Nick Cheng (2021).
Nick is only 15 years old, but he can't help but feel that his mother, Lily, is hiding something from him. The only thing Nick knows about himself is that his father is white and wanted no part of his life. He sets out to find his biological father and get some answers.
Conn interrogates contemporary concerns through questions that trouble his characters. How much of our lives is born of chance? Are we destined or made? What makes a real American? DM
It was first published conversation.
Lucil Harrison is a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Humanities, University of Hull. Catherine Wynne is Associate Dean for Research and Business in the Faculty of Arts, Culture and Education at the University of Hull.
This story first appeared in our weekly magazine Daily Maverick 168 The newspaper is available nationwide for R35.