Things We Lost in the Fire / Things We Found During the Autopsy

Mariana Enriquez, 2016 [Megan McDowell, 2017]

Kuzhali Manickavel, 2014

(February 2018)

I must confess I read these books simply for the story implied by the juxtaposition of their titles. This was unfair, as both short story collections are, in their own very different ways, very good indeed. The Enriquez is a slice of Argentinian weird noir, with an off-kilter, vaguely supernatural vibe that reads like Shirley Jackson’s edgier younger sister, while I literally cried laughing at the Manickavel. Things We Found During the Autopsy is a breathtaking collection of short, powerful, and often violently funny stories. Driven, urgent stories, though I was often unsure as to whether they were driven by satire or just sheer rage.

The Gentoo penguins will be confused and angry that you have accused them of slavery and invading the Caribbean … thus signalling the beginning of great violence.

The Call of Cthulhu

and Other Weird Stories

H.P. Lovecraft 1920-36 [1999]

(February 2018)

So that’s what all the fuss is about. Huh.

Speak Gigantular

Irenosen Okojie, 2016

(May 2017)

This is an intriguing if slightly uneven short story collection set largely (but not exclusively) in London, but with enough fantastical elements that I was tempted to pitch a review to Strange Horizons. Ultimately, however, I’m not sure I’m capable of crafting a suitably insightful path through these stories, so you’ll just have to settle for some disjointed observations here instead. You’ll live.

Hotel Iris

Yoko Ogawa, 1996 [Stephen Snyder, 2010]

(March 2017)

Odd little Lolita-esque novella about a bored and repressed high school dropout getting into a sadomasochistic relationship with an elderly man. Divertingly uncomfortable in and of itself, but to be honest the thing that sticks in my mind the most is how the blurb on the back gives away plot points that don’t occur until three pages before the end. I get that the constant cry of “Spoilers!” can be pretty tedious, but really. Three pages from the end.

The Diving Pool

Yoko Ogawa, 1990, 1991 [Stephen Snyder, 2008]

(January 2014)

First off, here’s the obligatory plug for my thoughts on Revenge, the other of Ogawa’s books I’ve written about here, and I’m delighted to report that The Diving Pool is every bit as unpleasant.

It Came From the North

Desirina Boskovich (ed), 2013

(December 2013)

After the success of Jagganath last year, it seemed like a good idea to revisit Cheeky Frawg’s latest Nordic short story collection. North is an anthology of Finnish speculative fiction, and it’s a bit more of a mixed bag to be honest.

All Things Must Pass

I’m a straight, white, middle-class Englishman, and as such have absolutely no interest in fashion. I’ve nothing against it in principle; if it floats your boat then good luck to you, everybody needs a hobby, but it’s not something I can force myself to worry about all that much.

Fashion forward.

1Q84 Book Two

              “Who switched the tracks?”

              “Who switched the tracks? That is another difficult question. The logic of cause and effect has little power here.”

Just in case you were in any doubt.

The Book of Human Insects

Osamu Tezuka, 1970-71 [Mari Morimoto, 2011]

(March 2013)

I am by no means a manga or anime fan. They’re as valid art forms as any other, I suppose, but my experience of them is incredibly limited. I’ll occasionally joke that Neon Genesis Evangelion is the reason I first came to Japan, but that’s a story for another time. And a lie.

Revenge

Yoko Ogawa, 1998 [Stephen Snyder, 2013]

(February 2013)

Oh, Jesus. It’s been a long time since I had to put a book down in mid-sentence because my stomach wouldn’t stop turning, and that should be taken as a glowing endorsement.

vN

Madeline Ashby, 2012

(November 2012)

The more I think about this, the worse it gets. That kind of mirrors the reading experience, in that the first half of this book is very good but the second, not so much. We’ll obviously be discussing that second half in some detail, so don’t come whining to me if you didn’t want to hear it. I’m also going lay into an enjoyable book I liked in many respects, so you can be sure that I’ll be showing my working.

Shit just got real...

Right. Big real life project coming up in the next few weeks. To keep things ticking over here I've scheduled one of my by now infamous multi-part specials (don't act like that, you love them really), but I'll probably be less than prompt with the smaller posts, comments, and responses. Apologies.

Normal service will be resumed as and when. I've not come this close to the full year to bail out now...


Credit where it's due.

Shake The Bottle

It's orange, you see, and slightly dribbley. Which is all the excuse I need to post this -

Finger Lickin' Good

The daily commute. It’s a war-zone; a battle-ground where only the fittest survive and the weak, the aged, and the infirm are winnowed from the healthy core of society, dispassionately and mercilessly. You know this.

I assume that by now I don’t need to go to any great lengths describing the particular conditions for foreigners using public transport in Japan. The gaijin zone, the Empty Seat, the amazing invisible force-field we seem to generate, along with the opprobrium we attract for acts which would be disregarded if perpetrated by Japanese people.

Stations

I fucking hate stations.

It doesn't matter how much practice you get at saying goodbye, it never gets any fucking easier.

Here's a completely unrelated picture of Vladimir Putin -

Normal service will resume on Wednesday.

Kicking Puppies

Right in the Kisser

(I was a little cranky when I wrote this. It might be a touch sweary)

Google Image Search is a Joy

But I'm sure you knew that already.

I know my writing can be a bit wordy, so it's nice to break it up with some pictures and pretty shapes and colours. Recently I was doing that and stumbled upon the oeuvre of Jade K Scott. There's been a bit of hand-wringing about people using Kindles and the like for reading smut, instead of the relentlessly improving works they might otherwise be grinding through if people could actually see the covers. I, however, can only applaud Ms Scott and her ilk for identifying a potential market and pursuing it with such verve and consistency. It would be beneath me to suggest that she's just a pseudonym for a bunch of cut n' paste merchants and/or monkeys with typewriters.

I now present a selection of titles from the first two pages of a Google Image search for "jade k scott", for the elucidation of those of you who remain unhappily ignorant of the canon.

Jumping on my Tu-Tu

I was trying to prepare for a debate lesson the other week. Teaching debates in English class is very popular over here. And like lots of things which are very popular over here it’s a nice idea on paper, but awful in practice.

I love debate, argument. I’m such an ivory-tower idealist that I still cling hopefully to the concept of public discussion as meaningful way of approaching a mutually acceptable truth, as opposed to the diametrically-opposed cock-waving sessions it appears to have devolved to. So I adore the idea of teaching it, and of students learning it.

Epistemologically Unsound Conclusions Concerning Japan and the Japanese, Based on Japanese Television

Number three in a series of some.

“Japanese people are Endopterygota.”

Which is to say that young Japanese 'women' are no such thing. They are in fact just the larval phase of the organism, and will eventually metamorphose into their adult stage, more commonly known as 'old Japanese men'.

I know it seems preposterous. “You idiot,” you cry, “They’re different sexes, not different stages of the same creature’s lifecycle!”

Well, I put it to you that it is you, Sir/Madam, who is the idiot in this discussion. Look at this. And this. Also this. In each case we see the typical example of an older male presenter (often with suspiciously dark hair) paired with a much (much, much) younger female. It is never the other way around.

Epistemologically Unsound Conclusions Concerning Japan and the Japanese, Based on Japanese Television

Number two in a series of some.

“Japan's national psychosis of choice is Puer Aeternus.”

Or Peter Pan Syndrome to you and me. Look at this. And this. Also this. The first involves celebrities answering 'pressure study' questions while dressed as schoolchildren. In the second they actually spend an entire day doing actual exams in an actual (well, fake) classroom while dressed as schoolchildren. In the last they are trying to judge the prices of high-end restaurant food. While dressed as schoolchildren. Because, you know, that whole schoolchild - haute cuisine connection there.