Tuesday 26 October 2021

Book Review: MONKEY New Writing from Japan: Volume 2: TRAVEL (Fiction/Short Stories)

Title: MONKEY New Writing from Japan: Volume 2: TRAVEL
Author: Ted Goossen (Ed.)/Motoyuki Shibata (Ed.)
Publisher: MONKEY
Publication Date: 21 December 2021
Pages:
189
Format: eBook PDF
Genre: Fiction / Short Stories
Source: ARC via NetGalley

MONKEY New Writing from Japan is an annual anthology that showcases the best of contemporary Japanese literature. Volume 2 celebrates TRAVEL -- we may not be able to travel much during this second year of the pandemic, but we can travel in our imaginations. MONKEY offers short fiction and poetry by writers such as Mieko Kawakami, Haruki Murakami, Hideo Furukawa, Hiromi Kawakami, Aoko Matsuda, and Kyohei Sakaguchi; new translations of modern classics; a graphic narrative by Satoshi Kitamura; and contributions from American writers such as Brian Evenson and Laird Hunt.

 

MONKEY New Writing from Japan: Volume 2: TRAVEL was a delightful collection of diverse writings that included short stories, a Noh play, a graphic story and poetry. Sea Horse was my favourite short story, but I also really enjoyed many of the other works as well. One nice touch at the end was the notes from the translators on the words they struggled to render in English, which offered great insight into the translation process. If you are a fan of contemporary Japanese literature, this anthology offers a wonderful range of tales, with contributions from a number of leading authors. It gets 4 stars from me.

I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

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