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stardust2001's review
dark
informative
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? N/A
4.5
troxellis's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage
cais's review
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
yetanotherbrian's review
3.0
Came for the Tamiki Hara stories, stayed for Hiroko Takenishi's "The Rite," which reads like a Japanese Clarice Lispector.
swordfishtrombone's review
"At this hour, when the cactuses and sago palms lift up their clustering limbs to the night sky, underneath the leaves the sleeping breath of animals will be wafted forth. The earth is white. The little spring is surely shining silver. Lazy but stubborn, that crowd of oh so very animal-like plants! A beating of the wings of unseen birds. A wild beast suddenly will rise from sleep and come crashing through the thicket and then violently shake itself, its eyes shining gold in the cool air of night.
"Or again... in the heart of the city the buildings have at last recovered the coldness of the stone, while at the foundry, flames enwrap the furnace. The blistering cries of things that leave the womb and the gossamer-weak whimpers from the beds in the old people’s home must melt and run together somewhere in the sky at night. Good fellowship and shame and boastfulness, the groans of the oppressed and long deep sighs like the receding tide; perhaps these also come together somewhere, whirling, whirling round and round. In the shade of all sorts of things are little sprouting lives making a secret gamble. But however secret the bet, however poor the chance, the thing that once begins to breathe alive will go on living in the dark night of the womb, deep in the amniotic sea, until the moon is full; untouched by doubt or hesitation, as if saying that the destiny laid down for it is simply this, to live."
excerpt from "The Rite," Takenishi Hiroko, a short story about the consciousness of survivors of the atomic bomb
"Or again... in the heart of the city the buildings have at last recovered the coldness of the stone, while at the foundry, flames enwrap the furnace. The blistering cries of things that leave the womb and the gossamer-weak whimpers from the beds in the old people’s home must melt and run together somewhere in the sky at night. Good fellowship and shame and boastfulness, the groans of the oppressed and long deep sighs like the receding tide; perhaps these also come together somewhere, whirling, whirling round and round. In the shade of all sorts of things are little sprouting lives making a secret gamble. But however secret the bet, however poor the chance, the thing that once begins to breathe alive will go on living in the dark night of the womb, deep in the amniotic sea, until the moon is full; untouched by doubt or hesitation, as if saying that the destiny laid down for it is simply this, to live."
excerpt from "The Rite," Takenishi Hiroko, a short story about the consciousness of survivors of the atomic bomb
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