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Which books should you read while self-isolating from coronavirus?
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First Love, Last Rites

Ian McEwan's short stories dive into subversive narratives, looking at incest, sex, and murder. During this stressful time, the collection's dark subject matter provides readers with ideal escapism.
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The Argument

You should read First Love, Last Rites because of the macabre and uncomfortable nature of the stories. During the pandemic, morbidly curious individuals have shown higher interests in darker genres.[1] First Love, Last Rites dives deep into the world of dark fiction. The horrific and gruesome situations that McEwan describes coincides well with the morbid interest of his audience. People should read entertaining books while self-isolating because they provide a form of escape. First Love, Last Rites provides an entertaining form of morbid escapism. Fiction is an entertaining escape from reality. As a collection of short stories, the reader is provided with multiple experiences of escapism. This allows the reader to have variety without becoming bored by long, drawn-out stories. First Love, Last Rites challenges the reader's minds through the dark and sinister imagination present in the stories. It causes the reader to question the motives of the most despicable people. As the reader progresses through the stories, they become increasingly uncomfortable by the images McEwan describes. It puts readers in the minds of immoral minds and contemplates what drives people to terrible things.[2] This contemplation provides the ideal escape from reality.

Counter arguments

People who are not morbidly curious did not show a significantly higher interest in morbid and scary entertainment. [1] Therefore, those that are not interested in morbidly curious subjects may be unsettled by the stories in First Love, Last Rites. There has also been an increase in the sale of romance novels during the pandemic. [3] Therefore, not all people are interested in dark fiction as a distraction.

Premises

[P1] During the pandemic, morbidly curious individuals are seeking morbid information and entertainment. [P2] First Love, Last Rites is a collection of morbid and macabre short stories. [P3] People should read First Love, Last Rites while self-isolating for the coronavirus.

Rejecting the premises

References

  1. https://esiculture.com/an-infectious-curiosity-morbid-curiosity-and-media-preferences-during-a-pandemic
  2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STR6crREL5Q
  3. https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/for-a-lot-of-book-lovers-rereading-old-favorites-is-the-only-reading-they-can-manage-at-the-moment/2020/05/01/19c3cd4c-8bbe-11ea-ac8a-fe9b8088e101_story.html
This page was last edited on Tuesday, 16 Jun 2020 at 19:39 UTC

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