Are you ready to read fiction set during Covid?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by haertig

Because so many used covid (exploited it) to increase their power, control and/or profits. Governments, health agencies, manufacturers, online sellers and scammers, ... have you ever seen so many useless "designer masks" for sale? Made out of common clothing fabric that couldn't stop a virus in any way, shape or form. People were paid more to not work than to work. People stopped paying rent/mortgages, stopped repaying loans. And book authors are getting in on the action too. As a disease that killed and injured many, covid was bad enough. You had people hawking miracle cures and preventatives. You had people downplaying covid and you had people presenting it as worse than it actually was - whatever it took to increase their power/profit. Those who milked it for all it was worth for their own enrichment and power, just horrible.

So I am sensitive to anyone trying to make money off of covid. That includes book authors. You may not feel this way, and that's fine. But I do.

People have always tried to make money and profit off anything. Covid is just the latest manifestation of basic human greediness. Nothing new or unusual there.

[SteveEisenberg]

In recent years, most contemporary fiction I read consists of crime novels.

There are a few series where I read every one that comes out (Archer Mayor's is top of the list). I will continue to read every one, regardless of COVID, and hope he lives long enough, in good health, for there to be a lot more.

As for whether there is a relationship between crime and COVID, that may be another topic not meant for here. But it is hard for me to see realistic crime novels, set in the early 2020's, not considering that possibility, even if to dismiss it. And I like realism.

P.S. I highly recommend this nonfiction COVID book:
The Desperate Hours: One Hospital's Fight to Save a City on the Pandemic's Front Lines

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by haertig

Because so many used covid (exploited it) to increase their power, control and/or profits. Governments, health agencies, manufacturers, online sellers and scammers, ... have you ever seen so many useless "designer masks" for sale? Made out of common clothing fabric that couldn't stop a virus in any way, shape or form. People were paid more to not work than to work. People stopped paying rent/mortgages, stopped repaying loans. And book authors are getting in on the action too. As a disease that killed and injured many, covid was bad enough. You had people hawking miracle cures and preventatives. You had people downplaying covid and you had people presenting it as worse than it actually was - whatever it took to increase their power/profit. Those who milked it for all it was worth for their own enrichment and power, just horrible.

So I am sensitive to anyone trying to make money off of covid. That includes book authors. You may not feel this way, and that's fine. But I do.

Well ... I don't want to belabor this, but, for the record, I don't see how fiction writers who may use covid as part of their plot have any connection with the kinds of people who tried to profit off the pandemic by questionable means.

But to each his own.

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Well ... I don't want to belabor this, but, for the record, I don't see how fiction writers who may use covid as part of their plot have any connection with the kinds of people who tried to profit off the pandemic by questionable means.

But to each his own.

Yeah, the book I DNF'd was the latest in a long-running series. I assume that when Covid happened the author included it because the stories are set in contemporary England and she wanted it to reflect the state of the world as she was writing, not out of any ulterior motive. My choosing not to read it was because I want fiction to be an escape, not a reminder of bad events in real life.

Maybe someday all this will be far enough in the past that I'll be ok with reading such a book. I'm just not there yet.

[Dr. Drib]

I'm ready to read anything about any subject or genre, as long as it's of a genre or subject that I want to read. Any novel that deals with Covid, which is (or will become) an integral part of the developing narrative, or becomes a part of the characters' lives, will certainly be read. After all, it's part of our world.

BUT NOT
For example, I've only read one Romance novel (Harlequin), because it was autographed to me. But I'll never read another one by my friend. (The author is dead.)

[JSWolf]

Any fiction set in 2020 and later is set during Covid.

[spacepope]

I’ve read a few books where COVID was mentioned.

The first was The Law of Innocence, which takes place between late 2019 and early 2020, and the epilogue is obviously in spring or summer 2020. It’s not really integral to the plot but it does show up in tidbits.

The second book I read that mentioned it was The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill, where there are some meta comments about how the book was “less realistic” for not including COVID.

Honestly, as long as it’s not obnoxious I don’t mind. I don’t read a lot of contemporary fiction so I don’t expect to encounter it much.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Any fiction set in 2020 and later is set during Covid.

I agree.

Whether someone wants to read about it, or not read about it is - of course! - a personal decision.

If created characters fail to mention it (during a contextual discussion that involves what has happened/is happening in the real world) - then that would be the author's choice to mention it. If not, then the author felt that any mention of it might not be relevant to the story-line.

Therefore, not only does a reader have a choice to read or not read, but the author also has a choice to mention it or not to mention it using the characters he/she has created.

That fact remains - to go back to my "I agree" above - it happened, and it can never be 'un-happened'.

[gmw]

I am guessing that it won't be long and we'll be having historical-fiction-like discussions here about how an author got this or that about Covid wrong: "Why weren't they wearing masks?" Or maybe "He can't have gone to the shops then, everything was shutdown!"

[hildea]

I wouldn't mind depictions of Covid in books, but I've been lucky enough that the pandemic had relatively little impact on me.

I remember a little jolt of surprise the first time I read a content warning in a book published early in 2020, telling readers that the book mentions "The 1918 flu pandemic and the spread of infectious disease." I hadn't thought about it before, but I can certainly understand that many readers would prefer to avoid that in their fiction for a good while.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by gmw

I am guessing that it won't be long and we'll be having historical-fiction-like discussions here about how an author got this or that about Covid wrong: "Why weren't they wearing masks?" Or maybe "He can't have gone to the shops then, everything was shutdown!"

But to be able to answer any of these question/issues, you'd have to see when the book was written to see if it was written before, after, or during lockdown even if the book does take place during Covid.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by hildea

I wouldn't mind depictions of Covid in books, but I've been lucky enough that the pandemic had relatively little impact on me.

I remember a little jolt of surprise the first time I read a content warning in a book published early in 2020, telling readers that the book mentions "The 1918 flu pandemic and the spread of infectious disease." I hadn't thought about it before, but I can certainly understand that many readers would prefer to avoid that in their fiction for a good while.

That disclaimer seems kind of nuts. For one thing, in early 2020 covid was barely on the radar. For another, if the book was significantly about the earlier pandemic, surely that would have been obvious from the synopis or blurb (if the flu was mentioned only in passing, why bother?), and could have been easily avoided if one so desired.

I sought out fiction about the 1918 pandemic in the early days of covid. I think it was a bit of a comfort to read about something in the distant past that had been overcome. I did something similar after 9/11; I read political thrillers about terrorism.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But to be able to answer any of these question/issues, you'd have to see when the book was written to see if it was written before, after, or during lockdown even if the book does take place during Covid.

Such details won't stop people arguing about it.

[hildea]

Originally Posted by Catlady

That disclaimer seems kind of nuts. For one thing, in early 2020 covid was barely on the radar.

It was in May 2020, so maybe I should have said "mid 2020" instead.

For another, if the book was significantly about the earlier pandemic, surely that would have been obvious from the synopis or blurb (if the flu was mentioned only in passing, why bother?), and could have been easily avoided if one so desired.

I'd say it's somewhere in between, not so much that it's obvious from the blurb, but more than mentioned in passing.

I can see that someone who picks up a romantic suspense looking for escapism, expecting (and getting) dastardly villains with sneaky plots, foiled by our intrepid heroes, might prefer not to be reminded of the pandemic while reading.

Some readers strongly dislike books where animals suffer, even if it's not a big part of the plot. Others dislike swearing, or explicit sex, or explicit violence, or bad things happening to children. Content warnings help readers pick books that are to their taste.

I sought out fiction about the 1918 pandemic in the early days of covid. I think it was a bit of a comfort to read about something in the distant past that had been overcome. I did something similar after 9/11; I read political thrillers about terrorism.

Yes, I'm tending more in that direction, myself.

Personally, I can't stand books where children are threatened. There's a Pullman book which I probably would like, I've enjoyed the others in the series, but the villain is threatening the heroine's small daughter. It's pretty obvious that he'll kidnap the child, and the mother will rescue her, but I couldn't enjoy the gradual increase of threat. When her favourite doll disappeared from her bedroom, showing that he has access to her home, I put the book away for good.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by gmw

Such details won't stop people arguing about it.

Coincidentally, I am currently listening to an audiobook set mainly in the present with flashback chapters a couple of years in the past. In the flashbacks, there are passing references to school being shut down, an outdoor party, etc. that are clearly a recognition of the covid restrictions and cautions. I say "clearly," but I imagine it might be quite confusing if anyone were reading the book ten years from now, since (at least so far) covid or a pandemic isn't specifically mentioned.