(no subject)

[anactoria]

Oh God, I want this so much. Veg macarons without icky egg replacer, yes plz. Why yes, I am obsessed with desserts at the moment.

In other news, I finished Sixteen Shades of Crazy. The ending seemed like a massive cop-out at first, but the more I think about the more it makes sense. [Spoiler alert!] For a lot of people in that kind of situation, there isn't a lot of difference to be made through True Love or positive thinking or whatever; a decent amount of money actually is more help, even though admitting it goes against pretty much every storytelling convention I've internalized.

Currently reading Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto. A lot of it is very understated and I like how the author writes about grief, but the 'magical-sparkly-unicorn-with-no-internalization' portrayal of the character who is trans is making me nervous. I hope it doesn't turn into a big pile of fail. :-/

Comments

[oudeteron.livejournal.com]

A lot of it is very understated and I like how the author writes about grief, but the 'magical-sparkly-unicorn-with-no-internalization' portrayal of the character who is trans is making me nervous.
Le suspicious. Good thing there's still time for it to turn out to be a false suspicion, though. I have to admit I'm curious now...

[anactoria.livejournal.com]

I spolied myself a bit with reviews, and it kind of sounds like she gets killed off so the narrator and her love interest can *~bond over their grief~*. :-/ But I will reserve judgement until I've actually finished reading it.

[oudeteron.livejournal.com]

Hm, put like this it does sound off some warning bells in my head, but let's see if it's actually well done in the book. You have to post a review when you're finished! XD

[anactoria.livejournal.com]

Oh, sure thing!

[supermattachine.livejournal.com]

Tell me of this Kitchen. I am curious. *chinhands*

[anactoria.livejournal.com]

Well, I really enjoyed Asleep (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asleep-Banana-Yoshimoto/dp/0571205372/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277410209&sr=8-1) by the same author (which is also about bereavement), and picked this up because it looked to be in a similar vein. The narrator is a young woman who has just lost her grandmother, who was her only family, and she's taken in by Yuichi, a young man who was friends with her grandmother, and his mother Eriko, who transitioned after his biological mother's death. The novel's title comes from the fact that the narrator can only sleep when she's in a kitchen.

There are definitely good things about what I've read so far -- I thing the emptiness and apathy that can follow a bereavement are conveyed very effectively -- and I like that Yuichi and Eriko seem to have a close, affectionate relationship and it's not OMG SHE HAS UPROOTED HER CHILD'S LIFE *DRAMA*. But at the same time Eriko is presented as having something *~undefinably different~* about her before the narrator even knows anything about her, and she basically shows up, is described as a magical sparkly angel of joy and beauty and sparklyness, enables the main het pairing by letting the narrator move in with her and her son, and then disappears again. Which... I'm not sure if it's othering, or unrealistic mother-figure-idealization, but it seems kind of vaguely alarm-bell-ringing. IDK.

I should probably finish reading things before I spew my brains about them really, I'll give it a chance. ;)

[supermattachine.livejournal.com]

I'm low brow right now, but know what she sounds like? Angel in Rent.

Thanks for your explanation. It's eloquent and now I'm curious.

[anactoria.livejournal.com]

My musical knowledge is sadly lacking, but after a cursory wiki-ing Rent looks pretty interesting.

I'd offer to lend you my copy, but I don't think I can throw that far. ;)