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Life ceremony : stories / Sayaka Murata ; translated from the Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextLanguage: English Original language: Japanese Publisher: New York : Grove Press, 2022Copyright date: ©2022Edition: First Grove Atlantic hardcover editionDescription: 244 pages ; 22 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780802159588
  • 0802159583
Uniform titles:
  • Seimeishiki. English
Related works:
  • Container of (work) : Murata, Sayaka, 1979- First-rate material
  • Container of (work) : Murata, Sayaka, 1979- Magnificent spread
  • Container of (work) : Murata, Sayaka, 1979- Summer night's kiss
  • Container of (work) : Murata, Sayaka, 1979- Two's family
  • Container of (work) : Murata, Sayaka, 1979- Time of the large star
  • Container of (work) : Murata, Sayaka, 1979- Poochie
  • Container of (work) : Murata, Sayaka, 1979- Body magic
  • Container of (work) : Murata, Sayaka, 1979- Lower on the breeze
  • Container of (work) : Murata, Sayaka, 1979- Puzzle
  • Container of (work) : Murata, Sayaka, 1979- Eating the city
  • Container of (work) : Murata, Sayaka, 1979- Hatchling
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
A first-rate material -- A magnificent spread -- A summer night's kiss -- Two's family -- The time of the large star -- Poochie -- Life ceremony -- Body magic -- Lower on the breeze -- Puzzle -- Eating the city -- Hatchling.
Summary: "With Life Ceremony, the incomparable Sayaka Murata, whose Convenience Store Woman has now sold more than a million copies worldwide, returns with a brilliant and wonderfully unsettling collection, her most recent fiction to be published in Japan. In these twelve stories, Murata mixes an unusual cocktail of humor and horror and turns the norms and traditions of society on their head to better question them. In "A First-Rate Material," Nana and Naoki are happily engaged, but Naoki can't stand the conventional use of deceased people's bodies for clothing, accessories, and furniture, and a disagreement around this threatens to derail their perfect wedding day. "Lovers on the Breeze" is told from the perspective of a curtain in a child's bedroom that jealously watches the young girl Naoko as she has her first kiss with a boy from her class and does its best to stop her. "Eating the City" explores the strange norms around food and foraging, while "Hatchling" closes the collection with an extraordinary depiction of the fractured personality of someone who tries too hard to fit in. In these strange and wonderful stories of family and friendship, sex and intimacy, belonging and individuality, Murata asks what it means to be a human in a world that often seems very strange, and offers answers that surprise and linger"-- Jacket flaps.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library Fiction MURATA, SAYAKA Available 33111010869275
Adult Book Adult Book Northport Library Fiction MURATA, SAYAKA Available 33111009442258
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The long-awaited first short story-collection by the author of the cult sensation Convenience Store Woman , tales of weird love, heartfelt friendships, and the unsettling nature of human existence

With Life Ceremony , the incomparable Sayaka Murata is back with her first collection of short stories ever to be translated into English. In Japan, Murata is particularly admired for her short stories, which are sometimes sweet, sometimes shocking, and always imbued with an otherworldly imagination and uncanniness.

In these twelve stories, Murata mixes an unusual cocktail of humor and horror to portray both the loners and outcasts as well as turning the norms and traditions of society on their head to better question them. Whether the stories take place in modern-day Japan, the future, or an alternate reality is left to the reader's interpretation, as the characters often seem strange in their normality in a frighteningly abnormal world. In "A First-Rate Material," Nana and Naoki are happily engaged, but Naoki can't stand the conventional use of deceased people's bodies for clothing, accessories, and furniture, and a disagreement around this threatens to derail their perfect wedding day. "Lovers on the Breeze" is told from the perspective of a curtain in a child's bedroom that jealously watches the young girl Naoko as she has her first kiss with a boy from her class and does its best to stop her. "Eating the City" explores the strange norms around food and foraging, while "Hatchling" closes the collection with an extraordinary depiction of the fractured personality of someone who tries too hard to fit in.

In these strange and wonderful stories of family and friendship, sex and intimacy, belonging and individuality, Murata asks above all what it means to be a human in our world and offers answers that surprise and linger.

"Originally published as Seimeishiki. Original Japanese edition published by Kawade Shobo Shinsha, Ltd., Tokyo."--Title page verso.

A first-rate material -- A magnificent spread -- A summer night's kiss -- Two's family -- The time of the large star -- Poochie -- Life ceremony -- Body magic -- Lower on the breeze -- Puzzle -- Eating the city -- Hatchling.

"With Life Ceremony, the incomparable Sayaka Murata, whose Convenience Store Woman has now sold more than a million copies worldwide, returns with a brilliant and wonderfully unsettling collection, her most recent fiction to be published in Japan. In these twelve stories, Murata mixes an unusual cocktail of humor and horror and turns the norms and traditions of society on their head to better question them. In "A First-Rate Material," Nana and Naoki are happily engaged, but Naoki can't stand the conventional use of deceased people's bodies for clothing, accessories, and furniture, and a disagreement around this threatens to derail their perfect wedding day. "Lovers on the Breeze" is told from the perspective of a curtain in a child's bedroom that jealously watches the young girl Naoko as she has her first kiss with a boy from her class and does its best to stop her. "Eating the City" explores the strange norms around food and foraging, while "Hatchling" closes the collection with an extraordinary depiction of the fractured personality of someone who tries too hard to fit in. In these strange and wonderful stories of family and friendship, sex and intimacy, belonging and individuality, Murata asks what it means to be a human in a world that often seems very strange, and offers answers that surprise and linger"-- Jacket flaps.

Translated from Japanese.

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