Sequoia Nagamatsu

"'The Return to Monsterland' opens Where We Go When All We Were Is Gone, a collection of twelve fabulist and genre-bending stories inspired by Japanese folklore, historical events, and pop culture. In 'Rokurokubi', a man who has the demonic ability to stretch his neck to incredible lengths tries to save a marriage built on secrets. The recently dead find their footing in 'The Inn of the Dead's Orientation for Being a Japanese Ghost'. In 'Girl Zero', a couple navigates the complexities of reviving their deceased daughter via the help of a shapeshifter. And, in the title story, a woman instigates a months-long dancing frenzy in a Tokyo where people don't die but are simply reborn without their memories."--

Where We Go when All We Were is Gone

altlovesbooks

"Godzilla remembers your wife and is sorry. Godzilla cannot help being Godzilla."


I read How High We Go in the Dark last year and loved it. Wouldn't shut up about it. Finally convinced friends to read it too, and those friends loved it. I re-read it with those friends, loved it all over again. We all decided to read this one immediately after finishing his other book, and, wouldn't you know it, I loved this one too. 

Like his other (newer, more popular) book, this one is a collection of short stories. It doesn't have the same time-sweeping, interconnected, epic feel as How High We Go in the Dark, and there's some superficial connections - a few names, a reference here or there to something earlier - but nothing that substantially shifts things at the end like his other book. But that doesn't matter. Each of these stories is just as good as anything there, in my opinion.

Nagamatsu uses various aspects of Japanese folklore and culture as a starting point to tell each of his stories here. Kaiju, kappa, yokai, some death/remembrance customs, and more each have a unique story told involving them in some way. Some of the standouts for me included "Girl Zero", "The Passage of Time in the Abyss", "The Rest of the Way" (right in the feels), and "Kenta's Posthumous Chrysanthemum". Honorable mention to "Placentophagy" for the visceral ick factor, and to "The Inn of the Dead's Orientation for Being a Japanese Ghost" for putting names to things I'd seen in Japanese horror movies/manga. 

You can definitely see the influence this book has on How High We Go in the Dark, but not so much that it's the same thing in different clothes. This was an incredibly unique, compelling, and emotional read that I'm glad I made time for. Highly recommend.

Amanda

Weird and moving series of short stories. Some stories are weirder than others, some are more enjoyable than others, some are more disturbing than others. But all are unique and interesting

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC

Leafling

[3.5, rounded up]

Reading this collection of short stories rich with magical realism was such a delight while I was in Japan and afterward. For months beforehand, I had been watching a lot of Japaneses TV and listening to a lot of Japanese podcasts to work on listening comprehension. One of the things I watched was a kids shows that told simplified, cartoonized Japanese folktales. So as I read this book, there were a lot of moments where I already knew the story it was based on and I feel like I got more out of some of them. But, at the same time, there were several things that were very surprising to me (such as the long neck demon Rokurokubi, which is probably even more unsettling than it sounds). Both situations were fun to be in. Each story dives headfirst into a creatively imagined world where something from Japanese popular culture (i.e. Godzilla) or folklore (i.e. the kappa) is real. I loved this book for its fearlessness and its strangeness.

As is expected with short story collections, there are going to be some that are better than others. The ones that were good were really good. I think Girl Zero would have to be my favorite, due to how much gasping I did while reading it. There are a lot of moments of beauty throughout. But, unfortunately, a few of the stories fell kind of flat despite their interesting concepts. In a couple I just wasn't 100% sure why I was reading what I was reading, which isn't a great feeling to have. The stories that are good are magical and creepy and funny. It would be a shame for anybody interested in Japanese folklore and popular culture to miss out on these tales.

Sidenote: I went to Sequoia Nagamatsu's reading which was a ton of fun with a big crowd, but I was sad to find out that he had other readers there because that meant he only read one story, and it wasn't a favorite. I wanted him to read more!! Oh, also I won a big stuffed Godzilla at the reading, so I'm pleased. And this does not affect my review at all because it was a random raffle and I need my bribery to be more direct than that.

My favorite stories:
1. // Girl Zero
2. // Rokurokubi
3. // The Peach Boy
4. // The Inn of the Dead's Orientation for Being a Japanese Ghost


Full review: Outlandish Lit

Where We Go when All We Were is Gone

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