I wouldn't even mind if the story was a bit longer but it had a lot more potential it just wasn't used to its best. Such a great collection of short stories! I can’t really explain them as the best part of reading it was going in with no expectations and then having literal jaw dropping reactions as the unusual part of the story was revealed. Some of the stories seem to be set now, but in a slightly altered world with different customs, some seem to be set in the near future, others with an altered reality but all made me think about societal customs and expectations and how I’d react to the different situations. My favourites were “A First-Rate Material” in this world clothes are made from human hair, jewellery and furniture from human bones!; “A Magnificent Spread” about different food customs; “Life Ceremony” funerals are called life ceremonies and it is customary to cook and eat the dead person then go and have sex to create new life!. I doubt I will forget this one! “Poochie” an unusual pet two girls have a secret pet, a man pretending to be a dog!; “Lovers on the Breeze” about a curtain named Puff!

Instinct doesn't exist. Morals don't exist. They were just fake sensibilities that came from a world that was constantly transforming It’s the mirage that’s real. All our little lies are gathered together and become a reality that you can only see now. Per usual in short story collections, some texts are stronger than others, but this one truly displays some gems like the title-giving "Life Ceremony" (cannibalism! sex! morality!), and the ones discussing the relativity of what counts as repulsive ("A Magnificient Spread") or, ähem, respectful, maybe ("A First-Rate Material" about, you know, making curtains out of human skin etc.). And how can you not love a story written from the perspective of a curtain?! Plus: Even the really, really short fragments absolutely deserve to be in there. I found the last three entries to be a little weaker, but hey, overall, this is great stuff.

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Freeman, John (November 16, 2017). "In Praise of Sayaka Murata". Literary Hub . Retrieved February 17, 2021. Sayaka Murata is the author of many books, including Earthlings and Convenience Store Woman, winner of the Akutagawa Prize. Murata has been named a Freeman’s “Future of New Writing” author and a Vogue Japan Woman of the Year.

Enter Sayaka Murata and her 12 short stories, that give the metaphorical finger to all things normal and acceptable, in exchange for living life to its fullest, regardless of how silly, weird, uncomfortable and even creepy it may look like.Survival (short story), English translation by Ginny Tapley Takemori, Penguin Books, Tales of Two Planets: Stories of Climate Change and Inequality in a World Divided, 2020, ISBN 9780143133926. [33] But why? It’s no different from your hair, or mine. It’s more natural for us than hair from any other animal—it’s a material really close to us.