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maryclaire92's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I really loved this. Essentially a short story collection with characters loosely related to each other, yet it takes place over the span of millennia. It begins at the outset of the release of an ancient arctic plague and shows snapshots of the ramifications throughout time and space. The author manages to take this borderline (and sometimes not borderline) sci-fi content and make it so devastatingly human. I needed time to digest each of these vignettes after listening and fell in love with the journeys of so many of these characters. City of Laughter and Pig Son were highlights for me, but the experience of listening to this entire audiobook was remarkable.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Animal death, Child death, Terminal illness, and Pandemic/Epidemic
sarahweyand's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I didn't realize going into this book that it was a collection of perspectives, similar to WORLD WAR Z but with tangentially connected characters. The first chapter really pulled me in and I was admittedly disappointed to see that we wouldn't be continuing the story with characters and a plot I was drawn into.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed most of the chapters and characters I was introduced to. My favorites were probably the opening chapter, the chapter about the theme park for terminally ill children, and the chapter about the search for a new home planet. I thought the scale, both in terms of the number of characters and the time frame for the story, was very impressive and well constructed. I appreciated the science fiction elements of the story paired with real experiences and thoughts derived from the pandemic in 2020.
I admit I don't think I fully understood or really enjoyed the final chapter, but I can appreciate it for what it was. This isn't a book to pick up lightly, but if you know what you're getting into I think it can certainly be impactful.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed most of the chapters and characters I was introduced to. My favorites were probably the opening chapter, the chapter about the theme park for terminally ill children, and the chapter about the search for a new home planet. I thought the scale, both in terms of the number of characters and the time frame for the story, was very impressive and well constructed. I appreciated the science fiction elements of the story paired with real experiences and thoughts derived from the pandemic in 2020.
I admit I don't think I fully understood or really enjoyed the final chapter, but I can appreciate it for what it was. This isn't a book to pick up lightly, but if you know what you're getting into I think it can certainly be impactful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Animal death
pacifickat's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book is exactly the sort of thing I would enjoy: a series of loosely interconnected short stories that serve as vignettes of people’s lives surrounding a central world-altering event. Suffice it to say, I loved this book – its style, its many distinct voices, and the audiobook narration with different voice actors for each section was perfection. I savored each chapter, often listening to only one a day so I could mull it over before dropping into the next character's life.
I like stories that drop you into the middle of a believable world and don’t demand neat endings. I also love the way short fiction has to employ an economy of language and storytelling that packs a lot into a small footprint. What it doesn’t accomplish in terms of intricately detailed plotlines and worldbuilding, it makes up for in immediate emotional connections with characters we didn’t know a moment ago but feel invested in anyway. How High We Go In The Dark is a deeply empathetic book, allowing readers to bear witness to the pain, sacrifice, heartache, character flaws, triumphs, failures, and hopes in others, and feel a shared sense that perhaps we as humans aren’t so alone in this mess of existence. It also hints at how we are all connected, even when we don’t realize it, in this uncanny thing we call existence within the uncanny universe we call home.
Here is a sampling of my thoughts on the various stories Nagamatsu wove together in this book:
1. Mundane moments taken for granted – the value of everyday human connection:
The Used-to-Be-Party
I like stories that drop you into the middle of a believable world and don’t demand neat endings. I also love the way short fiction has to employ an economy of language and storytelling that packs a lot into a small footprint. What it doesn’t accomplish in terms of intricately detailed plotlines and worldbuilding, it makes up for in immediate emotional connections with characters we didn’t know a moment ago but feel invested in anyway. How High We Go In The Dark is a deeply empathetic book, allowing readers to bear witness to the pain, sacrifice, heartache, character flaws, triumphs, failures, and hopes in others, and feel a shared sense that perhaps we as humans aren’t so alone in this mess of existence. It also hints at how we are all connected, even when we don’t realize it, in this uncanny thing we call existence within the uncanny universe we call home.
Here is a sampling of my thoughts on the various stories Nagamatsu wove together in this book:
1. Mundane moments taken for granted – the value of everyday human connection:
The Used-to-Be-Party
“As you know, I never showed up to anything back then. I was never one to connect. I’ve been that way my entire life. I went to work, kept my head down, and came home. I let old friendships fizzle. I orbited my family and all of you like a distant planet, there and yet nearly impossible to reach. I know I can’t survive alone. Maybe this will get lost in a stack of your unopened mail. Maybe you’ll read it and throw it away and say it’s too late. Or, maybe you’ll peak out your window and wonder about coming over and saying, ‘Hey, me, too. I’m hallow and cracked and imploding.’”
It seems that terrible things can both pull us together and break us apart, sometimes all at once.
2. The distance carved between generations after widespread catastrophe – the struggle to hold space of each other:
Grave Friends
“I don’t think anyone in the neighborhood was good at having important conversations with the younger generation. The elders had come to an understanding while recovering from a global pandemic that erected funerary towers into our skies. Nobody asked us what we wanted. Nobody questioned the new tradition.”
The author does a stellar job of describing the sense of disorienting disconnect that can be felt by a ‘lost generation’ in the wake of some great tragedies. What worked for the old generation may not help the new one to adapt, cope, and move forward. The world has changed, and embracing change is hard all around. Some experience varying levels of success, while others cannot move on at all and seem adrift and without an anchor in life. All the measures of happiness and success of the past have shifted or crumbled away, and the task of redefining such things can be full of grief and loneliness in a world that struggles to hold space for such feelings of doubt and frustration.
3. The intersection between technology and human experience yields mixed and nuanced results:
VR, robotics, advanced medical treatments, cryogenics, euthanasia machines, light speed space travel… Nagamatsu spends a great deal of time weaving a variety of technologies into his storylines. He seems to be pulling at the threads of a discussion around how technology can both help and hinder in the attempt to connect, grieve, find hope, and move on in life after trauma or tragedy. Sometimes they provide merciful comforts or open up new possibilities, and sometimes they inhibit the process of letting go or building connections with the living. Are characters being distracted, or receiving welcome relief from trauma and despair?
Several stories deal with the difficulty of coming to terms with the reality of one’s situation, of coping in the “real world” when so much has been lost and so many standard parameters have changed. Technology seems to waffle between keeping people stuck and giving them a means of connecting and finding hope. Whether an opiate of the masses, a thinly-veiled tool of capitalist opportunism, a merciful coping or exit strategy, a stabilizing force, or a means of survival, it is left up to the reader to consider each individual story as humans interact with the various technologies interwoven into their lives.
4. Sometimes we grieve what could have been as much as what actually was:
This could be a parent losing a child - the person they were and the bright future that will never be. Or, the complicated feelings of an adult child losing parents one by one who didn’t know how to deal with a child who didn't conform to their expectations. It could also include lost dreams and possibilities that will never again be within reach.
Several stories show how strained community or familial relationships, in the end, can mean either everything or simply yield a longing for what could or should have been. And sometimes we’re not entirely sure which one it is in retrospect, as memories and longings blur together.
5. How do we as humans interpret large-scale disaster?
Is there larger meaning to horrible events that yield widespread destruction? Through most of the book, the question of the origin of the strange pandemic, as well as perhaps some shadowy intended purpose it might serve, lingers in the background.
Perhaps the truth is relative, or perhaps it’s some weird mixture of all of these options. The book gives few clear answers on this scale, favoring exploring microcosms of individual human experiences of such events at various distinct points in time before, during, and after the worst of the plague. However, the book does hint at a few larger themes, zoomed out to scales of time and space beyond individual lifespans. This is where literary fiction meets speculative fiction, and I’m here for it.
6. So much hope – grieving, letting go, and grasping something new:
A Gallery a Century, A Cry a Millennium
“Dear Yumi, I can’t wait to show you how far we’ve come. We could’ve done better, certainly – your mother, us, the world. For a long time, I felt like I failed you. I wished you could’ve had a full life with all the heartbreak and college drama and shitty jobs we took for granted.But over the past few centuries, I realized I don’t want that for you anymore. Sure, I want you to understand what the world was, but you’re young enough to make this new world your life – a start without regrets and mistakes, a start that will be better because you know how much we used to hurt. Looking at you through your chamber glass, I can see your mother and grandfather in you, and you’ll be bringing the best of them on your journey – their drive and curiosity and quest to unlock the mysteries, to do what’s right. You’ll cry and be uncertain at first, that’s ok. But there’s a whole universe waiting for you. I’ve helped you this far, little one. We helped each other get here. But now, now is your time. It’s time to lead me into the red grass and tell me the story of how we get to be. It’s time to wake up.”
7. In spite of great horror and pain, stories of connection, hope, longing, self-sacrifice, and deep empathy endure:
A talking pig can break your whole heart.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide, Animal death, Death, Animal cruelty, Child death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcohol and Medical content
Minor: Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Violence, and Racism
Euthanasiaabyjo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
I feel like I'm sitting here wondering what I just read. I haven't cried that much over a pig since babe.
I loved all the references to past stories as the story continued.
I loved all the references to past stories as the story continued.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Death, Animal death, Child death, and Suicide
st_ender's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Last part sort of let me down but it's still a hit
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Animal death, Medical content, Death, Grief, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Medical trauma and Body horror
Minor: Chronic illness, Confinement, Cancer, Pregnancy, Body shaming, and Suicide
Extensive discussion of euthanasia, and anything that can possibly happen to a person once they die.hyuzen's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
5.0
The quality of this book kind of crept up on me. Once it's over and you understand how things are connected it's a beautiful tapestry of vignettes featuring people living in the midst and aftermath of a devastating virus.
Filled with despair and grief in equal measure to hope and premise, this is a challenging read to start. It deals with very heavy subjects relating to death on a macro and micro scale, across all ages. Grief shatters people, shatters relationships. Sometimes the virus only accelerates issues that were under the surface before. But within all that are people seeking connection.
Across the chapters characters and objects reappear, with new perspectives giving new insight and knowledge that makes you want to go back and re-read earlier chapters to appreciate them in new ways.
As an aside, I think this book is a great example of why StoryGraph's review categories seem limiting. Trying to distill this down to whether it's character or plot focused, or whether the characters were loveable just feels like it's missing the point.
But that's beside the point. This was a remarkable read and if you can handle the darkness you'll be rewarded.
Filled with despair and grief in equal measure to hope and premise, this is a challenging read to start. It deals with very heavy subjects relating to death on a macro and micro scale, across all ages. Grief shatters people, shatters relationships. Sometimes the virus only accelerates issues that were under the surface before. But within all that are people seeking connection.
Across the chapters characters and objects reappear, with new perspectives giving new insight and knowledge that makes you want to go back and re-read earlier chapters to appreciate them in new ways.
As an aside, I think this book is a great example of why StoryGraph's review categories seem limiting. Trying to distill this down to whether it's character or plot focused, or whether the characters were loveable just feels like it's missing the point.
But that's beside the point. This was a remarkable read and if you can handle the darkness you'll be rewarded.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Death of parent, Terminal illness, Death, and Animal death
baileyes's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I can see it being a favorite book for many but it wasn’t really for me
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Suicide, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Death, Grief, Cancer, Animal death, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical content, and Abandonment
musicalpopcorn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A collection of stories about people connected throughout a plague and its aftermath, How High We Go In the Dark is both dark and hopeful about humanity’s ability to persevere.
I enjoyed the first half of this book more than I enjoyed the second half, but overall I liked the whole thing. The kind of dark surrealist stories about euthanasia parks and talking pigs were much more interesting to me than the ones that by contrast seemed like normal family dramas. I found all of the stories compelling however I also found that having every single main character feeling detached from their family got a little old after a while and made them feel like the same character every single time.
This was a unique book with a one of a kind outlook on humanity. How it managed to be both so dark and depressing to ultimately hopeful was very well done.
I enjoyed the first half of this book more than I enjoyed the second half, but overall I liked the whole thing. The kind of dark surrealist stories about euthanasia parks and talking pigs were much more interesting to me than the ones that by contrast seemed like normal family dramas. I found all of the stories compelling however I also found that having every single main character feeling detached from their family got a little old after a while and made them feel like the same character every single time.
This was a unique book with a one of a kind outlook on humanity. How it managed to be both so dark and depressing to ultimately hopeful was very well done.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Cancer, Stalking, Suicide, Animal death, Blood, Colonisation, and Grief
sshabein's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
SO sad in some spots, but what a great book. I loved how all the connections between different sections fell into place,
Weirdly paired well with having just read Same Bed Different Dreams by Ed Park and also The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa, even though they have vastly different plots, but the speculative nature of all three makes me feel like they are a part of the same universe, all reacting to larger forces in the world that we may or may not be fully aware of.
Weirdly paired well with having just read Same Bed Different Dreams by Ed Park and also The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa, even though they have vastly different plots, but the speculative nature of all three makes me feel like they are a part of the same universe, all reacting to larger forces in the world that we may or may not be fully aware of.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Animal death, Child death, and Pandemic/Epidemic
taybug0001's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
One of the most intense books I’ve ever read. The characters’ stories are integrated in ways that make you feel like you need to read the book over and over again as not to miss a single thing. I can’t WAIT to read this again someday.
<SPOILER> Character Map:
1) 30,000 Years Beneath a Eulogy - Clara and her crystal pendant, Clara’s first Earth daughter, and Miki the artist
<SPOILER> Character Map:
1) 30,000 Years Beneath a Eulogy - Clara and her crystal pendant, Clara’s first Earth daughter, and Miki the artist
2) City of Laughter - Skip, Dorrie
3) Through the Garden of Memory - Everyone in this dark room was in a coma I think? We see memories of Clara and her first Earth daughter, and old Skip remembering Dorrie and Fitch (Ch 2), the lawyer Dan Paul (Ch 10), and the baby that was given a second chance at the end was Baba (Ch 13 Grave Friends).
I feel like there are more connections in this chapter but they went over my head.
4) Pig Son - Dorrie’s ex-husband
5) Elegy Hotel - Brian Yamato, his younger brother Dennis, and Dennis’s girlfriend Val who is later a passenger on the Yamato
6) Speak, Fetch, Say I Love You - robo-dog Hollywood that is later part of the shrine to deceased relatives (Ch 13 Grave Friends)
7) Songs of Your Decay - Laird who was the subject of one of Miki’s paintings?
8) Life Around the Event Horizon - Theresa (previously Clara) wears a crystal pendant and is married to Brian and is the one actually responsible for the Yamato
9) A Gallery a Century, a Cry, a Millennium - Miki and Dorrie paint the walls of the ship, Brian’s son and Val are also passengers
10) The Used-to-Be Party - Dan Paul the lawyer (Ch 3), Mabel the tattoo artist (Ch 12)
11) Melancholy Nights in a Tokyo Virtual Cafe - Ms. Takahashi also wears a crystal pendant and is looking for her mother. We later learn that she’s Nuri (Clara’s first daughter before Earth)
12) Before You Melt into the Sea - Mabel the tattoo artist and Dan Paul the lawyer (Ch 3, 10)
13) Grave Friends - Baba has memories of being a baby crawling through people (Ch 3), Hollywood is an old robo-dog from a great-great aunt
14) The Scope of Possibility - We learn Clara, Theresa, and the mother of the Siberian girl are the same person and the one who created Earth. She is searching for her daughter Nuri on Earth. She doesn’t know her daughter is Ms. Takahasi (Ch 11) who is also searching for her! </SPOILER>
Content Warnings
Minor: Chronic illness, Suicide, Child death, Blood, Animal death, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Terminal illness