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especiallysarah's review
5.0
I wish I could remember who recommended these short stories to me because they're (mostly) brilliant even if only mostly happy.
daniellewalsh's review
2.0
This year I've been reading a lot of shorter novels, and I've also read more short story collections. I find the idea of these difficult sometimes as it's only a tiny segment of life, and not enough time for me to completely delve into somebody's history. However, in the case of 'Happy Stories, Mostly', I actually found that the shorter of the stories were the ones I found easier to digest and enjoy.
At times I did find it hard to follow some of the stories. Although some are linked, at times I felt it hard to remember where some of the angles intercepted. It can be hard to review a collection of short stories when some stick with you more, and others get lost. In this case there were about three that stood out and I will remember as heartfelt and powerful stories.
The concept of the book is that it takes a spin on stereotypically heterosexual characters and puts an LGBTQIA+ spin on things. As pretty much every review says, this book should be titled ‘Sad Stories, Mostly’.
The collection is unique and another one to add to my slowly growing Tilted Axis Press collection. The translations that they are publishing are doing absolutely great work at bringing translated fiction to the masses. The interview between the author, Norman, and the translator Tiffany, at the end was great to read and see their connection with one another.
At times I did find it hard to follow some of the stories. Although some are linked, at times I felt it hard to remember where some of the angles intercepted. It can be hard to review a collection of short stories when some stick with you more, and others get lost. In this case there were about three that stood out and I will remember as heartfelt and powerful stories.
The concept of the book is that it takes a spin on stereotypically heterosexual characters and puts an LGBTQIA+ spin on things. As pretty much every review says, this book should be titled ‘Sad Stories, Mostly’.
The collection is unique and another one to add to my slowly growing Tilted Axis Press collection. The translations that they are publishing are doing absolutely great work at bringing translated fiction to the masses. The interview between the author, Norman, and the translator Tiffany, at the end was great to read and see their connection with one another.
ceplunk's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
3.0
Very sad but beautiful. Would benefit from a reread at some point.
wenzz's review against another edition
4.0
The stories inside give us different perspectives from different lenses and i think its a quality that is necessary for every book to have
rkives4u's review
2.0
dnf at 60% - i don’t get the hype with this to be honest. while i found the concepts of the stories interesting, i felt like the execution was rather lackluster. i was originally gonna give this a 1 star, but i’m giving it another star because this is a translated work and i figured that maybe the translation was what hindered me from fully enjoying it.
galliexyc's review
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
itzreibrary's review
4.0
"What does it mean to be happy? Also, what does it mean to be almost happy? In a world where we disneyfied heterosexualities, for queer folks, what is happiness?"
Happy Stories, Mostly, consists of 12 stories, some long some very short. As queer, Norman Erikson Pasaribu wrote mostly about general issues faced by LGBTQ communities (in, specifically, I think, Jakarta). There are also a lot of mentions about Batak culture, and what intrigued me much; the lost or doubt in faith and God (as the writer raised as a Catholic). There’s one story that gave a deep impression in my mind: The True Story of the Story of the Giant, about Henri, who once read a short story called The Secret History of The Giant Man. The Giant Man supposedly was an urban legend from North Sumatra, about a young man back in the colonial era, who kept growing until he attained a height of around 100 meters. Though it was badly written with ridiculous claim ‘based on a true story’, Henri can’t shake the story off his head. When he went to college in Jakarta, one of his classmates, suddenly mention the story of the giant, whose name apparently Parulian Si Halak Ganjang. Henri became more intrigued when he found out that his classmate was actually a Batak, too, his name was Tunggul Sitorus. Their friendship escalated quickly, until one day Tunggul admitted that he fell in love with Henri. Henri immediately turn him down and eventually, Tunggul threw himself in front of a moving train.
I realized I learn a lot from just this one story. Heteronormativity, which made me snort with laughter; the Batak urban legend, Parulian si Halak Ganjang (Google doesn’t know anything about him); and how hard it was to come out to the person you love if you’re gay, especially when the person not only turn you down but he also straight.
After I read the whole book and caught the writer’s sense of humor (which I love very much), I think the title Happy Stories, Mostly, is actually a sarcasm. There are no happy stories here, even at the almost.
‘I asked if he worried about confirming stereotypes – about gay men having multiple partners and so on. “Henri, Henri,” he sighed, “all the hetero guys I know have three or four girls! What do you call that?” His tone was withering, “heteronormativity!”’ -page 46.
Happy Stories, Mostly, consists of 12 stories, some long some very short. As queer, Norman Erikson Pasaribu wrote mostly about general issues faced by LGBTQ communities (in, specifically, I think, Jakarta). There are also a lot of mentions about Batak culture, and what intrigued me much; the lost or doubt in faith and God (as the writer raised as a Catholic). There’s one story that gave a deep impression in my mind: The True Story of the Story of the Giant, about Henri, who once read a short story called The Secret History of The Giant Man. The Giant Man supposedly was an urban legend from North Sumatra, about a young man back in the colonial era, who kept growing until he attained a height of around 100 meters. Though it was badly written with ridiculous claim ‘based on a true story’, Henri can’t shake the story off his head. When he went to college in Jakarta, one of his classmates, suddenly mention the story of the giant, whose name apparently Parulian Si Halak Ganjang. Henri became more intrigued when he found out that his classmate was actually a Batak, too, his name was Tunggul Sitorus. Their friendship escalated quickly, until one day Tunggul admitted that he fell in love with Henri. Henri immediately turn him down and eventually, Tunggul threw himself in front of a moving train.
I realized I learn a lot from just this one story. Heteronormativity, which made me snort with laughter; the Batak urban legend, Parulian si Halak Ganjang (Google doesn’t know anything about him); and how hard it was to come out to the person you love if you’re gay, especially when the person not only turn you down but he also straight.
After I read the whole book and caught the writer’s sense of humor (which I love very much), I think the title Happy Stories, Mostly, is actually a sarcasm. There are no happy stories here, even at the almost.
‘I asked if he worried about confirming stereotypes – about gay men having multiple partners and so on. “Henri, Henri,” he sighed, “all the hetero guys I know have three or four girls! What do you call that?” His tone was withering, “heteronormativity!”’ -page 46.
magnuscumlaude's review
4.0
I read Happy Stories, Mostly from Tilted Axis press because it was longlisted for the International Man Booker this year. It's a collection of stories, ranging from one page to about 20 pages long, mostly surrounding similar themes: Indonesian culture, broken families, aging women, and sad gays. I don't normally read short story collections, and I think that's because I like being with characters for a long time. That's probably why I preferred the longer stories in Happy Stories, Mostly. All that being said, Pasaribu is such a unique and imaginative writer, and the way he intertwines Indonesian folklore and surrealist touches to his stories was refreshing. Sometimes I didn't know what I was reading, but I definitely did enjoy it.