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3.28 AVERAGE
3.28 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I liked it well enough. Some stories definitely stuck out more than others, but it moved a bit slow for me. I was in a bit of a slump reading it, so take that into consideration. If you like weird literature, this is for you.
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-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
This was so strange and surreal that it makes Murakami stories look normal. Almost all of the stories made me uncomfortable and they were more than bizarre. The story of the octopus man was wild.
I did find myself wanting more of a novella length for some of the stories. I wanted to know what happened to them. But that’s the magic of a well written short story, be they weird and incomprehensible like these or not.
I did find myself wanting more of a novella length for some of the stories. I wanted to know what happened to them. But that’s the magic of a well written short story, be they weird and incomprehensible like these or not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Incest
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Semua ceritanya aneh. Sebenernya gpp aneh, cuman ini beberapa tokohnya yang aneh itu bingung buat apa ya dibikin aneh begitu? Misal ada yang tokohnya kepala panjang, runcing, dan suka melolong. Trus dia berubah jadi sebesar belalang. Ada sempet jadi rubah. Saya ga paham kenapa harus begitu ceritanya? Sementara, emang ga ada pesan moral apapun. Diminta nikmatin saja. Lha ya itu masalahnya, gimana cara nikmatinnya. 😂
Bukan ga bagus. Mungkin ini bagus buat yang emang suka tulisannya Hiromi. Atau yang memang suka jenis tulisan begini. Atau, ada yang paham konteksnya. Karena saya tidak paham, jadi ya sepembacaan saya saat ini saja nangkapnya.
Bukan ga bagus. Mungkin ini bagus buat yang emang suka tulisannya Hiromi. Atau yang memang suka jenis tulisan begini. Atau, ada yang paham konteksnya. Karena saya tidak paham, jadi ya sepembacaan saya saat ini saja nangkapnya.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
I think what Kawakami is trying to do here is to use imagery and tropes from folktales and mythology so that her narrators can keep trauma and pain at a distance: oppression and suffering filtered through fairy tale.
It works really well for me, but it's definitely a difficult read.
It works really well for me, but it's definitely a difficult read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment
In this collection of short stories, human and animal traits are blended in ways that rarely make coherent sense (for example, in one story a man reveals that he is actually an octopus in disguise; a feat whose physical reality is neither explained nor treated as implausible), but lend themselves to exploring the theme of human strangeness. Every story in the collection features some blurring of the lines between humans and other animals, though never in service to simple cliche or low-hanging fruit comparisons.
I really liked this a lot, and especially appreciate that the juxtaposition of human and animal traits is often used to illustrate the strangeness of human behavior rather than using the human behavior as a “straight man” to animalistic traits. I am a big fan of weirdness in my fiction, and while this sometimes gets a little too cute in its weirdness for my tastes, that’s a minor blemish on a collection I really enjoyed. It’s also surprising how well it works considering not much actually happens, plot-wise, in most of the stories, but Kawakami is the kind of author who can make small emotional shifts feel momentous.
Kitchen God was the real standout for me; highly recommended!
reflective
slow-paced
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes