Review: MONKEY New Writing from Japan: Volume 6: HORROR

MONKEY New Writing from Japan: Volume 6: HORROR by Ted Goossen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As always, a very interesting collection of writings.

My favorite stories were:
The Key , by Kaori Fujino
In-House Ghost photos, by Kikuko Tsumura
The Ghosts of Lexington, by Haruki Murakami

Possibly The Collector of Scents, by Yoko Ogawa (not sure if I liked it, but it was haunting).
The same goes for The Man from the Hansa Quarter, by Yuko Yamao
The same goes for Baseball Player Soup by Aoko Matsuda


My absolute favorite was: The Human Chair, by Ranpo Edogawa


And, having recently read The Third Love, by Hiromi Kawakami, it was interesting to read her journey and thought process when writing it.




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Review: Revenge

Revenge by Yōko Ogawa
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

#books #booktwt #bookreview

I enjoyed this a lot.

These are all somewhat eerie stories, slightly intertwined with each other. And why was there a sort of Paul Auster feel to it? 

It would be excellent if someone created a diagram showing how the characters/locations from the various stories are all connected. 

I confess I almost took a star off due to the title. Revenge was definitely not a recurring theme (it featured a bit, off and on), and I saw how the original Japanese title had nothing to do with revenge. I'm not sure why they came up with that title in English. Am I missing something? 

Still, great collection (I'm still a bit lost by the weird off-connection between the last and first stories, but I guess it would include spoilers, so I'll keep it to myself). 

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Review: The Housekeeper and the Professor

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I never thought a book that delves so much into mathematics and (outdated) Japanese baseball would retain my attention so easily. In fact, not only did it keep me involved in the story, but I really hope some of the math sticks with me, since it was explained in a way that made sense, and it was able to convey some of the beauty mathematicians seem to see in math. 

If you want an original and charming book to read then this is it. 

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