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breadandmushrooms's review
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
savazelena's review
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley, Astra House, and the author for an eARC of this anthology.
Sunrise is a collection of short stories with a focus on nuclear energy and it's effect on generations of Japanese women. Each of them is wonderful in itself, but I really appreciated the small connecting elements. Some of them are realistic, some magical, the writing style made to fit each individual one, from strictly factual to poetic.
Overall, a wonderful read. I really enjoyed reading the translator's note as well - I'm the type of reader who will have an existential crisis about not understanding what the author truly meant because I don't speak their language and ideas are hard to translate, so notes like this make me a little more trusting towards the translation.
Sunrise is a collection of short stories with a focus on nuclear energy and it's effect on generations of Japanese women. Each of them is wonderful in itself, but I really appreciated the small connecting elements. Some of them are realistic, some magical, the writing style made to fit each individual one, from strictly factual to poetic.
Overall, a wonderful read. I really enjoyed reading the translator's note as well - I'm the type of reader who will have an existential crisis about not understanding what the author truly meant because I don't speak their language and ideas are hard to translate, so notes like this make me a little more trusting towards the translation.
bookmaddie's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
emsemsems's review
3.0
‘In the background, the Glenn Miller Orchestra played ‘Moonlight Serenade.’ I later learned that the song on the original record’s B-side was called ‘Sunrise Serenade.’ I also learned that as the world’s first nuclear bomb went off at the Trinity Site in New Mexico, the radio played that very song.’
The style of writing is very similar to Kobayashi’s other book, [b:Trinity, Trinity, Trinity|59387725|Trinity, Trinity, Trinity|Erika Kobayashi|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1639128503l/59387725._SY75_.jpg|90465809]. I am not particularly excited when it comes to her ‘dialogues’ (and/or the ways in which the characters interact with one another in general) which really ‘challenged’ my attention span like it did in her other book. Actually, some parts do remind me of Mieko Kawakami’s narrative style, so if you’re into that, you might be into this. And despite not being able to appreciate this book the way it probably deserves to be, I do actually like it considerably more than her other work.
‘If I’m going to die from a bomb dropped on me, I’d like to at least not have it be during my period!’
‘All that spent money, all that shed blood – dark blood smeared on sanitary napkins, on toilet bowls, on silver forceps, on absorbent cotton – her heart beat fast at the thought of it all. At any rate, she needed to calm down.’
‘Every woman wants to stay young and beautiful, no matter how old she is. You’re too young to know now, but you’ll find out.’
This is the kind of book that I’m afraid I’ll be too cocky and impulsive to attempt to read in Japanese just because I know I am only but slightly acquainted with the language. Kobayashi’s book is not even easy to digest in English. Not to say that the translation work is questionable by any means, on the contrary – I think it’s impressive how the translator was able to translate her work so brilliantly. From the ‘afterword’, I can tell that the translator greatly admires and respects Kobayashi’s work, which only makes me more certain that this is a ‘me problem’ – I’m not reading this well enough.
‘The white towers of Hikarigaoka waste processing plant rose into the sky before us. A song started playing on the radio. “This is ‘Welcome to New York,’ by Taylor Swift from her album 1989.’’ 1989, the year Taylor Swift was born. The year the Showa Emperor died. The year I met Quartz.’
I feel like I need to talk about ‘Quartz’. This allegedly ‘ageless’ pretty boy who goes around kissing girls and telling them that every time he ‘blesses’ them with one of his kisses, their ‘lifespan’ is extended by one extra year (which doesn’t make any sense to me, but magical realism or whatever I guess), telling them they’ll remain young and beautiful if they fucked. Either worst character ever, or best character ever, I don’t know. I am not ‘getting’ what he symbolises. It’s just perverse/kinky absurdism to me, but not in a particularly interesting or exciting way. Don Juan, with a fucking stick of immortality. Maybe again I’m just not ‘getting’ what Kobayashi is trying to convey/express with such a character.
Admittedly, I wanted to like this book more than I was able to. Perhaps because I received the review copy around the same time as the G7 summit thing happened. And I thought this must be some kind of cheeky coincidence. But unfortunately, the writing did not really resonate with me. And I even wondered if it’s too demanding of me as a reader to be annoyed at Kobayashi for referencing Virginia Woolf in her book? Because the only thing she mentioned of Woolf was of her suicide note, which really, is kind of disappointing to say the least. It’s the same when other writers/artists talk about Sylvia Plath and utilise hers for their art. Am I just being overly sensitive about this because Woolf happens to be one of my favourite writers, and her death is literally the least interesting thing about her.
Although I seem to harbour only lukewarm feelings for the book, I still think I wouldn’t mind reading Kobayahi’s future writing/work if given the chance to do so. The setting and descriptions – the general presentation/structure of the writing is quite pretty though, but something about it lacks a sense of cohesion (to me). Everything is just a little too subtle for me to fully appreciate. Maybe it’s really a ‘me problem’. The concluding chapter describing a visit to ‘Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant’ was a particularly interesting one (for me at least – especially the bit where the narrator makes a list of the names of the surviving/thriving plants and trees in the area). But I don’t know if I feel this way only because of my previous readings about the ‘real-life events’ which had obviously left an impression on me that I still can’t quite begin to describe properly.
‘Men working at the nuclear plant passed through a checkpoint that was a radiation dosimeter as they came and went. It was so clean and brightly lit, it reminded me of a convenience store – and in fact, there was a convenience store in it. A Lawson.’
starrysteph's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Sunrise was a fascinating yet unnerving connected collection of stories examining the impact of atomic power on generations of Japanese women.
I never knew what to expect next. The stories ranged from sweet family moments to unsettling surrealism to speculative sci-fi-esque worlds.
The writing was beautiful but also quite eclectic, and sometimes the transitions from one story to the next were a bit jarring. I could see some of the linking threads, but I didn’t quite understand why all of the pieces came together in this order.
Some of these ideas were absolutely fascinating (a mysterious pandemic that causes people to lose their ability to communicate; a futuristic time without trees or paper books; a world in which everyone has wings) and all of the stories contained so much depth, symbolism, and ideas that will definitely simmer and expand in my brain. Threads of fire, bugs, and birth/rebirth all popped up again and again.
The simpler stories were enchanting, too, following moments between siblings and mothers and daughters.
It’s a collection that asks us how we engage with our past & how much of our lives are truly within our control. What do we pass down to our children? What happens when we make hidden fears very, very visible?
CW: death, war, murder, epidemic, ableism, terminal illness, grief, infertility, miscarriage, pregnancy, mental illness, suicidal ideation, suicide, mental illness
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(I received a free copy of this book; this is my honest review.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Mental illness, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Body horror, Grief, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual content, Child death, Chronic illness, Infertility, Murder, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Terminal illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Addiction, Death, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Violence, Vomit, and War
seherina's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
“This is ‘Welcome to New York,’ by Taylor Swift, from her album 1989.” 1989, the year Taylor Swift was born. The year the Showa Emperor died. The year I met Quartz.
Already twenty‑seven years ago.”
Thank you, NetGalley and Astra Publishing House, for the chance to read and review Sunrise by Erika Kobayashi. Sunrise comes out on the 11th of July and is 242 pages long.
Sunrise is a series of interrelated narratives that explores the impact of nuclear power on women across generations. The stories include phenomena such as people growing wings, the burning of last books, radioactive springs, and a degenerative illness that affects the mind initially.
Kobayashi blends magical realism, folklore, and science fiction to create stories that cannot be found elsewhere. Each story bleeds into the other, with stories with a story, a style that I really appreciated.
I understand for the first time that to die is to lose the ability to meet another’s gaze.
Overall, I loved this collection and’ll be checking out more by the author!
kateflood's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
This short story collection presents an interesting, if slightly repetitive, meditation on nuclear power, Japanese society pre- and post-World War Two, familial relations, and the forces which impact the way we live our lives. I would categorise these stories to all be speculative fiction, as some stories are magical realism, some are sci-fi, and I think some verge on horror. Some of the stories in this collection are stronger than others, and my favourite is ‘Shedding’, a dystopian story which covers themes of isolation, fear, loss, and the polarisation of society (you can tell that it was written in the early days of the pandemic).
Kobayashi is clearly an eloquent and talented author, but I’m just not sure if her writing style is for me. I found the topics covered to be compelling, and some of the prose was truly beautiful, but unfortunately I found that Kobayashi’s use of repetition as a literary device became draining by the midway point of the book and stopped me enjoying this book as much as I could’ve done. I also found that these stories were written in a very detached manner, one which is typical of much of the contemporary Japanese literature I’ve read, but I found it bothered me here more than it has in other books. I was desperate to feel like the characters were real people but I felt that I couldn’t really connect with any of them as the writing didn’t allow me to.
That being said, this is still an interesting collection of stories which some people will definitely love, it just wasn’t perfect for me. I also want to give credit to the translator, Brian Bergstrom, who did a great job. His translator’s note at the end was illuminating to me as someone who hadn’t heard of Erika Kobayashi before now.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for letting me read an e-copy in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Violence, Miscarriage, and War
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