October Books

As You Like It - William Shakespeare

I have always been much more of a fan of Shakespeare’s tragedies (with the exception of Much ado about Nothing) and I have to say that I am just not a fan of this pastoral comedy, but watching the play performed made it a lot more bearable than reading it, which I guess is to be expected but I was expecting a little more. The jury is still out on whether I nailed the essay on it though…

Black and White Photographer - Han Yujoo

This short story by Han Yujoo is available to read via Issuu or Buk thanks to the LTI Korean Library (there are also so many more short stories from Korea available on there for free too!)

The Black and White Photographer follows a young boy who is kidnapped and held in a storage room for a week. In this 20 page short story, Yujoo explores how a young mind would try and grapple with such a traumatic and alien experience.

Tale of a Mad Painter - Kim Dong-in

Another Korean short story that I read on Buk, this one also is a little dark and reads kind of like a Grimms Fairytale. The story is a story within a story, a writer is hiking and he decides to make up a story as he admires the view. The story he makes up is about a painter who is unsightly, and as a result he becomes a recluse, one day he meets a blind girl. I won’t tell you the conclusion as it’s well worth a read.

Walden - Henry David Thoreau - Nearly finished/ might not get to the end because it is oh so dull!

Oh dear. I am most definitely not a fan of Walden, in fact I could indeed say that this may just be the most boring book I have ever had the displeasure of reading. Thoreau is a self-entitled twit, whose occasional moment of poetical flare or interesting philosophical musing is overshadowed by his irritating egocentric narration. Also not much even happens, a whole chapter is dedicated to the hoeing of a bean field! I had to read this for uni and it’s safe to say I will never read Thoreau ever again!

August Books

A little late posting this but I decided to post it anyway…

Judging my the amount of books in this post it would seem that during August I became superhuman with the power to read super fast. Alas, this is not the case, as nearly all the books I read this month were short stories ranging from 21 pages to 50 or just over a 100. The goal was to get back on track with my Goodreads 50 books in a year challenge so that is why I read so many short stories. Clever huh?

Kong’s Garden - Hwang Jungeun

I read Hwang’s I’ll Go On earlier in the year and fell in love with her storytelling style so when I found out that like Hang Kang she had written a short story that was part of the 여유 (Yeoyu) collection from Strangers Press I knew I had to get my hands on it too! What follows is the mystery of a girl who disappears and Cat that takes up residency at the narrators place of work.

Left's Right, Right's Left - Han Yujoo

Another short story from the 여유 (Yeoyu) collection from Strangers Press. Left’s Right, Right’s Left takes place on a staircase as the narrator is trying to flee an assault within the span of a minute. As she flees she recalls memories from years gone by. This little story had an intriguing premise but it felt like something was missing, something I can’t quite put my finger on.

She Must be Mad - Charly Cox

A collection of poems that I received from Netgalley some time ago. She Must be Mad is a self-aware study of womanhood, the transition a modern girl makes to become a modern woman. It’s a tough emotional journey but the poems that are beautifully and wittyly written reflect the bittersweet moment wonderfully.

Lord Arthur Savile's Crime - Oscar Wilde

Witticisms abound in anything that Wilde wrote and Lord Arthur Savile's Crime is no exception. The eponymous story follows Saville as he attends a party and has his palm read by a chiromantist, his fate is to become a murderer. Saville in a farcical twist decides that he must murder in order to carry on with his life and marry his sweetheart. Highly recommend reading this for a little chuckle.

The Memory Police - Yoko Ogawa

A wonderful insightful and powerful read which had me weeping at its closing sentence. This is a book that you must read and I wrote a longer review on this blog so check that out and get this book in your life.

https://www.catecrafter.com/blog/the-memory-police-book-review

Diary of a Murderer - Kim Young-ha

A smart collection of shocking short stories, Diary of a Murderer (the title story) is a masterful stroke of genius and it is of no surprise that the short story was adapted for film in 2017 in Korea. The story follows a old man who gave up being a serial killer but as he has aged so has his mind, he gets diagnosed with Dementia and to try and keep track of his life he writes a diary. I won’t say anymore but it’s well worth a read and I’ll be watching the film asap.

Animal Farm - George Orwell

Classic, thematic and very much a story of its time. As many will already know this anthropomorphic tale is an allegory for communism, but more specifically the Soviet Union. Animal Farm is a quick read but it packs a punch and leaves you thinking long after the last page.

March Yarn - Mieko Kawakami

Kawakami’s short story March Yarn is a simple and quick read. Like a lot of the Japanese novels or short stories I have read this one also falls into the Slice of Life genre that has a little sprinkling of strangeness. A husband and wife stay at a hotel and the wife has a strange dream. I won’t say much more as it may spoil the atmosphere of the story.

Basically this month was my attempt at clawing back my goodreads challenge of reading 50 books in a year. So August was populated with tiny fiction, and I bloody did it!!

Early Autumn Book Haul

The beginning of September is the best time of the year to stock up on books that will get you through the chiller months ahead, as who doesn't love a cosy day in reading snuggled up in blankets with a warm cup of coffee or cocoa.

Books Mentioned:

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan: https://amzn.to/2HPIpYr

The Murder of Harriet Monckton by Elizabeth Haynes: https://amzn.to/2ZYwaPt

The Frolic of the Beasts by Yukio Mishima: https://amzn.to/34x6KvO

Opposite of Always by Justin Reynolds: https://amzn.to/316tjp2

The Complete Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino: https://amzn.to/318KDKa

Before I Met You by Lisa Jewell: https://amzn.to/2HUY6xD

The Nine Cloud Dream by Kim Man-jung: https://amzn.to/2ZKApD4

Book Review: The Memory Police

Yoko Ogawa’s latest novel to be translated into English is The Memory Police, Originally published in 1994, it is quite perplexing as to why it’s taken 25 years to get this story to us considering that Ogawa is one of the most popular authors in Japan. However, just like how Atwood’s The Handmaids Tale feels arguably more relevant now than when it was published, The Memory Police is an important piece of literature that feels very current.

The Memory Police follows an unnamed woman as she navigates life on an unnamed island, she is a writer whose only friends are an Old Man (also without a name) and her editor R. She leads a simple life under a totalitarian regime where things disappear: people, flowers, food - nothing is permanent and can be erased from existence and memory.

Evocative of Orwell’s 1984, but pretty much any piece of literature that has any modicum of paranoia gets dubbed as Orwellian. However, I do feel that The Memory Police goes a step further than standard dystopian novels, it explores the idea of how Memory is so integral to our existence and that without it our identity is compromised. It’s allegorical quality also means that the novel can have multiple different meanings, one person could read it as purely a political novel, another could see it as meditation on life itself, as how we get older things disappear, our memories get tarnished or lost completely. The disappearances could also become a metaphor for climate change, Mother Nature succumbs to the will of man and her bounty depletes after the greed of humanity squanders what she has given us.

As I worked my way through the novel it made my heart feel tender and with each disappearance I felt the novel become a little more tragic and by the last page I was in tears. It is an emotional read and I feel like it has left me thinking upon is contents long after I finished it. But I feel like its power to move the reader is exactly what makes it an enjoyable (if somewhat melancholy) read.

Disclaimer: I received a e-copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

July Books

Monstress vol 2: The Blood - Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda

I read the first volume of this comic book a few years ago and I really enjoyed the artwork and the complex but compelling storyline. But for some reason I only got round to reading the next instalment this July and I am rather annoyed that I didn’t read it sooner, but I guess it’s better late than never.

Monstress is an epic fantasy series set in a Matriarchal world and follows Maika Halfwolf who is learning to come to grips with the fact that a demonic entity resides within her. She is also navigating a world that is at war while trying to avenge the death of her mother. Its a complex but beautiful story.

Europa - Han Kang

I love Han Kang’s writing, she is a master at her craft (whenever I write this word I always write my surname Crafter, and then have to delete the extra letters and de-capitalise the C! I literally can’t help it!). Europa is a very short story but it is brilliant nonetheless. The story touches on gender identity, the break down of marriages and friendship all in 36 pages.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling

I am so getting in to the Harry Potter books, and I guess it’s better late than never. But to be honest the main reason why I didn’t read the books or watch the movies when I was younger was because some mean girls at school said that I looked like Dobby the house elf and in the P.E. changing rooms they would throw dirty socks at me. It was traumatising to say the least. But I can now put the distance between that time and now and enjoy this series at last.

Milena, Milena, Ecstatic - Bae Suah

Bae Suah is another Korean author who I love reading and this little novella is in the same series of Korean short stories as Europa by Han Kang published by Strangers Press as part of the 여유 (Yeoyu) collection. The story follows a lonely filmmaker as he navigates life and when his indie film is wins a grant his life gets a little weird. This short story kinda reminded me of A Painful Case from James Joyces’ short story collection Dubliners. I don’t know if thats just me but I did.

Good Omens - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

This was the Books & Bunnies Book Club pick of the month and while it was an enjoyable read I feel like I made a misstep reading it after watching the TV series, I should have read it years ago when I first bought it!

This past month was a rather good reading month but I am still behind on the Goodreads challenge to read 50 books this year so I think August will be a hectic month of catching up!