How High We Go In The Dark • 50%

Hello Inkmongers!

I've hit the 50% mark on How High We Go In The Dark, and I'm excited to discuss! Thanks for reading along with me :)

Through The Garden of Memory

This story felt like a reward for making it through "City of Laughter." Here, we see a psychological experience of adults who have contracted the Arctic Plague. We don't know exactly what is happening to them, or why-- but its the only plague experience we've seen that is hopeful. Maybe the plague victims experience pleasant things alongside their suffering.

The main theme here seemed to be human cooperation and community. In a strange situation, people of all walks of life can band together to achieve a common goal-- in this case, sending a baby floating upwards. The characters are unclear on whether they've died, but they arrive at the consensus that getting the infant as high as possible will save its life. This story was originally published in 2019 under the title "How High We Go In The Dark," and I think that is a more fitting title.

To what lengths will we go to help others? When all other factors are removed, what can we achieve by working together? How high can we go in the dark?

Sea creatures are a recurring motif. I'm not sure what this means yet, but it's notable. There's also been plenty of talk about outer space-- these two things occupy similar territory in our collective imagination. Something outlandish, unfamiliar, and wholly different from ourselves.

Knowing that this story's name was appropriated for the novel's title, I feel like I've gotten a more direct clue to the overarching theme of the book. It was heading there already (the pandemic as a main event lends itself to this theming), but Nagamatsu really could have taken any tack he wanted. I'm excited to see the story progress with the knowledge that this story sits thematically near the center.

Pig Son

Of all the things I expected from this book, a meaningful contribution to the canon of heartwarming/tear jerking sentient pig stories was not one of them. I am crying over Snortorious P.I.G.

I found this story to be the least thematically dense so far, but it's still a rich text. I'm glad we got to see Fitch's father's point of view.

It asks a lot of the same questions about personhood that the fantasy genre has been asking for decades-- what makes someone a person, and must personhood be exclusive to humans? I don't think this story added anything new to the conversation, but its almost always a conversation worth having (especially as it pertains to animals, animal testing, medicine, and consent).

The absurdity of the situation is what gives it the levity that I experienced. Here we are, seriously worrying after the wellbeing of a talking pig who a mourning father accepts as his own son. The seriousness with which Nagamatsu delivers this premise is what gives it resonance-- the stakes are very real for these characters.

Snortorious P.I.G. is a martyr, and I'll be thinking of him with every saved plague patient going forward. R.I.P to a legend, a hero, a son.

Elegy Hotel

My friend Hikaru once asked me whether every author has just one story to tell-- there are many authors who write and write for their whole lives and unwittingly retread the same ground over and over in slight variations. My answer was at once balanced and noncommittal. I said that this can be the case for some authors, but probably not all.

I'm starting to feel this way with Nagamatsu. So far every story, despite their vastly different particulars, has centered the relationships of parents with their children, and vice versa. This is incredibly fertile ground for stories, and I doubt it can ever be exhausted (by any author, or every author in total)-- but I'm hungry for something different in this book.

That said, I appreciated how this story tackled regret. The crushing weight of a past you can't change, mistakes you can't undo, and people who see you in ways you'd like to leave behind.

Companionship is also a theme here. It's been recurring in many of the stories, but it's been quieter-- more understated than the familial dynamics. Here, we see companionship brought to the forefront. I liked Val as a character, more-so than Dennis. Her perspective is one we hadn't seen yet. Where Dennis is mostly passive, Val is always acting in some way. Dennis' passivity is a sieve through which we see the conditions of life in San Francisco-- the homeless population is gone, and no one has answered for their deaths. The poorer residents can't afford even the most affordable dignified cremation services.

I appreciated the ending. The way that Bryan has another version of Dennis' same regrets. No one is immune to regret, regardless of how it seems. There's a futility that this evokes, and also a comfort. All we can do is what we feel is right-- and when it comes to death, there's no guarantee that this will feel like enough in the end. All we have are our choices.

I've begun "Speak, Fetch, Say I Love You," which pushed me past the 50% mark-- I'll check in again at 75%. Thanks for reading with me!

I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments section, and please join us on Discord for many more book discussions :)

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