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A review by cindypepper
Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda
3.0
On paper, Where the Wild Ladies Are is prime Cindy-bait: feminist retellings of Japanese folklore. In the stories where the elements of magical realism were strongest, I was hooked. I loved the setup of "Having a Blast" (the ghost of a woman works alongside her husband, who is still alive), and I loved "A Fox's Life", which is very overt in its allusions to Japanese folklore. The first story, "Smartening Up", is clever, elegant, and wry in its perspective on beauty.
There were two main factors that colored my reading experience though:
- The adaptation of folklore tales are often ingratiated in a very contemporary setting. Starbucks iced chai lattes are easily namedropped alongside Dean & Deluca and The Avengers. The magical elements feel so subtle that you could easily miss them in the blink of an eye. When I was reading about the book, I had expected spoop of the ghost story variety. I'm not sure if I felt spooked out at any point. Maybe weirded out, but not the same psychological terror from reading or watching pure horror.
- I've yet to get used to the slice-of-life structure of the stories. I'm often too used to short stories that follow a buildup/conflict, climax, and resolution (the latter part isn't always necessary; sometimes a good cliffhanger can really bring it home), that some of the stories felt abrupt to me. A setting would be described in intricate detail, only to feel suddenly cut off, without any conflict or resolution (e.g. "My Superpower", "Team Sarashina"). Or maybe I just tend to conflate short stories with novellas and novels, and expect a lot more plot and heft.
There were two main factors that colored my reading experience though:
- The adaptation of folklore tales are often ingratiated in a very contemporary setting. Starbucks iced chai lattes are easily namedropped alongside Dean & Deluca and The Avengers. The magical elements feel so subtle that you could easily miss them in the blink of an eye. When I was reading about the book, I had expected spoop of the ghost story variety. I'm not sure if I felt spooked out at any point. Maybe weirded out, but not the same psychological terror from reading or watching pure horror.
- I've yet to get used to the slice-of-life structure of the stories. I'm often too used to short stories that follow a buildup/conflict, climax, and resolution (the latter part isn't always necessary; sometimes a good cliffhanger can really bring it home), that some of the stories felt abrupt to me. A setting would be described in intricate detail, only to feel suddenly cut off, without any conflict or resolution (e.g. "My Superpower", "Team Sarashina"). Or maybe I just tend to conflate short stories with novellas and novels, and expect a lot more plot and heft.