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A review by callum_mclaughlin
People From My Neighbourhood by Hiromi Kawakami
2.0
I knew heading into this one that it would be a gamble, since magical realism doesn’t often work for me. But, when it does it tends to be when it’s in short story format, and having heard such good things about Kawakami’s other work, I decided to give this collection of micro fiction a shot.
In order to suspend my disbelief, I prefer fabulist elements to be grounded by a strong narrative, a compelling character, or to at least have an obvious thematic meaning. But these interconnected tales fall firmly into the weird for the sake of being weird category that simply does nothing for me, and they are are all so fleeting that there’s no time to establish an emotional connection. There’s no denying the presence of fascinating and visually striking concepts, but it feels more like a scrapbook of ideas and jumping off points than a fleshed out, cohesive collection. It also falls into the trap of having an opening piece that is by far the most compelling; this initial promise heightening the later sense of disappointment.
Not for me, sadly.
In order to suspend my disbelief, I prefer fabulist elements to be grounded by a strong narrative, a compelling character, or to at least have an obvious thematic meaning. But these interconnected tales fall firmly into the weird for the sake of being weird category that simply does nothing for me, and they are are all so fleeting that there’s no time to establish an emotional connection. There’s no denying the presence of fascinating and visually striking concepts, but it feels more like a scrapbook of ideas and jumping off points than a fleshed out, cohesive collection. It also falls into the trap of having an opening piece that is by far the most compelling; this initial promise heightening the later sense of disappointment.
Not for me, sadly.