Utopia

​My book discussion group talked about A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers this week. The thing that stuck with me the most from our conversation was a reflection on the idea of utopia. One of the members posited that this book takes place in a utopia. This is my third time reading the book and I had never considered its context in this way. I thought of it as post-apocolyptic, despite it being "cozy fantasy." And then I considered the impetus for utopia's and it is unease with the status quo and a vision for a more harmonic integrated community. But I was so blinded by the chasm resulting from the robots departure that it was challenging for me to see the ease with which they seperated, the continued flourishing of communities. I could only perceive the tension of history, rather than realizing it was an event hundreds of years ago and culture had moved on. Perhaps this illuminates my current dis-ease with global events. How do we remain conscious of context from places of observation? What does it mean to live with history rather than re-write it? Lots to reflect on. I highly recommend this duology. 

P.S. Next week we will reflect on A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers; no unresolved series in this group.
P.P.S. The distinctive jacket art is by Feifei Ruan.