Idol, Burning provides unrelenting insight into fandom culture—specifically the "J-Pop," or Japanese pop music fandom. Rin Usami captures the insulariIdol, Burning provides unrelenting insight into fandom culture—specifically the "J-Pop," or Japanese pop music fandom. Rin Usami captures the insularity and obsessive nature of "stan culture" with aplomb, and if you've spent time in any sort of online fandom over the years, there's a lot you'll recognize in here. (If you haven't... I think you might get a little lost reading this book, if I'm being honest—let the layman beware.)
But where it shines in its portrayal of the more toxic aspects of fandom culture, the narrative itself leaves something to be desired. The whole concept that this novella is supposedly predicated on—a girl coming to terms with her favorite pop idol maybe having assaulted a woman—isn't ever really the focus, and I understand why this detail is included in the book's summary, but the reality of the way this narrative transpires is much more mundane than fraught. This isn't a story about a girl being torn apart and forced to question everything she's believed in; it's more of a portrait of the insidious nature of obsession, and the ways in which it can lead you to become disconnected from reality. And of course, there's nothing wrong with that at all; I just think this could have been a more interesting project had there been a bit more tension and more of a shift within Akari's character throughout the story.
It's short and it's worth reading and Rin Usami is one to watch for sure, but I ultimately did want more from this.
Thank you to Netgalley and HarperVia for the advanced copy provided in exchange for an honest review....more
This was one of the more forgettable reading experiences I've ever had; the fact that I didn't even think to log this on Goodreads as soon as I finishThis was one of the more forgettable reading experiences I've ever had; the fact that I didn't even think to log this on Goodreads as soon as I finished it says it all....more
In all fairness I should probably revisit this book in the future when I am not grieving and therefore not struggling with concentration and memory, bIn all fairness I should probably revisit this book in the future when I am not grieving and therefore not struggling with concentration and memory, because what the fuck did I just read, I could not for a million dollars tell you...more
There are some good insights here, but unfortunately they take a backseat to Genis’s solipsistic narration. Centering his own experience as an ‘over-eThere are some good insights here, but unfortunately they take a backseat to Genis’s solipsistic narration. Centering his own experience as an ‘over-educated’ white Jewish man in the US prison system, Genis never wholly owns this project as a memoir, but he instead turns his fellow inmates into objects of a sort of sociological study, and none of his (extensive) commentary on blackness or queerness in the prison industrial complex struck me as anything worth reading over similar accounts by black and queer incarcerated people. I don’t know, this whole thing just left a bad taste in my mouth, and any goodwill I may have had toward this book evaporated when I switched to the audio halfway through (narrated by the author) and had to listen to Genis’s almost gleeful tone when he was reading particularly disturbing or shocking passages. I don’t doubt that this was a harrowing, profoundly challenging experience for Genis to have survived, but as a book this did not work for me at all. ...more
Set in 1959 against the backdrop of Switzerland's failed referendum for women's suffrage, Voting Day is split into four sections, each dedicated to a Set in 1959 against the backdrop of Switzerland's failed referendum for women's suffrage, Voting Day is split into four sections, each dedicated to a different Swiss woman, all of whose lives end up intersecting. This novella is short, sweet, and to the point: O'Dea deftly carves out a rich inner life for each of her four protagonists, and the story crescendos bittersweetly during the anticlimax of the result of the vote.
The only problem I had was with the sentence-by-sentence writing, which felt overly modern, simplistic, and occasionally under-edited:
Oh God, she saw Luigi. I can't say he's a work colleague... maybe a neighbour? I'm so disappointed in him. He was up front all along, so why did he have to get so secretive in the end? It doesn't do justice to what we had together.
Well, seeing as I was in that special situation with Herr Fasel, and not looking for anything serious, I thought, why not? I have no time for all this fuss people make about love and heartbreak and bagging a man. I'm a modern woman, and I don't have to fit into some outdated mould.
(This seems to be a theme with a lot of my recent reading, doesn't it: liking the idea of a story more than I like the prose.)
As this only takes about an hour to read, I have no hesitation in recommending it if this is a premise or period of history that particularly interests you, but unfortunately I don't think this was as brilliant as it had the potential to be.
Thank you to Netgalley and Fairlight for the advanced copy provided in exchange for an honest review....more
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