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futurama's reviews
320 reviews
Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata
dark
mysterious
1. A First Rate Material: A great opener. Love the reveal shock in the beginning. Grossed out by the skin veil.
2. A Magnificent Spread: I don't agree when readers say Murata is funny but this story did have some humor.
3/4 A Summer Night's Kiss and Two's Family: Were these stories connected? I know that's not the point, but still.
5. The Time of the Large Star: i liked this short little fairy tale. i'd love a novel out of it.
6. Poochie: the imagery was very funny and very disturbing.
7. Life Ceremony: wow. surreal, emotional, vulnerable, all sorts of stuff. Took a shock/weird concept and made something beautiful out of it. i think the first story tried to do this but didn't pull it off as well. this story covers social/cultural issues and introduces a new concept that almost convinces the reader of its probability. my favorite in the collection. amazing.
8. Body Magic: go Shiho!
9. Lover on the Breeze: a concept that sounds kitschy at first (pov of furniture) but it works. i think it works bc the protagonist almost believes the curtain is sentient, or Murata keeps that option open.
10. Puzzle: another knockout. i really enjoyed the longer stories. the transition of Sanae's transformation into an alien-like creature was really smooth. after reading i looked back at the story and couldn't find an exact transition point. impressive! this story seems like what Murata is all about/the message she tells in her stories.
11. Eating the City: despite being the most normal story in the book (one the scale of normal this is the closest), i really liked this one! pleasant, almost wholesome. made me want to eat some plants
12. Hatchlings: Hatchlings and Life Ceremony are competing for my favorite story in the collection. Haruka is weirdly relatable because aren't we all switching personalities for others? I think Murata shines when the story's weirdness is relatable, or reveals something about humanity, and this one is the perfect example.
I didn't like Convenience Store Woman and I really don't understand it when people think Murata's writing is funny. It's very dark. Honestly, I think people assume it's just Japan weirdness. Murata is literally on another planet. I don't like all of her stuff but when I do I love it and I learn.
I also noticed lots of the friend characters are the protagonist's coworkers, people they are forced to interact with. what would happen to the protagonist if they had no one?
2. A Magnificent Spread: I don't agree when readers say Murata is funny but this story did have some humor.
3/4 A Summer Night's Kiss and Two's Family: Were these stories connected? I know that's not the point, but still.
5. The Time of the Large Star: i liked this short little fairy tale. i'd love a novel out of it.
6. Poochie: the imagery was very funny and very disturbing.
7. Life Ceremony: wow. surreal, emotional, vulnerable, all sorts of stuff. Took a shock/weird concept and made something beautiful out of it. i think the first story tried to do this but didn't pull it off as well. this story covers social/cultural issues and introduces a new concept that almost convinces the reader of its probability. my favorite in the collection. amazing.
8. Body Magic: go Shiho!
9. Lover on the Breeze: a concept that sounds kitschy at first (pov of furniture) but it works. i think it works bc the protagonist almost believes the curtain is sentient, or Murata keeps that option open.
10. Puzzle: another knockout. i really enjoyed the longer stories. the transition of Sanae's transformation into an alien-like creature was really smooth. after reading i looked back at the story and couldn't find an exact transition point. impressive! this story seems like what Murata is all about/the message she tells in her stories.
11. Eating the City: despite being the most normal story in the book (one the scale of normal this is the closest), i really liked this one! pleasant, almost wholesome. made me want to eat some plants
12. Hatchlings: Hatchlings and Life Ceremony are competing for my favorite story in the collection. Haruka is weirdly relatable because aren't we all switching personalities for others? I think Murata shines when the story's weirdness is relatable, or reveals something about humanity, and this one is the perfect example.
I didn't like Convenience Store Woman and I really don't understand it when people think Murata's writing is funny. It's very dark. Honestly, I think people assume it's just Japan weirdness. Murata is literally on another planet. I don't like all of her stuff but when I do I love it and I learn.
I also noticed lots of the friend characters are the protagonist's coworkers, people they are forced to interact with. what would happen to the protagonist if they had no one?
Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
2.5
really plays with the concept of time. stretches time. broken down by Elena's pills
Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
1. The Head: Total shock factor, a risky opening story. can really make or break a reader. i hated it but it grossed me out so it worked.
2. The Embodiment: weird, dystopian story. as they say, kafka-esque
3. Cursed Bunny: absolute favorite. a tale of woe
4. The Frozen Finger: I read this a few times through. really enjoyed it. creepy and mysterious and all around weird. seems like it's straight out of Ligeia mag
5. Snare: A folk tale of morals. very classic. i would say it feels like an old folk tale from another culture, although it's all new. i think?
6. Goodbye, My Love: Classic sci-fi/robot tale. tale of robot sentience and classic robots gain human emotions/empathy
7. Scars: Another favorite. I tended to like the longer ones. A tale of the dark side of humanity. Loved the opening of the boy in the cave. depressing as hell.
8. Home Sweet Home: A twist on the classic haunted house tale. I predicted the twist early on, although I'm not sure if it was supposed to be a twist. really enjoyed. liked the part with the annoying neighbor and the car. true haunted house stories are more about horrific neighbors/tenants, HOAs etc
9. Ruler of the Winds and Sands: Classic fantasy tale of doing the right thing. Ok.
10. Reunion: Finally, a story with some vulnerability. A ghost story but not a ghost story.
I finished the collection really liking it but as I review the stories a couple weeks later, I'm not sure if I did so much. A lot of the stories felt like classic tales. Not a bad thing, but nothing super inventive. I'm just off of Sayaka Murata's Life Ceremony and I can't help but compare. Both collections I liked around 3 stories (also the longer ones). In Murata's collection, the stories I liked I really didn't like. However in Chung's, I liked all the stories (yes even the head. i hated it but it was a good story). It's a great collection and I'm having fun recommending it to people (IF they can get past the poop head).
2. The Embodiment: weird, dystopian story. as they say, kafka-esque
3. Cursed Bunny: absolute favorite. a tale of woe
4. The Frozen Finger: I read this a few times through. really enjoyed it. creepy and mysterious and all around weird. seems like it's straight out of Ligeia mag
5. Snare: A folk tale of morals. very classic. i would say it feels like an old folk tale from another culture, although it's all new. i think?
6. Goodbye, My Love: Classic sci-fi/robot tale. tale of robot sentience and classic robots gain human emotions/empathy
7. Scars: Another favorite. I tended to like the longer ones. A tale of the dark side of humanity. Loved the opening of the boy in the cave. depressing as hell.
8. Home Sweet Home: A twist on the classic haunted house tale. I predicted the twist early on, although I'm not sure if it was supposed to be a twist. really enjoyed. liked the part with the annoying neighbor and the car. true haunted house stories are more about horrific neighbors/tenants, HOAs etc
9. Ruler of the Winds and Sands: Classic fantasy tale of doing the right thing. Ok.
10. Reunion: Finally, a story with some vulnerability. A ghost story but not a ghost story.
I finished the collection really liking it but as I review the stories a couple weeks later, I'm not sure if I did so much. A lot of the stories felt like classic tales. Not a bad thing, but nothing super inventive. I'm just off of Sayaka Murata's Life Ceremony and I can't help but compare. Both collections I liked around 3 stories (also the longer ones). In Murata's collection, the stories I liked I really didn't like. However in Chung's, I liked all the stories (yes even the head. i hated it but it was a good story). It's a great collection and I'm having fun recommending it to people (IF they can get past the poop head).
Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
still wrapping my mind around it. Chou managed to weave so many themes in Asian America today such as fetishization, yellow face, sexism, white academia, MRasians...so much more. Ingrid is the perfect satire character and writing in the third person was a good choice (in the acknowledgements it seemed like an earlier draft was in first person) bc the reader can laugh at Ingrid's incompetence rather than try to empathize. All the main characters felt like they were dropped from real life, even though it was a satire! Since there were a lot of themes, the resolution felt a little messy. I would easily read 100 more pages about Ingrid coping with her race-related self hatred. It was very funny, over the top (but not too much), relatable and insightful. Vivian Vo Forever.
(Even though the book is about realizing and overcoming anti-Asian racism, the Japanese characters were stereotyped. And the most unrealistic thing in the book is Stephen tricking a JA woman HE MET AT A PROTEST AGAINST INCARCERATION into a relationship! I almost want to message the author about it
(Even though the book is about realizing and overcoming anti-Asian racism, the Japanese characters were stereotyped. And