Does anyone know of other books that use blind protagonists or removal of a basic human sense for great effect?
More context:
Two of my favourite books are The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K Le Guin and The Broken Kingdom by N K Jemisin. Both book 2 by great fantasy writers but I realized they both remove sight from the protagonists in different ways leading to some incredible story telling.
In the Tombs of Atuan the protagonist goes into sacred caves and is not allowed to use laterns because of religious tradition. And in The Broken Kingdom the protagonist is functionally blind.
Thank you 😊 🙏
by Electronic_Main_5308
3 Comments
Have you checked out Bird Box by Josh Malerman? The whole premise is that seeing certain things kills you so everyone has to stay blindfolded – creates this insane tension where the characters are constantly navigating by sound and touch
Also The City & The City by China Miéville kind of plays with the concept differently where people have to “unsee” parts of their world due to weird political rules
Makes me think of The Giver, where nobody has color vision. It describes one character getting it but not having words to describe it and that particular passage has stuck with me.
Check out The Miracle Worker by William Gibson.
It’s a play about Annie Sullivan, the partially blind teacher who taught Helen Keller to read, write, and speak. It’s good, and both Annie and Helen are pretty inspiring people. It was produced as a tv show and a musical, if you want more when you’re done.
Edit: Also Harrison Bergeron. The whole premise is that everyone is deprived of everything that makes them special or different. That’s all I’m gonna say. It’s a quick read, and a good one.