Published: July 2021
Pages: 151
Series: Monk & Robot #1
Summary
Centuries before, robots of Panga gained self-awareness, laid down their tools, wandered, en masse into the wilderness, never to be seen again. They faded into myth and urban legend.
Now the life of the tea monk who tells this story is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of “what do people need?” is answered. But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how. They will need to ask it a lot.
My thoughts
This is a beautiful book. A very light, easy read but it packs a punch. Why have I never read anything from Becky Chambers before? I will be fixing that. Her story, her words, her characters and writing is just wonderful. I didn’t think I was broken but this healed a small part of me.
“I think there’s something beautiful about being lucky enough to witness a thing on its way out.”
Somehow chambers is able to articulate my very confusing feelings in a clear way that I completely understood. Have you ever felt sad but you have no idea why? Your life is good, you have positive relationships, things are good, you enjoy your work but it feels like something is missing. There’s this hollow space but you don’t recognise what is missing but nothing fits. This book encapsulated my feelings so, so well and I really enjoyed the different perspective offered through this dialogue.
I spent so much time whilst reading this just self reflecting. Taking small pauses just to ponder on what I read. How does it make me feel? What do I think? I think I could do with a cup of tea right about now.. There was no unnecessary drama, just a Monk and Robot figuring things out and helping people along the way. This is a book that children should listen to, I wish I had heard some of these messages in my younger more impressionable days.
“You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don’t know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live.”
It was also very nice to see a positive human/robot relationship instead of one that is malicious. There are no good or bad guys. Just humans and Robots finding peace. Gosh I do love the science fiction element of sentient beings coming for revenge but you won’t find that here. It was really nice. Humans and Robots sharing the world together, making sure each had their own space and there are no issues. No conquering or wars, just peace. Ahhh I loved it. I probably read very repetitive but I did so much.
“We don’t have to fall into the same category to be of equal value.”
Also, travelling tea monk? This was so warm. I feel like this feeling was what The Teller of Small Fortunes was trying to be but that book missed the mark. Just good tea, empathy and care, and I LOVED (apparently I loved a lot about this book) how the people had such an appreciation for these monks. It was so wholesome.
My only niggles with this book was that there were moments where I was a bit bored. I think the messaging was brilliant and I love a character driven story. It just needs to be balanced enough so that it feels like us readers are there. There were scenes where we were reading all the actions our monk was taking and following his routine and steps. It got a bit lost and I found myself checking out. Perhaps its more a reflection on me and what I like in my books as I still really enjoyed everything else about it.
“Do you not find consciousness alone to be the most exhilarating thing? Here we are, in this incomprehensibly large universe, on this one tiny moon around this one incidental planet, and in all the time this entire scenario has existed, every component has been recycled over and over and over again into infinitely incredible configurations, and sometimes, those configurations are special enough to be able to see the world around them. You and I—we’re just atoms that arranged themselves the right way, and we can understand that about ourselves. Is that not amazing?”
Would I recommend?
If you are looking for something slow-paced that is very character-driven and takes you through themes of healing, self discovery and makes you feel like a warm hug – you will really appreciate this book. Try it and let me know what you think!