angelsbeforeman's reviews
1077 reviews

The Book of Tokyo: A City in Short Fiction by Banana Yoshimoto, Kaori Ekuni, Toshiyuki Horie, Masashi Matsuie, Mitsuyo Kakuta, Hiromi Kawakami, Osamu Hashimoto, Shūichi Yoshida, Hitomi Kanehara, Jim Hinks, Michael Emmerich, Nao-Cola Yamazaki, Hideo Furukawa

reflective medium-paced

3.5

overall pretty enjoyable and i liked the atmosphere ^_^ read the collection for banana yoshimoto and hiromi kawakami, and my favourites were their stories and the owl's estate by toshiyuki horie. i absolutely hated mambo though, which just makes me think that hitomi kanehara's work really isn't for me 😭

Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong

emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

truly cannot see myself ever giving ocean vuong's work less than five stars. his style is just too good and i can't read anything he writes without it emotionally hitting me so hard i feel like i need to lay down for 3-5 business days. anyway, i can't pick a favourite here because it would be insanely difficult. i'll just say i think about the line 'i'm sorry for being useful only in language' like 20 times a day !

N.P by Banana Yoshimoto

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.25

it's very banana. it's so her. first of all, i adore her writing style, so this was just wonderful to read. it has some very typical banana yoshimoto literary elements, and i appreciate that. one thing that stands out about this novel is that the concept, theme, and storyline are very unique, which you can tell just by reading the blurb. and i liked that! i also loved the atmosphere and the writing, and the mysterious vibe this one had. it is definitely just a bit different compared to her other work. it would've been perfect, especially because i loved the ending, but. um. i just didn't like the incest subplot. because of course i didn't 😭

Parade: A Folktale by Hiromi Kawakami

reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.25

i had to read this since it's related to strange weather in tokyo, since i love that book a lot. and this was pretty good! the title is accurate for sure, this reads just like a folktale. we follow two characters from strange weather in tokyo, tsukiko and sensei, as tsukiko tells sensei about the time she met creatures called tengu when she was a kid. i quite liked the element of mythology there, and i also liked the writing, so this was an overall enjoyable read ^^

Marie's Proof of Love by Mieko Kawakami

emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

mieko kawakami definitely knows how to make short stories incredibly emotional, because that's exactly what she did here. i'm a big fan of it because i love it when my favorite authors (or any authors at all for that matter) write about love. the writing style was beautiful as always, so many pretty sentences. the characters are also psychologically developed and i can connect with them, which is especially impressive since this is such a short story. lovely!!

Manazuru by Hiromi Kawakami

emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.75

i don't think it's for everyone, mostly because it's sort of vague. but it's definitely for me! i love a story about memories, especially when the story is atmospheric. and the atmosphere is a huge part of the novel, much like with other books by hiromi kawakami. i've always been a huge fan of her writing style, so i'm really not surprised that i loved this. i found it very easy to emotionally connect and sympathise with kei, and i also liked the unnamed woman and how drawn to manazuru (the town) kei was. i also thought the writing was lovely ^_^

Lizard by Banana Yoshimoto

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

i liked these a lot, but i truly expected to like them. i always know what to expect from banana yoshimoto because her style is super consistent, and that applies here too. the stories are very banana, yknow. i was also happy about these being short stories because i think banana's style shines in shorter pieces. anyway, i liked all of these, though helix didn't really appeal to me because i didn't connect with the story. the title story was fun and i liked the more peculiar elements of it. my personal favourites would be a strange tale from down by the river, blood and water, and dreaming of kimchee ^_^

Argentine Hag by Banana Yoshimoto, Nara Yoshitomo

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.25

somewhat reminded me of kitchen, thematically. in argentine hag, banana yoshimoto once again explores the themes of family, death, loss, grief, and coping with the death of a loved one. however, i wasn't bored because the approach is different from her approach in kitchen, and so are the characters. they deal with the grief differently, which is quite good because it allowed the author to showcase the varying ways people cope with loss. just like every other banana yoshimoto book, it's very atmospheric, it has some peculiar elements, and it's well written in her signature style. the design of the book stands out though, because of the pictures by nara yoshimoto ^^

Chandelier: An Original Story by Mieko Kawakami

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

the premise of 'a story about a woman who spends all her time in a department store. not working there. just being there' immediately drew me in. and mieko kawakami didn't disappoint, since she seems incapable of writing something i dislike. anyway, even in such a short story kawakami manages to do some excellent commentary on issues that she's addressed in her other work too. she talks about things such as womanhood, beauty standards, misogyny, mental health issues, family issues, etc. i absolutely loved the atmosphere and mieko kawakami's writing style was amazing as always. so good ♡ 

Amrita by Banana Yoshimoto

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

i liked this because i love banana yoshimoto's work, but i do have to admit it's not her best. in many ways, it has the typical elements you'd find in a banana yoshimoto book, and i liked those. especially the atmosphere, she's amazing at crafting an atmosphere that just draws you in. i also enjoyed the more obvious elements of magical realism that she went for here, it's definitely a bit more surreal than her other work. however, my issue is that it's just too long. objectively, it's not a long book, but i feel like banana yoshimoto's style shines and stands out much more when it comes to pieces that are just a bit shorter. still good!