News2Novel - Chips, Lost Fishermen and Covid in China #14

3 novel suggestions based on weekly news

Hello! This is the 14th issue of News2Novel - the newsletter that suggests novels to read based on weekly news.

Last week, I published my first essay on how 1930s Chinese sci-fi might inspire Elon Musk and his various companies. I also sent Elon a cold email, sharing the piece - I’ll let you know if he replies!

Dhru @dhrupadkarwa

I wrote 2000 words on why @elonmusk should read Cat Country: The story of a Chinese astronaut who lands on Mars and meets a dying civilisation of Cat People. It offers worldbuilding lessons for @SpaceX and is a cautionary tale for @Twitter. TLDR in 🧵 litvisions.substack.com/p/elon-should-…

litvisions.substack.comElon Should Read 1930s Chinese Sci-FiTo get us to Mars (narratively)

Now here’s News2Novel.

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Photo credits: Goodreads

#Chips ➡️ A Tale of Two Cities

• Heston Blumenthal is a British chef known for complex and experimental dishes, like meat fruit

• His greatest contribution is the triple-cooked chip - which he became obsessed with in 1992

• Traditional double-frying can result in chips that are undercooked or soggy; Blumenthal’s method involves boiling, freezing and frying to achieve a "glass-like" crispy crust with a fluffy centre

• The first ever mention of “chips” in English literature was in the 5th chapter of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens:

  “… husky chips of potato, fried with some reluctant drops of oil.”

• In this classic work, hunger is a prevalent theme with Dickens shining light on the (scanty) diets of everyday Victorians

• The novel also explores love, sacrifice, redemption and the events leading to the French revolution

#LostFishermen ➡️ Life of Pi

• 15 Indian fishermen were stranded on a remote island after their boat’s engine broke down

• A passing British vessel eventually rescued them

• They survived by drinking water from coconuts and other innovative methods

• Yann Martel’s novel, Life of Pi, tells a strikingly similar story of a young Indian boy (Pi) who survives a shipwreck

• He is stranded on a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker

• Pi and Richard Parker develop a complex relationship, with Pi training the tiger and using it to catch fish for food

  

#CovidInChina ➡️ The Plague

• Li Wenliang, the Chinese doctor who first spotted COVID-19, died from the virus in February 2020

• His Weibo social media account has become a popular digital "shrine" for people to visit and post comments seeking comfort

• On January 10th, someone wrote:

  “Older brother Liang, recently I’ve been reading Camus’s ‘The Plague’”

• Given the crisis in China, The Plague by Albert Camus is an appropriate read, unfortunately

• It tells the story of a plague outbreak in Algeria and how the population is forced into quarantine

• Whilst most people respond to the disease with fear, blame or resignation, one character, a doctor, is a force of resistance…

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Before you go…

Here are some final morsels and thoughts:

• 3 creative tweets I loved:

Ana María Caballero @CaballeroAnaMa

what if we were to call a book a sculpture?

Prateek Arora @ekpraet

Rangmachines were very popular in India in the 1990s. The advent of cable television was accelerating social change in the suburbs, and the personal computing revolution was imminent. (Image created using #Midjourney.)

small worlds @smllwrlds

In 2023, I’m creating an illustrated tiny sci-fi story every day. Here’s 001/365:

• Elle Griffin
  (aka
  The Novelleist
  ) published a fascinating essay, in her series that imagines an ideal government:

What if countries acted more like companies?

• Check out last week’s News2Novel about Andrew Tate, Greta Thunberg and Lex Fridman

• If you end up reading any of the suggested novels, I’d love to hear about it! Just drop a comment, reply to this email or tweet me @dhrupadkarwa

Have a beautiful week filled with fiction and possibilities! ✨

Dhru