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grapesoporto's review against another edition
dark
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
I love the twisted mind of Sayaka Murata so i got interested with japanese literature and this book was perfect to explore different japanese authors. And it did NOT disappoint! I got to have more! I thirst for their creative writing!
raeld9601's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
ulyazmh's review against another edition
3.0
Finally finished this book in about 1 month and a half. It is actually longer than my usual pace. Each story has only a few pages, however, I found this book really hard to read. Is it because of my incompetence in understanding the story? Or is it because it was translated from Japanese (sometimes it is difficult to read books that are not in their native language)? The answer is probably a combination of those two reasons, plus the fact that it was written by numerous authors, so I have to adapt to their writing style for every story.
This book is divided into 6 main topics: 'Japan and West', 'Loyal Warriors', 'Men and Women', 'Nature and Memory', 'Modern Life and Other Nonsense', and 'Disasters, Natural and man-Made'. I personally think the grouping of the stories felt unnatural. For example, a story about ‘Flames’ is categorized in Men and Women, which is actually about a single mother who thinks that her child’s illness has a relation to the death of her neighbors. Or ‘UFO in Kushiro’ which is about a man who was left by his wife after looking at news about an earthquake. Rather than put it on Natural Disasters, I think it fits better in the 'Men and Women' section. My list can go on and on, and these examples support the fact that I think the topic is too broad and a single piece of composition can actually be grouped into many topics.
Aside from the negative aspects I mentioned, I found two exquisite stories from this book. They are ‘Patriotism’ by Mishima Yukio and ‘Insects’ by Seirai Yuichi. I will elaborate on each story below.
'Patriotism' was written in 1961. We can find this piece in the 'Loyal Warriors' section. This story is about a lieutenant who wants to commit seppuku because he was asked to chase his comrades and kill them because they had been with the mutineers, and following him, his wife, Reiko, who stabbed herself to death as a form of devotion to her husband. This story progressed from the early night when Reiko learned about the riot and that her husband would commit seppuku, what they did when her husband went home and how they spent their last night together to the end of their lives.
'Insects' was written in 2005. This story is included in the 'Disasters, Natural and man-Made' section. This story is about a woman who was a victim of the Nagasaki bombing. In her old age, she was reminded of an incident in her youth, when she fell in love with a man who ended up marrying another woman. What makes this story interesting is that it turns out that this woman and this married man she liked have committed a "sin", even though this man is known as a devout person. What was more surprising was the man's view of God and all that was happening in his life. According to that man, humans are just like insects, they just eat, mate, and reproduce. Who lives, who dies? It's just luck. He also added that God doesn't spend His time watching over every little person in the world and doesn't remember our faces and names. Like insects. For me, this story does not only discuss the issue of bombs (relation to nature) and love (relation to other human beings), but also the relationship between God and humans. This story really drained my emotions.
Because of those two stories, I felt motivated enough to dive in more to other stories. I re-read several stories that I couldn’t understand in the first read, I gave each story a rating which resulted in an average of 3.5 stars. This is considered to be 'just okay' in my rating system. I probably will not recommend other people to read this book, but I will highly recommend reading two stories I mentioned before.
This book is divided into 6 main topics: 'Japan and West', 'Loyal Warriors', 'Men and Women', 'Nature and Memory', 'Modern Life and Other Nonsense', and 'Disasters, Natural and man-Made'. I personally think the grouping of the stories felt unnatural. For example, a story about ‘Flames’ is categorized in Men and Women, which is actually about a single mother who thinks that her child’s illness has a relation to the death of her neighbors. Or ‘UFO in Kushiro’ which is about a man who was left by his wife after looking at news about an earthquake. Rather than put it on Natural Disasters, I think it fits better in the 'Men and Women' section. My list can go on and on, and these examples support the fact that I think the topic is too broad and a single piece of composition can actually be grouped into many topics.
Aside from the negative aspects I mentioned, I found two exquisite stories from this book. They are ‘Patriotism’ by Mishima Yukio and ‘Insects’ by Seirai Yuichi. I will elaborate on each story below.
'Patriotism' was written in 1961. We can find this piece in the 'Loyal Warriors' section. This story is about a lieutenant who wants to commit seppuku because he was asked to chase his comrades and kill them because they had been with the mutineers, and following him, his wife, Reiko, who stabbed herself to death as a form of devotion to her husband. This story progressed from the early night when Reiko learned about the riot and that her husband would commit seppuku, what they did when her husband went home and how they spent their last night together to the end of their lives.
'Insects' was written in 2005. This story is included in the 'Disasters, Natural and man-Made' section. This story is about a woman who was a victim of the Nagasaki bombing. In her old age, she was reminded of an incident in her youth, when she fell in love with a man who ended up marrying another woman. What makes this story interesting is that it turns out that this woman and this married man she liked have committed a "sin", even though this man is known as a devout person. What was more surprising was the man's view of God and all that was happening in his life. According to that man, humans are just like insects, they just eat, mate, and reproduce. Who lives, who dies? It's just luck. He also added that God doesn't spend His time watching over every little person in the world and doesn't remember our faces and names. Like insects. For me, this story does not only discuss the issue of bombs (relation to nature) and love (relation to other human beings), but also the relationship between God and humans. This story really drained my emotions.
Because of those two stories, I felt motivated enough to dive in more to other stories. I re-read several stories that I couldn’t understand in the first read, I gave each story a rating which resulted in an average of 3.5 stars. This is considered to be 'just okay' in my rating system. I probably will not recommend other people to read this book, but I will highly recommend reading two stories I mentioned before.
juliefgns's review against another edition
4.0
very interesting collection of modern japanese short stories that give you an insight on modern japanese literature, these stories are either very poetic and compelling or absolutely traumatizing, there's no in-between
cat_thecatlady's review against another edition
4.0
this is a really good anthology. it does a great job in showing the diverse variety you can find in japanese literature. like all collections, though, there were stories I enjoyed more than others. but overall, I wouldn't say there are bad stories in this book. just some better than others. the introduction by Murakami is also really well done and a good companion to every story.
I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about japanese literature and japan in general. or even if you're just looking to discover some new authors.
I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about japanese literature and japan in general. or even if you're just looking to discover some new authors.
beeinbooks's review
I'll probably pick it up again later when I'm more in the mood for short form. Lovely edition with a great introduction and selection
crompsy's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
jdash's review
Read some select passages. Very interesting to see the cultural terrain mapped from original authors as far back as the early 1900s.