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Pop Bop's Reviews > Terminal Boredom: Stories
Terminal Boredom: Stories
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A Really, Really, Mixed But Mostly Interesting Bag
I was curious about this book because, as the blurb promised, Suzuki is a "legend of Japanese science fiction and a countercultural icon". A quick survey of her other books more or less confirmed this assessment.
Well, the first two stories in this collection, (one about a world without men and the other about voluntarily checking out), were slow and bland. I wondered when the special would start to happen. Then we hit the third story, "The Night Picnic", which is about the last, isolated, slightly deranged, surviving humans, lost in the cosmos, trying to act like traditional humans, based on old videos, books, and the like. It is laugh out loud funny and as edgy, irreverent, and twisty as you could possibly want. It just kept getting better as I read and it finished socko. So, O.K. I thought, now we're cooking.
After that, though, through three more stories, we dream, we travel, we talk and drink, we go to sleep and we wake up, and it's all slightly odd, and disjointed, and disorienting. A lot of it is literally about boredom, including terminal boredom, and it's pretty hard to make boredom interesting, much less exciting. I don't necessarily always "get" Suzuki's point, but I certainly get why she's so popular. This is as good an introduction as any.
(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
I was curious about this book because, as the blurb promised, Suzuki is a "legend of Japanese science fiction and a countercultural icon". A quick survey of her other books more or less confirmed this assessment.
Well, the first two stories in this collection, (one about a world without men and the other about voluntarily checking out), were slow and bland. I wondered when the special would start to happen. Then we hit the third story, "The Night Picnic", which is about the last, isolated, slightly deranged, surviving humans, lost in the cosmos, trying to act like traditional humans, based on old videos, books, and the like. It is laugh out loud funny and as edgy, irreverent, and twisty as you could possibly want. It just kept getting better as I read and it finished socko. So, O.K. I thought, now we're cooking.
After that, though, through three more stories, we dream, we travel, we talk and drink, we go to sleep and we wake up, and it's all slightly odd, and disjointed, and disorienting. A lot of it is literally about boredom, including terminal boredom, and it's pretty hard to make boredom interesting, much less exciting. I don't necessarily always "get" Suzuki's point, but I certainly get why she's so popular. This is as good an introduction as any.
(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
October 19, 2020
– Shelved
October 19, 2020
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Finished Reading
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Caroline
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rated it 4 stars
Oct 21, 2020 01:24PM
This author is female
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Caroline wrote: "This author is female"Thank you. I've corrected the review. Interesting point - does that change how one reads the book?
Pop wrote: "Does that change how one reads the book?"Hmmm, I don't really know. Its a good question though and something I'll definitely keep in mind while reading it.
