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teresatumminello's review
3.0
Long before Suzuki became world-famous with [b:Ring|609008|Ring (Book 1)|Kōji Suzuki|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388196825s/609008.jpg|1921329], he was a househusband and primary caregiver for their two daughters while his wife worked outside the home. That experience informs the six stories of this collection, published in Japan in 1995 but not in the U.S. until this year.
While the metaphor of a DNA double helix in one story points toward an interest further developed in his Ring trilogy, there's only a nod to the fantastical in this collection -- a possessed ICU respirator in one story and in another a family suitcase that walks away on its own -- elements that reflect the anxiety of an expectant father for his hospitalized wife and that of a widowed father of an adolescent girl. The theme of borders fits all the stories in one way or another, especially the thin boundary between violence and pacifism, and life and death.
I've heard it said that the two strongest stories of a collection should be the first and last. That's not the case here, as those two are the weakest as far as the writing goes (though some of that may be due to translation choices); but as an introduction and conclusion to the collection's overall theme, those two are the best choices. I was despairing of the superfluity in the last story until the startling, almost Flannery O'Connor-like, ending had me completely rethinking the story, thus deepening the impact of the whole collection.
While the metaphor of a DNA double helix in one story points toward an interest further developed in his Ring trilogy, there's only a nod to the fantastical in this collection -- a possessed ICU respirator in one story and in another a family suitcase that walks away on its own -- elements that reflect the anxiety of an expectant father for his hospitalized wife and that of a widowed father of an adolescent girl. The theme of borders fits all the stories in one way or another, especially the thin boundary between violence and pacifism, and life and death.
I've heard it said that the two strongest stories of a collection should be the first and last. That's not the case here, as those two are the weakest as far as the writing goes (though some of that may be due to translation choices); but as an introduction and conclusion to the collection's overall theme, those two are the best choices. I was despairing of the superfluity in the last story until the startling, almost Flannery O'Connor-like, ending had me completely rethinking the story, thus deepening the impact of the whole collection.