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A review by katarina_sarmo
Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata
medium-paced
5.0
As usual, Sayaka Murata delivers an oh-so weird and oh-so wonderful novel with each of these stories making me rethink my perspective on societal norms.
Murata has a way of using these very creative (if that’s what you want to call it) and perverse scenarios to put into words and comment on the strange unwritten rules that seem to uphold our society. She somehow makes something so disgusting into an utterly normal and unproblematic concept; if you try to explain these stories to somehow who hasn’t read them, you’ll probably be labelled psychotic and sent away. She has turned cannibalism into a warm fuzzy blanket and it is both horrific and deeply thought-provoking.
A fair warning that this collection can be extremely disturbing and uncomfortable at times (or most of the time, to be honest) so if you find that the idea of cannibalism or wearing human hair makes you cringe, maybe stay away. I couldn’t even find content warnings on StoryGraph that cover the content of this book.
Murata has a way of using these very creative (if that’s what you want to call it) and perverse scenarios to put into words and comment on the strange unwritten rules that seem to uphold our society. She somehow makes something so disgusting into an utterly normal and unproblematic concept; if you try to explain these stories to somehow who hasn’t read them, you’ll probably be labelled psychotic and sent away. She has turned cannibalism into a warm fuzzy blanket and it is both horrific and deeply thought-provoking.
A fair warning that this collection can be extremely disturbing and uncomfortable at times (or most of the time, to be honest) so if you find that the idea of cannibalism or wearing human hair makes you cringe, maybe stay away. I couldn’t even find content warnings on StoryGraph that cover the content of this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Mental illness, and Gore