generalalarm 's review for:

Terminal Boredom by Izumi Suzuki

5.0

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A victory of publication that this incredible collection was finally made available in translation into English some 40 years after they were written. These sad, simple, beautifully built stories that remind me of Ursula K Le Guin, Octavia Butler, Philip K Dick. The stories tackle capitalist alienation, addiction, depression, gender roles, imperialism. The worldbuilding is somehow both straightforward yet also doesn't waste time giving the information needed, perhaps because the stories are narrated in first person and feel very conversational. Many of the narrators are quite self-aware yet dislikable - sycophantic, lacking agency, unable to relate to others.