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A review by afi_whatafireads
Cannibals by Shinya Tanaka
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I had to sleep on it after finishing this book that is less than 100 pages but had got me stirred up. Because, the more you think about this book, the more I felt that it really is deserving of that Akutagawa Award in 2011.
I feel that the word Cannibals in here might insinuate you to think the story is about the literal meaning itself - of the act of humans eating other human's flesh.
Instead, the word Cannibals itself is somewhat a metaphor and symbolism of how the living condition and environment can seemingly eat you up alive. That is how I've interpreted the story. The main plot revolves around the slums of Japan by the riverside, and how the lives of the people living there revolves with the tide and condition of the place. It showcases a side of Japan that was not highlighted often but exists. Its a state of condition from the lives of normal people having to go through conditions that are not ideal for them, in which it will eat them up alive.
And at the very core of this short novel is about abuse. The abuse inflicted on women in order for the men to feel superior, the heinous acts acted during intercourse for the power struggle that reflects more of the Japan society than they will care to admit. If you're reading it at face value, paired with its very straightforward writing, its almost degrading how the author writes about the characters in here, especially the women. But, as the plot progresses and intensifies, the backbone of the story had always been about the women and their strengths and how at the end, due to the heinous acts acted by men, women had been forced to clean up their mess.
One of the things I liked about the book is how everything in the story revolves around the riverside. Even with the straightforward writing, it leaves me almost suffocating towards the end, on how intense it was. It was as if I could see it happen before my very eyes. The symbolism that the river brings forward, making it carry the emotions and weight of both the characters and it had affected me as a reader.
This book is not one that you can pick up on a whim. Its vile and heinous but its also the depiction of a society that comes and goes. Its there but its never acknowledged. It will make you uncomfortable but its an eye opening read.
Thank you to Honford Star for this gorgeous copy!
4🌟 for this one~
I feel that the word Cannibals in here might insinuate you to think the story is about the literal meaning itself - of the act of humans eating other human's flesh.
Instead, the word Cannibals itself is somewhat a metaphor and symbolism of how the living condition and environment can seemingly eat you up alive. That is how I've interpreted the story. The main plot revolves around the slums of Japan by the riverside, and how the lives of the people living there revolves with the tide and condition of the place. It showcases a side of Japan that was not highlighted often but exists. Its a state of condition from the lives of normal people having to go through conditions that are not ideal for them, in which it will eat them up alive.
And at the very core of this short novel is about abuse. The abuse inflicted on women in order for the men to feel superior, the heinous acts acted during intercourse for the power struggle that reflects more of the Japan society than they will care to admit. If you're reading it at face value, paired with its very straightforward writing, its almost degrading how the author writes about the characters in here, especially the women. But, as the plot progresses and intensifies, the backbone of the story had always been about the women and their strengths and how at the end, due to the heinous acts acted by men, women had been forced to clean up their mess.
One of the things I liked about the book is how everything in the story revolves around the riverside. Even with the straightforward writing, it leaves me almost suffocating towards the end, on how intense it was. It was as if I could see it happen before my very eyes. The symbolism that the river brings forward, making it carry the emotions and weight of both the characters and it had affected me as a reader.
This book is not one that you can pick up on a whim. Its vile and heinous but its also the depiction of a society that comes and goes. Its there but its never acknowledged. It will make you uncomfortable but its an eye opening read.
Thank you to Honford Star for this gorgeous copy!
4🌟 for this one~