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vivienong 's review for:
Terminal Boredom
by Izumi Suzuki
Bearing in mind that these stories were all written in the 70s/80s PRE-INTERNET, or even before realising that the world will be connected virtually… Izumi Suzuki *is* most def accurately celebrated as an Avant Garde legendary Sci-Fi Japanese writer for her original thought + the fact that her collection of stories are terrifyingly accurate in today’s context.
If you read this purely as sci-fi stories at face value, sure, they will feel kinda basic and dated. A couple of the stories were also misses for me. But if you dig deeper into it and relate it to our world today, these stories provide a lot of thought-provoking ideas on challenging the status quo + where we’re headed. If we’re not careful, will we forget our autonomy, ending up as just another cog in the machine?
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
*****
Spoilers and individual reviews below:
Woman and woman - Set in a women-only utopia. Reverse Handmaid’s Tale, where in this case men are kept only for reproduction. Thought provoking on biology and social norms.. Is there a “right” way of things?
You May Dream - Apathy in an overpopulated world where some people are reduced to exist only in dreams of others. Things are comfortable, and questions that challenge status quo become annoying to the people used to this comfort (even though it comes at the expense of their freedom and a truly fulfilled life).
Night Panic- Hilarious short story of aliens living on earth, simulating human behaviours, and questioning the purpose of social constructs and what is “natural”. In the process of assimilation forgetting that they aren’t actually human and *can* reverse their behaviour to that of aliens.
“He had no idea what they meant by
"society'. What did they mean? Whenever he asked, his parents screamed, 'You've got no common sense! At your age, shouldn't you have some common sense already?'
So he waited for his common sense to arrive on its own. He'd been waiting for a while now. No sign of it anywhere.”
That Old Seaside Club- (miss for me) Virtual simulation of a vacation on a separate planet, escaping your daily life.
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - (miss for me) Queer story of expedited ageing due to excessive drug consumption… oh wait, time only seems to be flying by because our protagonist is constantly high…
Forgotten - On immigration, classism, cultural differences leading to mistrust between people, paranoia, growing nationalism in the age of globalisation. Strikingly accurate prediction of the world we live in now.
“'Oh, Emma, what a naïve little girl you are. Can't you see it's got nothing whatsoever to do with love for one's country? If anything, it's a form of territorial egotism.
People don't like having a rubbish dump outside their front door, that's all it comes down to.”
Terminal Boredom- ADHD is part of culture now (it’s illegal to remain in the same place for 20 mins), people are addicted to screens, not being able to distinguish between real life and what’s on tv. The lack of distinction basically also means nobody has the sense of smell or taste anymore and emotions are all dull because you think whatever is happening is just a tv show. Most of the stuff on the tv is kinda boring really, but you can’t seem to switch it off. You NEED it. ISNT THIS SOCIAL MEDIA TODAY!!?????
If you read this purely as sci-fi stories at face value, sure, they will feel kinda basic and dated. A couple of the stories were also misses for me. But if you dig deeper into it and relate it to our world today, these stories provide a lot of thought-provoking ideas on challenging the status quo + where we’re headed. If we’re not careful, will we forget our autonomy, ending up as just another cog in the machine?
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
*****
Spoilers and individual reviews below:
Woman and woman - Set in a women-only utopia. Reverse Handmaid’s Tale, where in this case men are kept only for reproduction. Thought provoking on biology and social norms.. Is there a “right” way of things?
You May Dream - Apathy in an overpopulated world where some people are reduced to exist only in dreams of others. Things are comfortable, and questions that challenge status quo become annoying to the people used to this comfort (even though it comes at the expense of their freedom and a truly fulfilled life).
Night Panic- Hilarious short story of aliens living on earth, simulating human behaviours, and questioning the purpose of social constructs and what is “natural”. In the process of assimilation forgetting that they aren’t actually human and *can* reverse their behaviour to that of aliens.
“He had no idea what they meant by
"society'. What did they mean? Whenever he asked, his parents screamed, 'You've got no common sense! At your age, shouldn't you have some common sense already?'
So he waited for his common sense to arrive on its own. He'd been waiting for a while now. No sign of it anywhere.”
That Old Seaside Club- (miss for me) Virtual simulation of a vacation on a separate planet, escaping your daily life.
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - (miss for me) Queer story of expedited ageing due to excessive drug consumption… oh wait, time only seems to be flying by because our protagonist is constantly high…
Forgotten - On immigration, classism, cultural differences leading to mistrust between people, paranoia, growing nationalism in the age of globalisation. Strikingly accurate prediction of the world we live in now.
“'Oh, Emma, what a naïve little girl you are. Can't you see it's got nothing whatsoever to do with love for one's country? If anything, it's a form of territorial egotism.
People don't like having a rubbish dump outside their front door, that's all it comes down to.”
Terminal Boredom- ADHD is part of culture now (it’s illegal to remain in the same place for 20 mins), people are addicted to screens, not being able to distinguish between real life and what’s on tv. The lack of distinction basically also means nobody has the sense of smell or taste anymore and emotions are all dull because you think whatever is happening is just a tv show. Most of the stuff on the tv is kinda boring really, but you can’t seem to switch it off. You NEED it. ISNT THIS SOCIAL MEDIA TODAY!!?????