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The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy
“I think a lot of people would elect to be dead if they didnt have to die.” By turns, blunt and meandering The Passenger presents its readers with an unsparing tale permeated by existential angst. Cormac McCarthy’s prose is uncompromising: much of the narrative consists of dialogues: rambling conversations, mystifying backwards and forwards, sharp repartees,…
1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 3rd pov, 4 STARS, addiction, ageing, ALIENATION, ambiguous protagonist, ambivalent mood, America, atmospheric, bad love, bars & restaurants, Cormac McCarthy, dead girls, DEATH, desire, dialogue heavy, endless monologues, existentialism, experimental, feverish, FLORIDA, GRIEF, grit lit, GUILT, hallucinations, hauntings, history, i don’t think happiness is for me, Ibiza, Idaho, incest, introspective, ISLAND, Kafkaesque, lgbtq+ side, LITERARY FICTION, literary references, Longing, Louisiana, madness, MEMORY, mental health, Mississippi, morality, MYSTERY, nature, New Orleans, no plot just vibes, no quotations marks, obsession, paranoia, philosophical, PSYCHIATRISTS & THERAPISTS, psychological, psychology, published in 2022, read in 2022, road trip, schizophrenia, science, scientists & co, sea, siblings, Southern America, spain, suicide, survival, terrific prose, The Passenger, tragedy, trans side characters, war, western -
The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada
While The Factory shares many similarities with The Hole, it lacked the eerie atmosphere that made the latter into such a beguiling read. The Factory switches between three 1st povs, without specifying who is narrating (we usually can guess by the job they do). They all work at ‘the factory, an industrial factory located in…
1st pov, 3 STARS, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Contemporary, female authors, Hiroko Oyamada, HUMOR, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, Kafkaesque, MAGICAL REALISM, My reviews, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, published in 2013, read in 2021, reading, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, surreal, The Factory, TRANSLATED FICTION, weird, work culture -
People From My Neighbourhood by Hiromi Kawakami
The extremely short stories collected in People From My Neighbourhood bear many of the trademarks that I associate with Hiromi Kawakami’s storytelling and work. Under Kawakami’s hand, slice-of-life scenarios are approached from odd angles and permeated by a sense of surreality that will make readers question what exactly is going. As the title itself suggests…
1st pov, 3 STARS, Adult, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, collection of short stories, Contemporary, favourite authors, female authors, interconnected stories, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, Kafkaesque, MAGICAL REALISM, My reviews, People From My Neighbourhood, published in 2020, read in 2021, reading, short stories, SLICE OF LIFE, surreal, TRANSLATED FICTION, weird -
What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi
“A library at night is full of sounds: The unread books can’t stand it any longer and announce their contents, some boasting, some shy, some devious.” Confusion galore! What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours is a relentlessly inventive and delightfully playful collection of interlocked short stories. These intentionally bewildering fabulist stories are inhabited by…
3 STARS, Adult, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, collection of short stories, confusing for the sake of being confusing, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), england, f/f side, FANTASY, female authors, Helen Oyeyemi, interconnected stories, Kafkaesque, lgbtq+, libraries/bookshops, m/m side, MAGIC, MAGICAL REALISM, My reviews, nigerian british author, published in 2016, queer, read in 2021, reading, short stories, story within a story, surreal, weird -
Terminal Boredom: Stories by Izumi Suzuki
Perhaps I should be more lenient towards these stories as they were written in the 1970s but alas I did find them rather dated.Most of these stories are set in near-futures. The first portrays an all-female society in which men are seen as less than human. Other stories present readers with different shades of bleak…
1970s, 2 STARS, ALIENATION, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, dystopia, ennui, existentialism, feminism, futuristic, Izumi Suzuki, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, Kafkaesque, lesbian side characters, lgbtq+, loneliness, My reviews, navel gazing, near future/alternate reality, published in 2021, queer, read in 2021, reading, SCI-FI, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, SPECULATIVE FICTION, terminal boredom, Terminal Boredom: stories, TRANSLATED FICTION, weird -
Picnic in the Storm by Yukiko Motoya
Picnic in the Storm, also published as The Lonesome Bodybuilder, is a collection of 11 extremely weird tales. Yukiko Motoya imbues mundane settings with a sense of the surreal so that even a story about a saleswoman at a clothing shop who is trying to assist a customer who won’t come out of their changing…
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Tunneling to the Center of the Earth: Stories by Kevin Wilson
A very Wilsonesque collection of stories: dysfunctional families, spontaneous human combustion, surreal scenarios, and plenty of eccentric characters. Each story in this collection held my attention, and while they share similarities, they also showcase Wilson’s range: from lighthearted tales (such as “Grand Stand-In” and “Tunneling to the Center of the Earth”) to more bittersweet stories…
4.5 STARS, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, bad love, collection of short stories, Contemporary, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), family, favourite authors, friendships, great storytelling, HUMOR, Kafkaesque, Kevin Wilson, lgbtq+ side, LITERARY FICTION, m/m side, MAGICAL REALISM, male authors, museums, published in 2009, queer side characters, read in 2020, short stories, siblings, SPECULATIVE FICTION, surreal, toxic relationships, Tunneling to the Center of the Earth, weird, what ifs, work culture -
The Sundial by Shirley Jackson — book review
“I mean, why should I figure I’m so special, the world is going to end while I’m around?” In The Sundial, perhaps Shirley Jackson’s most comical novel, twelve rather disagreeable individuals are cooped together in a mansion waiting for the end of the world. “The house would be guarded during the night of destruction and…
1950s, 20th century, 4 STARS, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, american classics, apocalyptic, CLASSICS, creepy setting, dark humor, family, favourite authors, female authors, House As Character, Kafkaesque, madness, manor/big house, modern classics, modern gothic, paranoia, psychological, published in 1958, re-reads, READ IN 2019, read in 2020, SHIRLEY JACKSON, SMALL TOWN, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, surreal, SUSPENSE, The Sundial -
Temporary by Hilary Leichter — book review
“The gods created the First Temporary so they could take a break.” Temporary is a wonderfully bizarre novel. Readers who prefer to read stories that are grounded in reality or that are ruled by logic and reason may be better off steering clear from the sheer absurdity that is Temporary. “She noted the fallacy of…
4 STARS, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, BOOK REVIEW, Booklr, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, female authors, Hilary Leichter, HUMOR, Kafkaesque, LITERARY FICTION, MAGICAL REALISM, office, pirates, published in 2020, read in 2020, ship, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, SPECULATIVE FICTION, surreal, Temporary, temporary workers, unnamed narrator, weird, what ifs, work culture -
Apartment by Teddy Wayne — book review
“I’d been happy before just to be his classmate, to learn from him osmotically, but now I grew excited at what this might blossom into, the sort of close, symbiotic relationship I’d hoped grad school would offer and the Hemingway-Fitzgerald complementary pairing I’d always thought necessary to one’s artistic development.” Set in New York between…
1990s, 1st pov, 20th century, 4 STARS, academia, Adult, ALIENATION, ambiguous protagonist, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Apartment, books about books, books about writers, BOOKS ON WRITING, Contemporary, existentialism, gay, introspective, jealousy, Kafkaesque, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, male authors, male friendships, masculinity, NEW YORK, obsession, psychological, SEXUALITY, Teddy Wayne, terrific prose, toxic relationships, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, unnamed narrator, unrequited love
luce [is reading] 