Reviews with content warning for Eating disorder - Life Ceremony

This was the 1st, of the only 3 (the other two being Earthlings and Convenience Store Woman) Sayaka Muratas books translated to english, that i've read.

Life Ceremony is a collection of 13 stories, some shorter - some longer, varying in topics going from furniture out of human remains, cannibalism, keeping a grown man as a pet, inanimate objects having feelings for a human being, obsession with bodily fluids, and overall just crazy and bizarre stories about the society and expectations people have for each other and how brainwashed everyone is.

In most stories there's a weird theme that's considered normal and the standard in that particular chapter and it highlights how society looks down on people that don't fit in or obey and become a "beneficial" part of the society.

I like how the book portrays basically the same message in most of these, because despite being about almost identical issues Sayaka manages to shine light on them in so many different ways and angles that they all feel very distinct.

Overall I recommend this book just would suggest reading it first with the order being
Life Ceremony (it gives you the best idea of what kind of a writer Sayaka Murata is, in my opinion)
-> Convenience Store Woman (shorter, milder compared to the other two, cleanses your pallet)
-> Earthlings (the most disturbing and strange of the three, HUGE TW for: pedophilia, incest, cannibalism, rape, domestic abuse, murder).

There were some stories that i wasn't particularly fond of, either because i didn't like the topic or found it a bit boring. On the other hand there were stories i absolutely adored with my favorite two being Body Magic and Puzzle!
I give it 4.25/5 ★.

Content Warnings

edgaranjapoe's review

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challenging dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

yuyuv's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

kymzii's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

Body Horror and Culture Shock
This is a collection of short stories that deal (somewhat metaphorically) with issues surrounding culture, food and lifestyle. However, it is the way Murata approaches these subjects that lift these stories out of banality i.e.

one story involves cannibalism and fertility rituals and another involves using dead human bodies as clothes and furniture.

Her tone is cool and removed and her characters seem a little closed off even when they are baring their souls. My one criticism is that some of her stories go nowhere and the collection would have been better without them e.g. the story where

a woman things she is a building (I'm still not sure what actually happened) or another when a woman is describing how she has a different personality with different friend groups (it just didn't go any where and her husband gets needlessly upset about the whole thing).

Content Warnings

sgonzo's review

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challenging dark funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

vetathebooksurfer's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

ARC REVIEW LIFE CEREMONY BY SAYKA MURATA

[ARC provided by NetGally in exchange for honest review]
TW: eating disorder, can*niba*lism (using human cor*pses in various ways), se*xual content

From my blogging style you’ve probably gathered that Sayka Murata is one of my favourite contemporary Japanese authors, and that’s so for a reason: she doesn’t shy away from hard truths, while her characters - mostly women and young girls - are able to find happiness in extreme circumstances.

While Convenience Store Woman (pub. 2016) is mostly nice and cheerful, although at times weird - the protagonist, a small child, suggests cooking a dead bird for dinner, her second book, Earthlings (pub. 2018), is rough to an extreme - which I personally don’t find weird at all, - and tells a story about a Japanese girl to whom the world of Earth adults is no easy to survive in, than any uninhabited planet.

There are certain motives flowing through both of these books: unusual morals, characters unbound by societies expectations, treating food as an cultural embodiment /mere means to survive, unusual representation of love and feelings. Via Murata’s gaze we don’t find the protagonist weird, it’s the society. which is weird, wild and threatening. And after going through the Earthlings reviews, I noticed that Sayka Murata originally became popular in Japan for her weird short stories. I presume, this is them.

Life Ceremony is a collection of twelve short stories. I immensely enjoyed every single of them: it portrays women, that aren’t supposed to be happy - they are single, odd, having weird eating preferences, doesn’t fit in, have little to no voice of their own. Nonetheless, they are genuinely happy living in harmony with their surrounds. This is the human ability to adapt to anything in order to survive.

Though some of Murata’s characters consciously adapt to blend in perfectly, others find their voice through remarkable situations: refusing to eat and use dead bodies, while it’s considered honourable to the dead, looking for wild herbs in the city, feeling jealous for one’s own mantle piece or refusing one’s sexuality to be claimed by society.

Which leads me to my favourite part about Murata’s books: she gently shows how easy your relatives fall for any lie you create for them, as long as it sounds a little bit believable. People who supposed to genuinely care about you, are satisfied by their own explanations, despite you suffering and calling for help right in front of them.

Sayka Murata’s books make me - a young queer-woman - feel seen and understood. Totally recommend it, if you’re comfortable with these TW!

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