Discussion Post for Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
Editor’s Note: Hi everyone, it’s your host, @LibraryOfDreaming. I want to apologize for the lack of updates here on the website. Once again, I’ve been going through some intense health issues and I just haven’t had the capacity to update the website the way I would like. I’m hoping to get back in the groove but in the meantime the best way to keep up with all our book club’s news is to follow me over on Instagram. I’m going to do some housekeeping around here to catch you all up on some old updates. Happy Reading!
[ID: a red, blue, and black book cover with a silhouette of a Black woman with braids looking to the left with “Death of the Author a novel Nnedi Okorafor” written in faded white bold text on top. The background is an Angora pattern of bright red and blue amorphous shapes. The book sits on a white shelf covered with loose book pages next to a brown and white globe with a fake white flower on top of it and a golden astrolabe to the right. Another flower sits to the right of the book with “book club” spelled out in scrabble tiles.]
The #ChronicallyIconicBookClub’s July read was DEATH OF THE AUTHOR by Nnedi Okorafor, a sci-fi literary epic with paralyzation and wheelchair user rep.
Summary:
Life has thrown Zelu some curveballs over the years, but when she's suddenly dropped from her university job and her latest novel is rejected, all in the middle of her sister's wedding, her life is upended. Disabled, unemployed and from a nosy, high-achieving, judgmental family, she's not sure what comes next.
In her hotel room that night, she takes the risk that will define her life - she decides to write a book VERY unlike her others. A science fiction drama about androids and AI after the extinction of humanity. And everything changes.
What follows is a tale of love and loss, fame and infamy, of extraordinary events in one world, and another. And as Zelu's life evolves, the lines between fiction and reality begin to blur.
Because sometimes a story really does have the power to reshape the world.
This was a mind-bending read for me (@LibraryOfDreaming)! I think I went through the entire spectrum of human emotion while reading it. I couldn’t decide it if I loved it or hated it and part of the ending made me consider launching the book across the room!
The rest of the club also matched my confusion about what the intention was behind this story. Zelu never seems to face consequences for her often EXTREMELY wild decisions. Was the author supporting AI? Condemning it? Were we supposed to celebrate Zelu’s ending or was it supposed to make us uncomfortable? Many of the members didn’t understand the ending and what really happened.
Even though most of us weren’t big fans of the book, it did spark fascinating discussions in our group chat about a variety of topics from the role of ableism in technology, cures for disability, racism in writing spaces, AI, and eugenics.
Discussion Questions:
What did you think of this book? (How many stars did you rate it?)
What was your favorite part of the book?
What was your least favorite part?
What did you think about Zelu and her development throughout the book?
What did you think about Zelu’s family and their relationship?
What did you think about the disability rep in this book?
What did you think about the role of technology/futurism re: Zelu’s disability?
What did you think about the dual narrative and the way it was resolved?
What did you think about the ending?
Was there anything you wish was different/anything about the book you would like to change?