It's not a secret that I'm a huge fan of Sayaka Murata. She has become one of my favourite authors in the recent years.
I loved her previous two novels 'Convenience Store Woman' and 'Earthlings', the latter being my personal favourite of the two.

Her latest book 'Life Ceremony' is a collection of twelve short stories, beautifully translated from Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori.
The stories in this collection are closer to 'Earthlings' than 'Convenience Store Woman', so keep that in mind if 'Earthlings' was a bit too much for you.

'Lover on the Breeze' is the only story in this collection I was already familiar with and have read before. It was featured in 'Ruptured Fiction(s) of the Earthquake' by Waseda Bungaku in 2012.

The short stories in 'Life Ceremony' are absurd, disturbing, provocative and weird.
The collection starts with a story about using human remains to make clothes, jewellery and furniture. There's also a story about a city where no one sleeps, a side story to 'Earthlings', a story told from the perspective of curtains, and a story about a man being kept as a pet by school kids. There's stories featuring foraging, cannibalism, nymphomania and procreation.

Sayaka Murata found the perfect ballance of horror and humour in this collection of stories. The writing is engaging and her observations are delivered in a unique and brutally nonchalant style. She's brilliant at convincing the reader that all of these disturbing behaviours are perfectly normal.

Murata's short stories challenge and question our social norms and values in a truly bizarre and uncomfortable, but fascinating way.
She's not afraid of pushing boundaries and crossing the line to get her message across.

We often find ourselves relating to her characters who are seen as outcasts in the world she created. No matter how weird, perverse or unusual the protagonists and their views are, it's the society they live in that we find a lot weirder.
We don't see their actions as unreasonable or shocking, but perfectly acceptable considering their circumstances. It's easy to relate to them because trying to fit in and adjust to societal expectations is a universal human experience.

Overall, I thought this was an amazing collection of stories. I enjoyed some stories more than others, which is perfectly normal with short story collections.
I would highly recommend 'Life Ceremony' to everyone who loved Sayaka Murata's previous two novels, and I think these stories would be a great start for people unfamiliar with her work.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

'Life Ceremony' comes out on July 5, 2022.

(Thank you to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for the opportunity to review and read this books).

I would give this 2.5 stars if goodreads let me do so. I think I just don’t enjoy Sayaka Murata’s writing style, as I had the exact same grievances with this book as I did with ‘Convenience Store Woman’. The writing is very simplistic, and whether that’s the translation or not, I just think it would definitely benefit from something a bit *more*. Her characters don’t seem to interact with each other as people regularly do and I find them stunted and difficult to read. I do commend the ideas behind this short story collection as they were really interesting, but they just push the boundaries of what I enjoy to read a little too far and I found a lot of them unnecessarily vulgar and grotesque. Equally, the worlds in which these stories take place seem hasty and underdeveloped, and it just makes everything very unbelievable for me. I think I just don’t get on with the content of Murata’s writing or her writing style - I can definitely see how her bizarre stories would be really interesting to others but they’re just not for me.

These short stories challenge and question societal norms in obscure, uncomfortable, and fascinating ways! Every story was so much fun to read

Fans of 'Convenience Store Woman' and 'Earthlings's Sayaka Murata, the English translations of her short stories are finally here. If you were a big of a fan as the bizarre, boundary-pushing Earthlings, then this is right up your alley. Most of the short stories featured here seem to precursors of what Earthlings came to be. If that novel was too nauseating for your taste, then Life Ceremony probably won't be your cup of tea.

[Spoilers Ahead]

In 'A First-Rate Material', the characters live in an imagined future where human remains are repurposed for jewellery, furniture, and clothing; and are seen as exquisite luxury items. In the title story 'Life Ceremony', society celebrates the life of deceased persons by having hotpot with their flesh and then for dessert, go off to reproduce with in their honour. Perhaps the weirdest one for me was 'Lover on the Breeze', narrated from the perspective of a curtain who hangs in the bedroom of a young girl discovering her first love.

What can I say, I am a huge fan of Murata's voice, her absolute no holds barred approach at storytelling, critiquing at modern society and its hypocrisies. This does not disappoint.

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I love Sayaka Murata, her weird stories, her willingness to push boundaries and suspend judgement. I love her detached way to tell a story; her style makes the oddnesses stand out, while allowing readers to make up their own minds.

This short stories collection does, as expected, deliver her own brand of provocative stories and unapologetic characters - and I could not get enough. Murata takes you on a journey that examines society's biases, that looks at the inevitability of change, and makes you question our current practices. I particularly enjoyed how these women were (mostly) presented as unburdened by social norms, free to live their own realities - being perfectly aware (yet uncaring) of the fact they were at odds with others.

Living in Asia as a foreigner, queer woman, reading Murata is comforting and hopeful (you know, as much as one can find a story about a human-hair sweater comforting and hopeful).

As a big fan of Sayaka Murata's previous work, I can't help but feel a little let down by Life Ceremony. Unlike previous titles like Earthlings, which spoon-fed its unnerving, and at times down-right-disturbing black comedy and drama at a skilful and gripping pace, Life Ceremony looses this in almost all of its short tales. While there are some stand-outs, namely Two's Family and Poochie, a lot of Life Ceremony short stories feel far too empty for the reader to ever become truly emerged. The fly-on-the-wall gaze into the slightly "off" lives of everyone from elderly widows to school girls could have left much more room for intimate character studies, slow-building horror stories, and shock turn-of-events, things I had grown to love Murata for. And while I would still recommend Life Ceremony to anyone looking for and easy read or some some creepy short stories, Murata's latest work ultimately feels anti-climactic in comparison to her stellar previous work.

I’ve always been a fan of Murata’s work - they’re humorous, matter-of-fact and usually quite wacky. The same can absolutely be said for ‘Life Ceremony’. This new book is a collection of short stories, exploring the lives of outcasts and challenging the social norms.

I love the way the stories change perspective, with one even being written from the point of view of a curtain. I also liked that these stories tread the line between horror and comedy, love and hate, and that it’s almost impossible to tell whether they’re set now, in the future, or some kind of alternate reality. Some of them are particularly graphic, so I’m not sure I’d recommend reading them around food… All in all, a super enjoyable read, and really exciting to see Murata’s work translated into this new format!

ARC REVIEW LIFE CEREMONY BY SAYKA MURATA

[ARC provided by NetGally in exchange for honest review]
TW: eating disorder, can*niba*lism (using human cor*pses in various ways), se*xual content

From my blogging style you’ve probably gathered that Sayka Murata is one of my favourite contemporary Japanese authors, and that’s so for a reason: she doesn’t shy away from hard truths, while her characters - mostly women and young girls - are able to find happiness in extreme circumstances.

While Convenience Store Woman (pub. 2016) is mostly nice and cheerful, although at times weird - the protagonist, a small child, suggests cooking a dead bird for dinner, her second book, Earthlings (pub. 2018), is rough to an extreme - which I personally don’t find weird at all, - and tells a story about a Japanese girl to whom the world of Earth adults is no easy to survive in, than any uninhabited planet.

There are certain motives flowing through both of these books: unusual morals, characters unbound by societies expectations, treating food as an cultural embodiment /mere means to survive, unusual representation of love and feelings. Via Murata’s gaze we don’t find the protagonist weird, it’s the society. which is weird, wild and threatening. And after going through the Earthlings reviews, I noticed that Sayka Murata originally became popular in Japan for her weird short stories. I presume, this is them.

Life Ceremony is a collection of twelve short stories. I immensely enjoyed every single of them: it portrays women, that aren’t supposed to be happy - they are single, odd, having weird eating preferences, doesn’t fit in, have little to no voice of their own. Nonetheless, they are genuinely happy living in harmony with their surrounds. This is the human ability to adapt to anything in order to survive.

Though some of Murata’s characters consciously adapt to blend in perfectly, others find their voice through remarkable situations: refusing to eat and use dead bodies, while it’s considered honourable to the dead, looking for wild herbs in the city, feeling jealous for one’s own mantle piece or refusing one’s sexuality to be claimed by society.

Which leads me to my favourite part about Murata’s books: she gently shows how easy your relatives fall for any lie you create for them, as long as it sounds a little bit believable. People who supposed to genuinely care about you, are satisfied by their own explanations, despite you suffering and calling for help right in front of them.

Sayka Murata’s books make me - a young queer-woman - feel seen and understood. Totally recommend it, if you’re comfortable with these TW!

My other links:
review on GR - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4481428091
review on Storygraph - https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/c5362caf-0854-4dab-9d19-39ebc5a31c8d

What a brilliant brilliant book!!! Sayaka Murata you’ve done it again. Is it too early to call a top read of 2022?!! 🤯

In this collection of short stories, some interchanging, mostly in a futuristic version of Earth, going back and forth in time ~ can I just say how blown away I am. The first story really sets the tone for the entire book, and the title story itself was absolutely shocking but also so intriguing???? How do I review this without giving away spoilers??

Let’s say this is more thought provoking but still touches on the heavier topics from Earthlings but not as heartbreaking.

TW: cannibalism, sex scenes, stalking.

In thirty years or so, humans have decided why just cremate the body when people die or bury them a in grave? If humans cut down trees to make furniture or shave an animal’s wool to make clothing — shouldn’t we make the most out of our fellow humans when they pass? There’s a woman who becomes obsessed with scavenging Tokyo’s streets for dandelions and other little plants to make her meals. A city where no one sleeps. A grown man being kept as a pet. A love story from the perspective of one’s curtain.. and so many more.

Without spoiling too much, the title story itself offers a futuristic version of Earth where reproduction is purely an act to repopulate society. Life ceremonies bring people together where they can find a partner for the night, act on it, and hope that in 9 months time a baby is born. The mother is free to drop the baby off at a nursing facility so she can get back to work and continue on with her life. Children are raised both by the government and in traditional family setting. There is so more to this — about what a life ceremony actually is, and as horrid as it may be, I found it sooo interesting. 😳

In short, Murata touches on the notion of conforming to societal values but in this case if people start skinning the deceased to make clothing and if that’s the new norm — as a society do you just accept it cause the majority now agrees with it, or do you fight against it, cause it’s not what you believe in/or were brought up to believe in?

Some of her stories emphasise the importance of friendships and non-romantic love, the exploration of familial relationships and different forms of families. Basically she takes what is considered normal, flips it inside out and upside down and presents it on a silver platter for us to awe over. She dives into the weird and whacky side of society, yet also showing us how love, compassionate, and joy can still be found.

Just brilliant. Honestly, I would only recommend this one if you understood (and appreciated) what Earthlings had to offer.

As with most short story collections, there are some stories I liked better than others. Two's Family and A Summer Night's Kiss were probably my favorite stories. Those two alone make this collection worth reading. Sayaka Murata has a quirky edge though and some of the stories are seriously weird. I didn't vibe with all of them and for that reason the overall rating is a 3.

It's my first time reading japanese short story collection. Usually I don't read short stories because I lost interest. For I really liked all of short stories not like 5 🌠 experience.
My Favourite out of 11 are
Two's family and summer night kiss
Both about two very different women being friends and in Two's family they start living together even raised kids.
It's heartwarming to read two women who are not in romantic relationships creating a family kinda like " let's get married if we stay single till 30 " but no romance.
For stories I didn't like is A first rate material maybe because I didn't understand the meaning but it was boring .
For other I enjoyed it
Overall 3.5 ⭐

4/5 - ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Grove Atlantic
Japanese Literature / Short Stories

Sayaka Murata is always able to unpack the human race and raise a magnifying glass to the cracks in society.

So I loved Convenience Store Woman for its thought provoking commentary on society, and Earthlings was something that I don't think I'll ever forget reading. When I found this book I needed to pick it up to see what Murata would write next.

<B>Everyone keeps telling little lies, and that's how the mirage is created. That's why it's beautiful-because it's a momentary make-believe world.</B>

This reminded me a lot of Revenge by Yoko Ogawa, a collection of short stories, themed horror and set in Japan. Although Life Ceremony doesn't exactly fit into horror, it is definitely on the uncomfortable side of literature.

<B>I don't think this world is all that bad. And I don't think the world that you remember from thirty years ago was bad either. Its always changed over time.</B>

Set in a near-future world where the human race is starting to dwindle, the short stories take components of our society today, and twist and question them. Thought provoking in the same way her previous novels have been, I really enjoyed the squirm factor without it being gory or too much. It is also very well written and set at a pace that keeps you reading.

<B>I had the feeling that humans were becoming more and more like animals</B>

I also enjoyed the recurring characters and how over different time periods and settings these characters notions and beliefs changed. The growth that we see as they adjust to new societal expectations was a fascinating insight into "normal" and how we all try our best to fit in.

Fascinating exploration on why society is how it is, such as what is normal / acceptable versus what is otherwise. CW: eating/reusing the dead, among other things

Thank you so much to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC; it is greatly appreciated.

A First-Rate Material - What an interesting start to the collection ! This short story follows a couple engaged to be married that live in a time where human’s are used as materials. Hair is used for sweaters, bones for furniture & jewelry, and skin for anything from books to lampshades. The couple completely disagree with each other on the ethics of this, but have to confront these differences as their wedding date looms closer.

I think this story brings up a fantastic point. Why do we use animal parts as accessories, but not human ? I do think we may be headed in this direction though. It is becoming popular to turn cremated loved ones into diamonds for example. Dinosaur bones are turned into rings, and antlers are turned into chandeliers. We are also animals, so where should the line be drawn ? 4.5/5

A Magnificent Spread - The way this one is written just feels a little off to me, and I can’t exactly pinpoint why. It’s basically about cultural foods, and how what one person finds delicious, another may find revolting. There isn’t much substance here, so it is not the most interesting story. 2/5

A Summer Night’s Kiss - Ok, I want a whole book about these two old ladies ! This one is just a few pages, but is actually quite a cute story about friendship. 5/5

Two’s Family - This seems to be about the two old ladies from the previous story, but their lives are a bit different. They have lived together for 40 years as platonic friends. I think this is an interesting subject, as I am hearing about more and more people with this arrangement due to the housing crisis. Their friendship is simply beautiful. 5/5

The Time of the Large Star - This is another one that is just a few pages. I honestly do not know how to interpret this one. A girl and her father move to a country that literally never sleeps. The people stay inside during the day, and only come out at night. 3/5

Poochie - What the fuuuuuuck…So this one is about two school children who keep a middle aged man as a pet in a shack on a mountain behind their school. They refer to the man as “Poochie”, and true to his name, he behaves as if he was a dog.

This story is just completely bizarre. It reminds me of the true life cases where people have kept girls chained up in their basement. I’m wondering if this story is just flipping the script and doing the complete opposite of what those situations usually entail ? 3/5

Life Ceremony - This is by far the most wtf story so far. Within 30 years humanity has adopted the custom of cooking and eating the dead after they pass as a celebration of life ceremony. At these events people are encouraged to pair off and have sex, which is now only called insemination, in the hopes of getting pregnant due to the dwindling population. The descriptions in this one got to me a bit, and it made me quite uncomfortable, which is probably the point. I personally just cannot ever imagine eating another human. 3/5

Body Magic - This one was definitely a reference to Sayaka Murata’s other book, Earthlings. This story has been the most uncomfortable, because it deals with the sexuality of 11-12 year olds. The messages here are quite interesting though, as it discusses how most of the kids are just regurgitating things they have heard adults say or in porn. Instead of thinking for themselves, they are going through the motions of what is expected of them by their peers. In opposition to this we have Ruri and Shiho (Shiho being a character from Earthlings) who wish to do things their way, and be comfortable in their own bodies. Since this is a Sayaka Murata story it isn’t exactly that simple or clean-cut though. 4/5

Lover on the Breeze - I’m a bit speechless by this one. It’s beautiful, but weird as hell all at the same time. All I’m going to say is that it’s a story told from the perspective of a curtain. I think this one is my favorite so far. 5/5

Puzzle - Don’t read this one right after eating. This story just didn’t sit well with me. It’s one of the more confusing ones, and is from the perspective of a woman who doesn’t view herself as a living being. 2/5

Eating the City - This story starts off rather normal, but then slowly shifts to the odd and unusual. It isn’t as shocking or thoughtful as the other stories, so it doesn’t have as much intrigue. Murata is very good at displaying unique points-of-view though. 3/5

Hatchling - Wow, this one really hits close to home. It’s about how people change their personalities based on the group of people they are currently around. This is pushed to quite an extreme in this story, but it’s very effective. 5/5

Sayaka Murata has no qualms about pushing boundaries to get her messages across. Not all of them are easy to understand, but her mind works in such a fascinating way. This was the third book of hers I have read, and I consider her to be a “must read” author for me. As for my rating: I have averaged all the individual scores, which brings the overall rating to 3.75, which I’ll round up to 4.

Even though there were a couple of stories in here that were more of a 3.5/4, I really have to give this one a 5. Like the rest of her previously published work (available in English), you’re not really supposed to ‘like’ any of the characters. And if you’re the sort of reader who has needs that sort of ‘satisfaction’ in your general reading experience(s), then Murata’s writing will probably not work for you. The titular story is a strong favourite of mine. I was so grossed out by it, but at its core – I can’t deny that it has such a raw sense of tenderness, endearment and ‘love’. If not love for one another, then love for ‘humanity’. But if love (in the story) requires so much sacrifice so constantly, are we doing it right? Who are we doing it for really? Each other? Or everyone else? Is ‘society’ just a big freaking orgy with a side of casual cannibalism? Murata went so intensely punk-rock on this one. And it reminds me slightly of the tone/vibes (not the horror) in Bora Chung’s Cursed Bunny.

Convenience Store Woman was interesting. The Earthlings was borderline weird. But this one…. Well, things escalated bit too quickly. I cannot decide what is more mind-boggling: wearing a veil made out of your father in law’s skin or participating an insemination party after a life ceremony, which happens to be eating the dead person.

I understand Murata likes to come up with these stories that first shock people deeply, then make them say “what did I just read” and finally “hmmm, maybe she is on to something”. But most of the time, I get stuck in that second step. I cannot pass beyond that step no matter how hard I try. Maybe like one of characters in the stories said, I might be able to make sense of it in 30 years time when traditions, habits, and lifestyles change and what was once unacceptable becomes acceptable. Until then, I will be forever stuck at step two.

If you read The Earthlings, you are going to find some surprises in this collection. There are repeat characters and repeat themes connecting the stories. You can breeze through it (or it will storm into your brain), but I just anticipate that you might need some time to digest what’s going on here.

I'm not sure how I feel about this collection. Most of the stories I really didn't enjoy and was greatly perturbed by them, but that was kind of the point? I also really enjoyed most of the characters and grew attached to them even with the stories that didn't work for me. They do make you think about convention in society and some deeper themes on relationships, so definetly still a fascinating read and her writing style is still impeccable. My favorites were the most tame of the bunch with Two's Family, Hatchling, and Eating the City.

Murata is such a unique writer - there's no other way for me to describe it. Her work, and this collection of stories, challenge what 'normal' looks like. It challenges what we view as normal and provides these alternative world scenarios where flipping these 'taboo' customs on their head and makes them the norm. Her writing is so powerful and her creativity seems so effortless. I love how there's a powerful string of humanity in all of her books. will read ANYTHING she writes!

The first short story caught me by a ... surprise. I am not kidding when I say that I spent the entire time going "oh my god?" (in a good way). And then, as the book continued I only became more and more impressed and like disgusted in a good way. I'm not normally a short story person because I like a continuous narrative, but the continuous themes that were present throughout the different stories helped to tie everything together.

Life Ceremony is a collection of surreal, thought-provoking short stories that explores themes of connection, transformation, innocence, and identity with plenty of body horror mixed in.

Murata has an unconventional way of looking at the world and her writing won't be for everyone. Her poetic horror isn't just for shock value, but her way of forcing you to examine everyday norms in an unforgettable, gut-wrenching way.

I was captivated by the longer short stories, especially the titular "Life Ceremony", wherein a nauseating new tradition that combines cannibalism and consummation is enthusiastically celebrated, and "Eating the City", where a woman driven by homesickness consumes wild plants around the city and transforms into a feral animal. (But secretly, my favorite is "Poochie", a short, very darkly hilarious story about two school girls with an unusual pet. It made me laugh so hard. I need to call my therapist.)

A few stories had great premises, but felt unfinished and lacking and distracted from the other gems.

Though it's a mixed bag in terms of writing quality and consistency, it's a quick, absorbing read and was a great introduction to Murata's unique writing style for me.

3.5 / 5

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.