Earthlings in Around the World in 80 Books

Nov 23, 2020 Nina ( picturetalk321 ) rated it really liked it

Shelves: author-woman, z-read-gelesen-2020, a-reviewed, transl-japanese, world-japan

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I did not expect that.

I am still reeling.

Added some days later: the world has slowly stopped spinning but this novel knocks all preconceptions out of the ball park. If you ever feel hemmed in by creative writing how-to books or are a tad tired of well-constructed Anglo novels with "beats" and "backstories" and "character arcs": then go for this book which is nothing at all like any of those well put-together novels. And yet it is beautifully written, immensely focused and the author is in comple ...more

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Apr 01, 2021 Wendy rated it liked it

Shelves: horror, contemporary, translated, magical-realism, japanese-literature, 2021

This book comes with all the trigger warnings! ⚠️
Wtf did I just read. I kinda loved it but hated it too 😱 3.5 stars.

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Oct 17, 2022 Nadine in NY Jones rated it it was amazing

Shelves: women-on-the-edge, audio, translation, fiction, 100-best-of-21st-c, literary-schmiterary, is-it-real-or-is-it-memorex, f-ed-up

Wow what did I just read and why did I love it? Talk about DARK and THOUGHT-PROVOKING.

I was not prepared for how DISTURBING this book would be. This is not cute or interesting, it is recoil-and-cringe-in-horror. That poor kid. This was heartbreaking. It's rare for a book to make me cry, but poor Natsuki endured so much, alone, she was so misunderstood, I cried for her. I wish other reviews had made it clear that this book (in particular, chapter 2) contains graphic descriptions of emotiona Wow what did I just read and why did I love it? Talk about DARK and THOUGHT-PROVOKING.

I was not prepared for how DISTURBING this book would be. This is not cute or interesting, it is recoil-and-cringe-in-horror. That poor kid. This was heartbreaking. It's rare for a book to make me cry, but poor Natsuki endured so much, alone, she was so misunderstood, I cried for her. I wish other reviews had made it clear that this book (in particular, chapter 2) contains graphic descriptions of emotional and sexual abuse of a child.

Once I got past the horror of chapter 2, things got a lot better. (view spoiler) To my complete amazement, I went from nearly crying in chapter 2, to literally laughing out loud at the ludicrous events, relayed deadpan, in chapter 5.
This book brought ALL the emotions: horror, heartbreak, shock, dismay, disgust, distress, sadness, sympathy, satisfaction, confusion, amusement, confusion, bemusement, amazement, wonder.

Then there are gems like:

Society was a system for falling in love. People who couldn't fall in love had to fake it. What came first: the system, or love? All I knew was that love was a mechanism designed to make earthlings breed.

And then it gets REALLY weird:(view spoiler)

I do wish the translator wasn't quite so fond of the word "disorientated."

Kudos to the audiobook reader, Nancy Wu, for being able to say "Popinpobopia" a thousand times without snickering, sneering, or tripping over her tongue. ...more

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