Tag: japanese fiction

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My Annihilation by Fuminori Nakamura

Publisher: Soho Crime
Publication Date: 13/01/2022
Length: 257 pages
Genre: Japanese Fiction | Translated Fiction | Psychological Horror | Mystery | Thriller

CW: n/a

Blackwells.co.uk

What transforms a person into a killer? Can it be something as small as a suggestion?

Turn this page, and you may forfeit your entire life.

With My Annihilation, Fuminori Nakamura, master of literary noir, has constructed a puzzle box of a narrative in the form of a confessional diary that implicates its reader in a heinous crime.

Delving relentlessly into the darkest corners of human consciousness, My Annihilation interrogates the unspeakable thoughts all humans share that can be monstrous when brought to life, revealing with disturbing honesty the psychological motives of a killer.

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Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata

Firstly, a huge thank you to Granta and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher: Granta
Publication Date: 14/07/2022
Length: 266 pages
Genre: Japanese Fiction | Translated Fiction | Short Stories | Horror | Contemporary Fiction

CW: n/a

Blackwells.co.uk

An engaged couple falls out over the husband’s dislike of clothes and objects made from human materials; a young girl finds herself deeply enamoured with the curtain in her childhood bedroom; people honour their dead by eating them and then procreating. Published in English for the first time, this exclusive edition also includes the story that first brought Sayaka Murata international acclaim: ‘A Clean Marriage’, which tells the story of a happily asexual couple who must submit to some radical medical procedures if they are to conceive a longed-for child.

Mixing taboo-breaking body horror with feminist revenge fables, old ladies who love each other and young women finding empathy and transformation in unlikely places, Life Ceremony is a wild ride to the outer edges of one of the most original minds in contemporary fiction.

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The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura

Firstly, a huge thank you to Faber & Faber and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher: Faber & Faber
Publication Date: 03/06/2021
Length: 224 pages
Genre: Translated Fiction | Japanese Fiction | Thriller

CW: mentions of stalking, mentions of abuse

Blackwells.co.uk

The Woman in the Purple Skirt is being watched. Someone is following her, always perched just out of sight, monitoring which buses she takes; what she eats; whom she speaks to. But this invisible observer isn’t a stalker – it’s much more complicated than that.

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Now You’re One of Us by Asa Nonami

Publisher: Vertical
Publication Date: 18/12/2007
Length: 240 pages
Genre: Translated Fiction | Japanese Fiction | Psychological Thriller | Gothic Horror

CW:  incest, non-consensual drug use

Blackwells.co.uk

All families have their own rituals, secrets, and credos, like a miniature religious cult; these quirks may elicit the mirth or mild alarm of guests, but the matter is rather more serious if you’re marrying into a household. If its’s a Japanese one with a history, the brace yourself: some surprising truths lurk around the corner.

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Rosie | Little Bird Book Blog2 Comments

Top 5 Friday – Women in Translation

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, as I’ve had a lot of things on my plate of late, but I just had to do it for Women in Translation month! As many of you have probably realised by now, I am very passionate about translated fiction. So, I’ve compiled some of my favourite books by women in translation! See if you can spot the unintentional theme…!

Continue reading “Top 5 Friday – Women in Translation” →

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, as I’ve had a lot of things on my plate of late, but I just had to do it for Women in Translation month! As many of you have probably realised by now, I am very passionate about translated fiction. So, I’ve compiled some of my favourite books by women in translation! See if you can spot the unintentional theme…!

Continue reading “Top 5 Friday – Women in Translation” →

Rosie | Little Bird Book BlogLeave a comment

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

Publisher: Granta Books
Publication Date: 02/05/2019
Length: 163 pages
Genre: Translated Fiction | Japanese Fiction | Contemporary Fiction

CW: n/a

Blackwells.co.uk

Meet Keiko.

Keiko is 36 years old.

She’s never had a boyfriend, and she’s been working in the same supermarket for eighteen years.

Keiko’s family wishes she’d get a proper job. Her friends wonder why she won’t get married.

But Keiko knows what makes her happy, and she’s not going to let anyone come between her and her convenience store…

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