Welcome to Litsy!

Under the Eye of the Little Bird, by Hiromi Kawakami (2016, transl. 2024)
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Premise: A novel in linked short stories about the distant fate of humanity.

Review: This will no doubt work for a lot of readers, but despite the fact that I can recognize that it‘s very well done, it was not for me. Told in short stories, all at different moments in the future,, this is meant to keep the reader off guard. Cont.

A future dystopian judgement of our lack of commitment to science and change. So close to home. So timely. So sad.

This monument to Aboriginal sovereignty is going to take hot minute to digest. Wright did an excellent job making time amorphous & porous, such that the characters live simultaneously in the past, present, and even the future. (Homage to oldest extant culture.)There are a multitude of ways to interpret all of the themes, symbolism, etc. such that my head is spinning. 😵‍💫

I normally hate to double post but I also finished this in audio today. I enjoyed the characters but I don't know if it was the fact that it was supposed to be a character driven novel and just didn't have the oomph to really make up for the lack of plot action or what but was a little disappointing. The characters do grow and learn from each other but it felt a little too long and drawn out for any meaningful relationships to form.

What a wild ride. Political upheaval, rebellion led by a tyrant's children, genetic engineering, fanciful creatures, non-binary characters. It was everything. #QueerBC @PuddleJumper #LitsyAtoZ I used the author's name @Texreader

DNF - I rarely do this but it‘s taken me three weeks to get to page 240 and picking it up gives me a moment of dread. It‘s beautifully written I just haven‘t a clue as to what is going on and frankly everyone seems really awful. I think a good example of a probably great book but not for me. Not right now. Off to find something I do fancy for this bank holiday Monday

I borrowed this audio from Queer Liberation Library!
This is a pretty effective zombie novella with strong themes of queer acceptance and righteous anger. A void in the cosmos is causing straight people to become irrational and violent towards queer folk for one night a year. A group of friends attempt to escape to Joshua Tree to wait out the event. It doesn't go well. Heavy COVID allegories, as straights refuse the vaccine and ignore precautions

Incredible.

An atmospheric imagining of the world, say, 10,000 years or so from now.

At first you will be completely baffled, but I dare you not to get drawn in.

This is a majestic parade of ideas told with such gorgeous simplicity and yet never failing to be entirely compelling.

Cast a spell on me.

Read it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
(Plan to film a spoiler-free review shortly. Subscribe to the channel or check back if you want to watch!)

Wow! This book was amazing! Had me 100% hooked. I love Tim Winton but I was reluctant to read this one because I thought it might be too depressing. I‘m sooo glad I did read it! Set in a futuristic Australia where climate change has wreaked havoc and humanity is adapting in order to survive. Gritty and frightening the main character tells his life story to a suspicious stranger in order to survive. Well worth reading.

I wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't get into it.