Cheryl’s Comments (group member since Nov 29, 2022)

Cheryl’s comments from the Beyond Reality group.

I don't trust humans, personally. Especially those in stasis - they weren't engineers etc., just rich people. I, myself, don't think they should be awakened.

Unless the author wants to write a sequel, in which case there's the hook. ;)

You both make great points, thank you.

Shel, it could be chance. And/or it could be the author is Christian. And/or, and this just occurred to me, it could be that the author needed a way to incorporate the line "the meek shall inherit the earth."

Just one more thing I'm still wondering about. Why would the made people want to wake the humans? (Why would someone advise them to, and why might they want to, and would it be a good idea given the particular world-building in this book?)

Less clutter is good. Finding the balance is hard; I know because we've moved so many times we're always paring back.

Hm. Well, I guess if you don't read the Bible literally, okay.

Well, yes, thank you, that works... but before I can really get into the symbolism, I'm stuck on the fact that the scientists were fans of the Christian Bible. Scientists, especially those who have such god-like power themselves, are more likely to be atheists, no?

Which prompts me now to wonder - where in the world is this haven? It wouldn't have to be in the West....

So many! Unfortunately none off the top of my head, but I love this question and will ponder.

But that makes sense, Ken! Do you have any left, as a sort of souvenir? I've seen tickets, for concerts and for air travel, in books several times.

Hm. Good point. I think that the structure of the book lent itself to a lot of exploration of fear and how to deal with it. The third quote also is apt right now politically. But maybe also they personally resonated; I'll have to think on that.

I am actually more interested in discussing the questions in the post I made prior. About the Bibles, and about humans vs. "crums."

(Yeah, it's all about the availability for me.)

I really enjoyed Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers. I'd prefer to let the work stand for itself, usually, but it is enlightening to get to know how these brothers enriched each other's lives by creating such art... and enriched our lives, too!

Yeah, I finished it and see lots of potential for discussion, have posted several questions in the other thread.

Is anybody going to come back and discuss, or should I just return my copy to the library?

Shel wrote: "I'm about to start When Life Gives You Mangos, a middle grade book which my 4th grader just finished and loved so much she insisted I read it."

Tell her thank you for the recommendation; it was a good book. And if she has more rec's, I'd be interested!

I marked several other passages that intrigued me. (Yay for book darts! ;) Here are three that are discussable:

"This is the trap Niema fell into. Accepted close-to-human is being human enough. Thea can't make the same mistake."

"My mom let me be afraid for a couple of weeks. Then, one day, she walked me out to the pier, right to the water's edge, and told me that everything we fear finds us eventually, so there's no point trying to outrun it."

" Powerful people usually are [afraid]; they have the most to lose."

But I do wonder about a few things. Why did the elders have dog-eared copies of the Bible? I would have thought there'd be more diversity among these future scientists, esp. that they'd be more secular. Maybe Abi guided them to that verse? But was learning the verse so important?

And there's the suggestion that these 'made people' are going to eventually awaken the humans - why? Doesn't seem like a good idea to me....

In the back matter Stu says "This is an enormous book that had to feel small." Well, I'm not convinced. I think the themes could have been boiled down to a short story, tbh. The mystery is indeed what takes up so much space. Otherwise it's almost summed up by "5:5" "the meek shall inherit the earth."

Thanks!

Yeah, I'm further, and it's getting interesting, but it's so long. And I don't particularly care for mysteries. I'll persist, though, thank you.

Shout out to book darts! https://www.bookdarts.com

For years now I have used nothing else but a half-dozen of these on a rectangle of heavy paper. That way I can mark not only my page, but passages of note, without writing in the book or dog-earing.

My source of heavy paper is the set of thumbnail images from the back page of a calendar - pretty pictures.

If you live in the US I will gladly send you an example - I'm hooked and have bought them in bulk. Just PM me with your address.

Started. Struggling. I want to like it, but.... (see spoilers ok thread).

I'm having trouble with it. I need someone to spoil it for me, to tell me whether it's worth the journey. Are we going to learn more about the AI/alien/god voice? About the fog and other aspects of the apocalypse? About how this is actually different enough from The Giver to be worth reading?