![]() ![]() Unlike the coronavirus, however, the “Shen Fever” in Severance is uniquely fatal: Its victims become zombies of repetition-endlessly brushing their hair, applying and reapplying face lotion-until their bodies disintegrate. ![]() Similar to the coronavirus, the fictional virus in Ma’s novel is a flu-like virus that first appears in a major Chinese economic center (here, Shenzhen instead of Wuhan) and quickly moves outward, leaving no one unaffected. ![]() What is the difference between a real-life pandemic that originates in China and spreads globally and a fictional pandemic that originates in China and spreads globally? Ling Ma’s apocalyptic 2018 novel Severance-which might be accurately described in terms of the latter-has resurfaced due to its uncanny anticipation of our current global crisis. ![]()
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