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tangerinejellies's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
lyrareadsbooks's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this collection so much more than I did. If I ranked based off the last story “A Snake Stepped on” - I would go 5 stars. It’s a lovely, lyrical, coherent story.
If I ranked based on the second story “Missing” I would give the first half 5 stars but the incest was icky.
If based on “Record of a Night too Brief” 1 Star seems reasonable. I like a good surrealist short story, but even those must contain some sort of logic and consistency to the world. This was like a new set of story dice were rolled for each subsection and one the words were incorporated, the character fell asleep or got eaten and the next roll started. The story lacked framework.
If I ranked based on the second story “Missing” I would give the first half 5 stars but the incest was icky.
If based on “Record of a Night too Brief” 1 Star seems reasonable. I like a good surrealist short story, but even those must contain some sort of logic and consistency to the world. This was like a new set of story dice were rolled for each subsection and one the words were incorporated, the character fell asleep or got eaten and the next roll started. The story lacked framework.
lalasel's review against another edition
2.25
‘A Snake Stepped On’ was ok. Couldn’t really get into the other two.
lovleephtogrl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
lizaliza5's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
2.75
i love hiromi kawakami's other books, (especially the briefcase/strange weather in tokyo, one of my favorites), but this was not enjoyable. reading these three stories felt like being trapped in a series of bad dreams. it wasn't scary enough to be nightmarish but the scenes are just uncomfortable and nothing is resolved or explained. when you finish, it's like waking up from a weird dream and trying to analyze what happened as it rapidly dissolves from your memory. i like some of the romantic descriptions but all in all this just made me feel uneasy and i'm glad it's over.
vanillabee_'s review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to love this more, because the writing style itself is so dynamic and imaginative, but it was just difficult to follow all three stories and the directions they went.
willemvdz's review against another edition
2.0
An unfortunate disappointment. None of the three stories in this book could charm me completely. There were short flashes where I felt I had a grasp on what was being told but ultimately those flashes were few and far between and all the rest felt like an overload of style; weird for weirdness' sake.
karenleagermain's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you to Pushkin Press for providing me with a copy of Hiromi Kawakami's short story collection, Record of a Night Too Brief, in exchange for an honest review.
PLOT- Japanese author Hiromi Kawakami's short story collection, Record of a Night Too Brief, is comprised of three short stories that are surreal and magical. Translated to english by Lucy North.
LIKE/DISLIKE- Normally, I break what I like and dislike about a book, into two separate areas, but with Record of a Night Too Brief, the likes and dislikes blend together, and I thought it would be easiest to simply discuss the book as a whole.
The stories in Record of a Night Too Brief are quite bizarre. They are works of surrealism, with bits of magical realism, and I wondered how much of Japanese folklore was being worked in, that I wasn't picking up on. Normally when I read translated fiction, I feel like I understand the cultural context, but perhaps because these stories were so unusual, I felt like I was getting lost in translation.
I have a confession: Until reading NetGalley's description of the collection a few minutes ago, I didn't realize that this was a collection of three stories. I thought it was a bunch of very short stories with two longer ones at the end. I'm not sure how I missed it ( perhaps because it was so bizarre and confusing) but I didn't not catch on that the short chapters at the beginning of the story were actually one story, rather than individual shorts. Being totally honest, I didn't understand them. I read them more as stories that elicited an emotion, rather than stories that make sense from a storytelling standpoint. It was like walking around a modern art exhibit.
The last two stories, I enjoyed far more. The first was about a woman who is haunted by her older brother, who has died. This brother had been arranged to marry a local girl, who does not know what he looked like, so the family simply marries her to his younger brother, without telling her. The dead brother haunts the household, but only his sister can see him. In one chilling scene, his ghost attempts to make-out with his would-be bride, which his sister can see and she watches as her new sister-in-law struggles to breathe, because a ghost is pressing on her chest.
The last story features a woman who comes home from work to discover a snake in her house. This snake can shift into a woman. It turns out there is a whole world of people who can turn themselves into snakes and they try to lure other people to join them. Animals and transformation are themes woven throughout this collection.
RECOMMEND- Maybe. Record of a Night Too Brief wasn't my cup of tea, but I did find the story about the ghost to be engaging. Overwhelmingly, I felt like I wasn't understanding these stories. If you are able to read Kawakami's stories in Japanese or know more about the Japanese culture, I suspect you would have a very different experience. This collection did win Japan's Akutagawa prize.
Like my review? Check out my blog!
PLOT- Japanese author Hiromi Kawakami's short story collection, Record of a Night Too Brief, is comprised of three short stories that are surreal and magical. Translated to english by Lucy North.
LIKE/DISLIKE- Normally, I break what I like and dislike about a book, into two separate areas, but with Record of a Night Too Brief, the likes and dislikes blend together, and I thought it would be easiest to simply discuss the book as a whole.
The stories in Record of a Night Too Brief are quite bizarre. They are works of surrealism, with bits of magical realism, and I wondered how much of Japanese folklore was being worked in, that I wasn't picking up on. Normally when I read translated fiction, I feel like I understand the cultural context, but perhaps because these stories were so unusual, I felt like I was getting lost in translation.
I have a confession: Until reading NetGalley's description of the collection a few minutes ago, I didn't realize that this was a collection of three stories. I thought it was a bunch of very short stories with two longer ones at the end. I'm not sure how I missed it ( perhaps because it was so bizarre and confusing) but I didn't not catch on that the short chapters at the beginning of the story were actually one story, rather than individual shorts. Being totally honest, I didn't understand them. I read them more as stories that elicited an emotion, rather than stories that make sense from a storytelling standpoint. It was like walking around a modern art exhibit.
The last two stories, I enjoyed far more. The first was about a woman who is haunted by her older brother, who has died. This brother had been arranged to marry a local girl, who does not know what he looked like, so the family simply marries her to his younger brother, without telling her. The dead brother haunts the household, but only his sister can see him. In one chilling scene, his ghost attempts to make-out with his would-be bride, which his sister can see and she watches as her new sister-in-law struggles to breathe, because a ghost is pressing on her chest.
The last story features a woman who comes home from work to discover a snake in her house. This snake can shift into a woman. It turns out there is a whole world of people who can turn themselves into snakes and they try to lure other people to join them. Animals and transformation are themes woven throughout this collection.
RECOMMEND- Maybe. Record of a Night Too Brief wasn't my cup of tea, but I did find the story about the ghost to be engaging. Overwhelmingly, I felt like I wasn't understanding these stories. If you are able to read Kawakami's stories in Japanese or know more about the Japanese culture, I suspect you would have a very different experience. This collection did win Japan's Akutagawa prize.
Like my review? Check out my blog!
dianacanread's review against another edition
3.0
I think I have gotten my fill of surreal fiction. At least, for now.