Book Reviews: Flyaway, Jennings; Summer, Fireworks, and My Corpse, Otsuichi; Bad Brains, Koja
Do I spot a vaguely linked theme?? These are all horror books. "I sure should get back to posting reviews individually," I say, and then definitely do not do that. Forgive that 2 of 3 of these reviews just state "I like this because I like the author," but the cousin to rereads, which I've been doing a lot of this year, is digging into the back catalog of authors I already know I'll like; it's almost as untaxing.
Title: Flyaway
Author: Kathleen Jennings
Published: Tor, 2000
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 185
Total Page Count: 375,540
Text Number: 1387
Read Because: reviewed by![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ambyr, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Bettina, living a quiet life with her mother since the disappearance of the men in her family, begins to fill in the gaps in her memory about what happened to them and to the person she used to be. I like Australian gothic, its unique anxieties and atmosphere born of the tension between the bush and colonialist sensibilities and history; I love to see creatives approach the genre in increasingly refined and critical ways. But my appreciation of Flyaway is predominantly theoretical; I took a while to warm to the actual text. The inset nature of the short stories and paper cutouts are hit and miss—great subject matter, but respectively samey and unintegrated in execution. But what I really struggled with was the names, with differentiating families and occasionally characters, and placing them in the larger plot. More distinct names could combat this, but it's more likely that I just ... don't care about the social tableau, which kept me at a distance from the magic and atmosphere for too much of the text. So I didn't like this as much as I wanted to, but I don't regret reading it and I want to read more like it—the style and genre, always, but more by Jennings in particular as she matures as an author.
Title: Summer, Fireworks, and My Corpse
Author: Otsuichi
Translator: Nathan Collins
Published: Shueisha English Edition, 2016 (1996)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 100
Total Page Count: 375,745
Text Number: 1390
Read Because: fan of the author
Review: Two short stories. Early Otsuichi is less refined Otsuichi that nonetheless has a familiar vibe: offbeat mysteries with dry gallows humor. The titular story is narrated posthumously by a recently-murdered young girl as her friends struggle to dispose of her body, and it's a silly but effective premise that perforce makes it impossible to lose sight of the victim even while hovering over the shoulders of the perpetrators; great tension, deceptively funny. The second story is about a servant working for masters who may not be what they seem, and it's shorter and slighter but has a fun, creepy atmosphere. Neither is as emotionally nuanced, dark, or memorable as his later works. This isn't where to start with Otsuichi (try Goth instead)—but as a fan, it's both more of something I like & a chance to see how his work has evolved.
(Also, what a good title on that title story!)
Title: Bad Brains
Author: Kathe Koja
Published: Roadswell Editions, 2015 (1992)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 370
Total Page Count: 376,155
Text Number: 1392
Read Because: fan of the author, ebook purchased from Rakuten Kobo
Review: After an accident, a lapsed artist finds himself plagued by seizures and increasingly alarming hallucinations. Koja's early work has a distinct vibe, abrupt & fragmented sentences, dirty settings & dirtbag characters. It's an acquired taste but weirdly hypnotic. And a good thing, too, because this has a slow start. It's to some extent necessary, as grappling with a chronic condition is as important, early on, as the burgeoning speculative element; but it's a lot of time spent meandering aimlessly with unlikeable characters. The climax is comparatively hectic, and leans hard into tortured artist tropes—another Koja staple, but better handled elsewhere (namely Skin) where the artists are more motivated & the tropes are therefore more at home. So this is probably my least favorite of this era of Koja, and I'd recommend The Cipher or Skin in its place; but I still liked it fine—mostly by dint of: wanted more Koja, sure did read more Koja.
* It's so weird to purchase ebooks! I'm cool not owning books much these days—I read through the library, I prefer to read on an ereader, physical possessions are gross. But I've been known to buy used paperbacks of texts I can't find in any version from any library; and pandemic = no more bookstores. A perfect opportunity for ebooks! The things I want are obscure and cheap! Digital editions are actually more convenient and, if you back them up, no less impermanent! It was my birthday! But it still feels deeply fake to exchange online dollars for megabyte books, like not just money but also goods & services are all social constructs. This is probably something that I should get over because it could open up my reading—libraries are getting better about indie authors, but there's still a lot they miss.
Title: Flyaway
Author: Kathleen Jennings
Published: Tor, 2000
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 185
Total Page Count: 375,540
Text Number: 1387
Read Because: reviewed by
ambyr, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County LibraryReview: Bettina, living a quiet life with her mother since the disappearance of the men in her family, begins to fill in the gaps in her memory about what happened to them and to the person she used to be. I like Australian gothic, its unique anxieties and atmosphere born of the tension between the bush and colonialist sensibilities and history; I love to see creatives approach the genre in increasingly refined and critical ways. But my appreciation of Flyaway is predominantly theoretical; I took a while to warm to the actual text. The inset nature of the short stories and paper cutouts are hit and miss—great subject matter, but respectively samey and unintegrated in execution. But what I really struggled with was the names, with differentiating families and occasionally characters, and placing them in the larger plot. More distinct names could combat this, but it's more likely that I just ... don't care about the social tableau, which kept me at a distance from the magic and atmosphere for too much of the text. So I didn't like this as much as I wanted to, but I don't regret reading it and I want to read more like it—the style and genre, always, but more by Jennings in particular as she matures as an author.
Title: Summer, Fireworks, and My Corpse
Author: Otsuichi
Translator: Nathan Collins
Published: Shueisha English Edition, 2016 (1996)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 100
Total Page Count: 375,745
Text Number: 1390
Read Because: fan of the author
Review: Two short stories. Early Otsuichi is less refined Otsuichi that nonetheless has a familiar vibe: offbeat mysteries with dry gallows humor. The titular story is narrated posthumously by a recently-murdered young girl as her friends struggle to dispose of her body, and it's a silly but effective premise that perforce makes it impossible to lose sight of the victim even while hovering over the shoulders of the perpetrators; great tension, deceptively funny. The second story is about a servant working for masters who may not be what they seem, and it's shorter and slighter but has a fun, creepy atmosphere. Neither is as emotionally nuanced, dark, or memorable as his later works. This isn't where to start with Otsuichi (try Goth instead)—but as a fan, it's both more of something I like & a chance to see how his work has evolved.
(Also, what a good title on that title story!)
Title: Bad Brains
Author: Kathe Koja
Published: Roadswell Editions, 2015 (1992)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 370
Total Page Count: 376,155
Text Number: 1392
Read Because: fan of the author, ebook purchased from Rakuten Kobo
Review: After an accident, a lapsed artist finds himself plagued by seizures and increasingly alarming hallucinations. Koja's early work has a distinct vibe, abrupt & fragmented sentences, dirty settings & dirtbag characters. It's an acquired taste but weirdly hypnotic. And a good thing, too, because this has a slow start. It's to some extent necessary, as grappling with a chronic condition is as important, early on, as the burgeoning speculative element; but it's a lot of time spent meandering aimlessly with unlikeable characters. The climax is comparatively hectic, and leans hard into tortured artist tropes—another Koja staple, but better handled elsewhere (namely Skin) where the artists are more motivated & the tropes are therefore more at home. So this is probably my least favorite of this era of Koja, and I'd recommend The Cipher or Skin in its place; but I still liked it fine—mostly by dint of: wanted more Koja, sure did read more Koja.
* It's so weird to purchase ebooks! I'm cool not owning books much these days—I read through the library, I prefer to read on an ereader, physical possessions are gross. But I've been known to buy used paperbacks of texts I can't find in any version from any library; and pandemic = no more bookstores. A perfect opportunity for ebooks! The things I want are obscure and cheap! Digital editions are actually more convenient and, if you back them up, no less impermanent! It was my birthday! But it still feels deeply fake to exchange online dollars for megabyte books, like not just money but also goods & services are all social constructs. This is probably something that I should get over because it could open up my reading—libraries are getting better about indie authors, but there's still a lot they miss.