What to Read After You’ve Finished Watching Parasite
Photo by Markus Winkler from Pexels
We’re all home practicing social distancing and self-isolation, so what better time to dig into the movies we completely missed out on last year? We’re so excited to finally see Parasite (we know, we know) which is now on Hulu as of April 8! And because we’re currently craving companion media to go with all the other media we’re consuming, we came up with a list of five novels about class conflict and social inequality to read after – and maybe even in anticipation of – Parasite.
The Power by Naomi Alderman
We love a good allegory for the social inequalities that manifest in class and gender, so if you’re craving that heightened tone that makes you simultaneously feel seen and frightened, check out The Power by Naomi Alderman. It’s loud and intense and just about everything we’ve ever wanted in a book. And now we kind of hoping that Bong Joon-ho will create the film adaptation of this novel because we would watch that in a heartbeat.
Buy the book:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books A Million | Bookshop.org
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
We know that you’ve probably already read The Hunger Games, but we’re in a time of social distancing. The only books we have are the ones on our shelves. And hey, haven’t you always wanted to revisit your favorite dystopian novel ten years later. We promise that you’ll pick up a whole new layer of class warfare themes after you’ve seen Parasite. Related question: how soon is too soon for a Hunger Games reboot?
Buy the book:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books A Million | Bookshop.org
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
If you prefer your social inequality novels to be simultaneously stylistically heightened and grounded in satire so sharp it hurts, Crazy Rich Asians is the book for you. It takes on a lens of the upper class that makes everything feel both lavish as all get out and totally and completely normal. Plus it’s full of those “did they really say that?” moments. You’ll be doing double takes at the page.
Buy the book:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books A Million | Bookshop.org
What We Were Promised by Lucy Tan
And while every book we’ve listed so far is heightened in one way or another, What We Were Promised is so grounded and refreshing. Its look at class inequality is so matter of fact that we almost forget who’s side we’re on – or to take a side at all. It’s both a sweeping view of Shanghai in 2010 and an intimate portrait of one family and the people who work for them. Bonus: you get to go on a free vacation to Expo 2010 without leaving your couch!
Buy the book:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books A Million | Bookshop.org
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
While we tend to think about Pride and Prejudice as a book where everyone did an excellent job at social distancing, it’s also a beautiful sweeping novel about how social class and economic divides – and the assumptions that we make about both – can really get in the way of relationships of all kinds. It’s definitely the quietest of all the novels we’ve highlighted here, but sometimes quiet is what we need. Sometimes a variation on a theme, even if that variation is performed pianissimo, is all our brain needs to process big themes like these.
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