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In Severance, Candace Chen is thrown into a survivalist way of life after the gradual collapse of the world due to the spread of Shen Fever. After joining a group of survivors she is tasked with finding entertainment in the form of books, DVDs, and board games. While raiding or 'stalking' a family home, Candace explores a library and discovers the 'fevered' daughter.

'She was reading, or assuming the act of reading. She turned a page, looked at it for a few seconds, and then turned the page again. It was upside down. I craned my neck. A Wrinkle in Time, a vintage pink edition.' - p. 68

The book here is used to form a connection between Candace and the fevered girl, Paige Marie Gower. Paige is a child, her innocence exemplified by book that is a young adult fantasy novel. The description of the book as pink adds to Paige's girlish qualities. Candace's attention to the edition of the book shows the knowledge she has and still retains on book printing.

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The children's literature that Candace sees on the bookshelf.

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Candace's connection to Paige is strengthened when she looks to the book shelf and finds familiar titles that spark memories.

‘So many were ones that I had read myself as a kid, when my mother would take me to the library every week.’ – p. 69

Candace forms a connection through books, seeing her younger self in Paige. The titles emphasise girlhood, as the protagonists are all young girls. These books inspire an image of innocence and childhood, that is starkly contrasted in the next scene where the family is shot. Although Ling Ma continues with childlike imagery, comparing the dead family to 'slumbering bears in a fairytale'. - p. 70

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An example of the self-help books read by Ralph.

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The novel’s main character, Ralph, becomes seduced by the idea of being a self-made, successful man. Ralph is largely influenced by Grover, who encourages him to go into business for himself. His sister, Theresa, becomes concerned for Ralph as he rejects his university education in favour of the self-made model.

Theresa notices this change in Ralph when she enters his office to find stacks of ‘self-help’ books with quotes from them pinned to the walls. The titles she mentions are typical of the self-help genre (Making Money and Be Your Own Boss!).

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Ralph pins quotes from these ‘life-changing’ books to the walls of his office, showing the extent of their influence on him. One of the most notable is from Napoleons Hill’s book Think and Grow Rich!

‘YOU CAN NEVER HAVE RICHES IN GREAT QUANTITY UNLESS YOU WORK YOURSELF INTO A WHITE HEAT OF DESIRE FOR MONEY.’ – p. 199

The main idea of this book is manifesting wealth and success. Ralph falls victim to this mindset, that promotes an unrealistic method of becoming rich, and leads to drastic consequences. Through the events to follow, Gish Jen exposes the flaws in the ‘American Dream’.

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Books similar to 'A Revolutionary Society'.

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In Dreaming in Cuban, Pilar gifts her mother, Lourdes, a book on the Cuban Revolution. A Revolutionary Society sparks an outburst from Lourdes who drops it in the bathtub. The book exposes the divide between mother and daughter. The cover of the book paints the Cuban Revolution and its leaders in a favourable light, and takes Lourdes back to the traumas experienced under communist rule:

‘Che Guevara’s faced blanched and swelled like the dead girl Lourdes had seen wash up once on the beach at Santa Teresa del Mar with a note pinned to her breast. Nobody ever came to claim her.’ – p. 132

Lourdes directly associates a communist Cuba with her trauma. This is shown by the transformation of Che Guevara's face, an iconic symbol of communism, into that of a dead girl. Pilar does not have these associations with Cuba, having never lived there. Lourdes hardly ever discusses Cuba with her daughter, leading her to be more curious about the country and her family's history. Lourdes attempt to destroy A Revolutionary Society fails and she soon sees the book drying on the clothesline. The book represents the persistence of Pilar's interest in Cuba and her political views, that Lourdes cannot destroy or change.

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Children of the Revolution by Dinaw Mengestu

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Children of the Revolution by Dinaw Mengestu

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The novels main character, Sepha Stephanos, owns a shop in his local neighbourhood. He passes the quieter part of his days reading: ‘every hour of even the quietest days has been filled with at least one voice other than my own.’ - p. 39

The first book he owns is A Bend in the River by V.S Naipaul, a novel set in central Africa. This novel follows the main character Saleem, who shares a likeness to Sepha. Both are the protagonists and narrators of each book, and are immigrants that own a modest shop stocking basic household goods. The novel is gifted to Sepha by his friend Joseph, who points out the similarities between the two characters:

‘every now and then he’ll enter the store with his arms open and declare, “Saleem, you’re both still here.” “Of course we are,” I always tell him. “Where else do we have to go?” - p. 40

Sepha speaks for both himself and the character Saleem, using a voice other than his own to communicate. This borrowing of another's voice reveals Sepha’s conflicted identity. This struggle is shared by Saleem. Both characters are outsiders, not fully belonging to their home country or the country that they now live in. They take on the role of the detached observer, isolating themselves from others. This leads both characters to be unfulfilled with their life. Becoming stuck, neither character progresses towards ‘success’.