MixedPaste\"Zazen by Vanessa Veselka not only grants us access to [an[ unexpected point of view, but also creates a world where uprisings and escape seem futile, despite fashionable interest in them ... It’s only natural for readers to wonder whether the images of this crumbling dystopia, confusing the real and the figurative, simply stand as metaphors that Della has self-constructed to convey her own mental states. Are the places she refers to actual physical locations or just the war-torn landscapes in her mind? There is Old Honduras, and there is New Honduras—both seem real, yet not real at all ... Certain readers may find a book like Zazen perfectly frustrating ... Looking out into infinity and finally addressing the vastness outside themselves, these rebels [like Zazen\'s Della]who refuse to rebel manage a quick step forward. They pull away from particular images that have kept them stuck. In these dystopias, that small final step feels significant, even though it may not be the massive uprising or karmic lashing we look for in a traditional apocalypse.
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