To be honest, I really am not the biggest fan of this book… I suppose I expected more based on the international praise it seemed to receive. I remember Fever Dream appearing on one of the featured shelves at my local library- I had no idea at the time that it was a translated work, nor what it was about. Indeed, Fever Dream‘s premise is promising with an eerily plausible tale of environmental disaster, but to me it just fell flat. I didn’t really gain much from this book aside from confusion and frustration. This might be because my #1 pet peeve in books is excessively long chapters– this book didn’t have any! Fever Dream is short (my ebook clocked in at under 150 pages) so it could be read in one sitting. Perhaps it is meant to be read this way to create a seamless fever-dream like effect, but I personally found it really difficult to motivate myself to read even small chunks.

That criticism being said, I do not think that Fever Dream was a “bad” or “disappointing” end to SPAN312 as the novel encapsulates and mimics the style of authors we have previously read. In true Argentinian literary fashion, the science fiction elements of Fever Dream are reminiscent of Borges’ Labyrinths. The eerie feel of Pedro Páramo‘s Comala also reappears. Even the tranquility of Mama Blanca’s Memoirs are transplanted to rural Argentina. The play theme is also strangely represented by the inquisitiveness of David and the innocence of Nina, two of the very few child characters we have read about in this course.

In response to the lecture question, I did find it a bit unexpected that the environmental disaster was not directly mentioned in the book. I do think that was the right choice, though. The message is more effectively conveyed through allusion or suggestion than explicit mention; subtlety makes the reader piece together the causal connection between the health crises and the environment rather than forcing the point.

The hyperobjects discourse is fascinating. I am interested in learning more about environmental health- I took a course about it last semester. Pesticide pollution is an environmental threat that can only be properly addressed using the tools of our institutions, “hyperobjects” like government who can impose regulations or cut down the influence of other hyperobjects- namely, massive agro-corporations.

Question: Do you think Amanda is being overly cautious by ensuring that Nina is within “rescue distance” at all times? Is this an appropriate response to maintain her child’s health in a potentially poisonous setting?