alisarae's Reviews (1.65k)

This book caught me off guard. Subtle, immersive, and atmospheric, the prose delves into the minds of holiday-goers in rural Scotland. The story unfolds chronologically: it starts early, in the thoughts of a woman who goes running before her family gets up, then continues through the day, jumping from character to character until late that night. The streams of thought were spot on and engaging. The story didn't go where I expected--it's more literary than thriller, I'm afraid--but I still enjoyed it immensely.

Fantastic reporting on an angle of the opioid crisis that has generally managed to stay out of public eye: the owners of Purdue Pharma. One key thing I learned, besides juicy details about this family that makes Knives Out look realistic, is that Purdue Pharma's filing for bankruptcy is not because it had to pay out so much in lawsuits. Far from it--the company was intentionally bled dry by spiking family payouts from the millions to the billions in a preemptive asset drain, and the bankruptcy is a known legal strategy to freeze lawsuits.

I say we vote these schmucks off the planet. They should be the first ones we sacrifice to Bezos's playground.

I love David Sedaris. It doesn't bother me a bit that I have heard most of these stories dozens of times already--I will gladly listen again. My favorites are the stories about life in France and any time his brother Paul appears.

The interview at the end was quite nice. One thing I appreciate about Sedaris is that he openly admits that he is a self-absorbed scumbag, and well, aren't we all. It's freeing, in a way, to admit that ugly side of ourselves, and I think the humor comes from seeing the naked emperor who doesn't yet realize how pitiful he is. In the interview, Sedaris was asked if he believes all the other jerks he writes about are good people having a bad day, or what. He said that people, when caught and publicly shamed, always insist, "That's not who I am." But the honest answer would be, "That's exactly who I am and I'm sorry I didn't keep him inside."

This is Rupi Kaur for the first wave of millennials (the "geriatrics" ;)

"Work. Don't think. Relaxation."

It's always inspiring to get a peek into others' creative processes. Bradbury reminds me a lot of Stephen King in this aspect. Write now, figure out the plot later. The main thing is to write consistently and lot. It is work that demands a constant presence.

I love to read something short, like a novella or book of poetry, on Sunday mornings. I also love reading contemporary Japanese fiction about the everyday lives of people who are a couple steps away from mainstream. For example: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata.

This novella is about a boy in fourth grade who has a crush on the sandwich lady at the grocery store. He is fascinated by her huge eyes with their ice blue eye shadow. His relationships at school are awkward, his mom is emotionally absent. The story really starts to pick up pace when a classmate reveals her secret obsession and gives him a gentle carpe diem nudge.

I love love love this fiction wave coming out of Japan at the moment. I have never been there, I don't have any Japanese friends, but it seems like Japanese culture makers are really embracing their oddities and trying to open up the idea that being off-beat is actually very normal. It's heartwarming to read stories about people coming to terms with their reality.

Ok first off: yes, the writing style is exactly like Murakami's, but by a woman, so it's more interesting. Casual narrations of people going about their daily lives, drinking alcohol, memories linked to old music, feelings of isolation. There are surreal dream sequences/hallucinations that are a counterpart to Murakami's "real" surrealism. If "Men Without Women" is Murakami's title, I think we can accurately describe this book as "Women Without Men". Ha.

Breasts and Eggs were originally published as separate books. Same characters, but there is a gap of a decade or so between the books. The first one is about Natsu's sister's obsession with breast implants and the second is about Natsu's own obsession with meeting her future child, the one who lives in her eggs. Eggs is a more complex and developed story than Breasts, and I was so satisfied with the ending. The story is a calm narration of Natsu going about her life and talking to different female acquaintances about wanting to be a single mother, and each character presents a POV for or against the idea. It's a good discussion of what modern working women are up against when thinking about their futures and family planning.

I liked how real and honest Natsu's psychology is. The emotions and the negotiation of how much of her thoughts/self to share with the people around her is delicately articulated. This was such a good book.

On this Japanese island, the Memory Police make things disappear. First the residents wake up and realize that an object is fading from their memory, and then they need to dispose of all copies of the object on the island. They comply because, well, what's the use of having something that you don't remember how to use or what it's called. It looses all sentimental value, too. Besides the discussion of loss of public memory and how that can be used as a strategy to control a population, the story approaches the idea of memory as self. If we forget our experiences, are we really the same person that we used to be?

#AlisaReadstheWorld : Japan

One of my fave Murakami novels. Don’t believe the haters. The first 75% is really slow, but not uninteresting. Then there is a part that is surreal, and I dislike surrealism, but it doesn’t last long. The ending is lovely.