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james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-12-21 09:40 am
james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-12-21 08:53 am
hitokage) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
getyourwordsout2025-12-20 08:04 pmluzula) wrote2025-12-20 06:38 pmtrobadora, badly_knitted, sylvanwitch, goddess47, chestnut_pod, brithistorian, sanguinity, cornerofmadness, carenejeansluzula, sanguinitysovay) wrote2025-12-20 10:32 pmskygiants) wrote2025-12-20 09:49 pmraven, about a year ago -- there would have been another time recently but, alas!, airline crimes interfered -- I ended up with two books shoved into my hands: Mavis Doriel Hay's Murder Underground and Death on the Cherwell. raven is right however that these books are both very fun and worthy of attention for their structure: neither of them have a kind of traditional primary detective figure, and both of them instead focus on a group of people in the murder victim's broader community who sort of collectively solve the crime by bouncing against each other in various directions until the right information comes to light.raven has encouraged me to pass these along to another good home if anyone else would like them! ETA and they are CLAIMED yuletidemods) wrote in yuletide_pinch_hits2025-12-21 01:52 pmLast night I wrapped up Solo Dance by Kotomi Li, translated from Japanese by Arthur Morris. This short book is about a young gay Taiwanese woman who struggles with both internal and external homophobia, and eventually moves to Japan looking for understanding.
Queer stories from other countries are always interesting to me and it’s a good reminder that progress has not been even all over the world. Much of the book is pretty depressing, because the protagonist struggled with fitting in even before she realized she was gay, and she has some real struggles. She is battling severe depression for much of the book and at several points, suicidality.
The book is touching in that the protagonist’s struggles feel real and she’s someone who is so close to having positive experience that could change her life for the better, but her luck keeps dropping on the other side each time.
I don’t want to spoil too much about the end, but while I was grateful for the overall tone of the it, it is contrived and not very believable. But I did enjoy the protagonist’s travels leading up to that point. It’s not at all subtle, and it packs a lot more plot into the final handful of chapters than the rest of the book, but it was still sweet to see the protagonist’s perspective shift a little through her engagements with other people.
I’m not sure if it’s the translation or the original prose, but the language is stilted and very emotionally distant. The reader is kept at arm’s length from the protagonist virtually the whole novel, and while we’re often told she’s feeling these intense feelings, I never felt it. It was like reading a clinical report of her feelings, which was disappointing.
This is Li’s first novel, and it reads that way. There’s a lot of heart in it, and I appreciate it for that, but it lacks a lot in technical skill. I would be interested to see more of Li’s future work, when she’s had more time to polish her ability, but I don’t regret taking the time with this one.
yuletidemods) wrote in yuletide_pinch_hits2025-12-20 10:24 amcandyheartsex) wrote2025-12-20 10:54 amyuletidemods) wrote in yuletide_admin2025-12-20 03:02 pmyuletide, and of course, please consider treats for pinch hitters. luzula) wrote2025-12-19 10:55 pmsanguinity, badly_knitted, trobadora, sylvanwitch, chestnut_pod, goddess47, brithistorian, cornerofmadness, carenejeansyuletidemods) wrote in yuletide_pinch_hits2025-12-20 10:38 amlightreads) wrote2025-12-19 02:24 pmjames_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-12-19 06:42 am
goodbyebird) wrote in rec_cember2025-12-19 11:54 amchina_shop) wrote2025-12-19 04:56 pm
yuletidemods) wrote in yuletide_pinch_hits2025-12-18 08:33 pm
