Reviews

This book was so unexpected, I kept thinking ok it's going to go this way and it never did. I thought the themes explored were so good and the way you could never tell what was true and what wasn't was so engaging.

flo421's review against another edition

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1.0

I don’t have anything against this book…. I think I just don’t get it. It’s full of symbolism that I honestly just didn’t put the energy in to parse out.

anajoaofernandes's review against another edition

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3.0

Diferente de tudo o que li antes, chocante, provocador. Acontece nos limites da sanidade mental humana, por vezes permitiu-me identificar com as personagens, outras vezes deixou-me completamente repugnada. De leitura compulsiva.

Lido em formato AudioBook.

cpenny124's review against another edition

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4.0

I will be mentioning this novel in therapy.

robertrivasplata's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Alien's eye view of Japanese society with a high WTF factor. All of the chuckling endorsements on the book jacket from the likes of Sally Rooney, Elif Batuman, & Ruth Ozeki do not prepare you for what lies in wait inside this book. Earthlings reminds me a lot of the movie Heavenly Creatures, in which two young teens invent a fantastical cult with two members. The house in Akishina & its place in the consciousness & memory of the protagonist reminds me of the village in The Beginning Place. The part where the characters are stranding themselves in the isolated community reminded me a bit of various J.G. Ballard novels & stories on that theme, such as the Drowned World, Memories of the Space Age, High Rise, etc. The doomed attempts to transcend society and even humanity also feel Ballardian, I guess equating Chiba society with Ballard's various dystopias. That element of a family-type unit attempting to collectively escape society, & even humanity also reminds me a bit of Pink Flamingos or Cecil B. Demented. The omnipresent trauma treated matter-of-factly (& mostly repressed by the characters) reminds me of Agota Kristof's Notebook Trilogy. The cucumber & eggplant with the chopstick legs representing the horse bringing the ancestors to our world, & the cow to take them back is really cool. Also intriguing is the “mobile grocery” that doesn't visit Akishina because it's too small. Can't help but think that these people need to be carried away by the Acid Mothers Temple. This book is surprisingly page-turning, & also rewards re-reading. Really makes me want to read Convenience Store Woman.

6f57rfvgb's review against another edition

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3.0

honestly this was such an insane read. if it wasn’t for murata’s bizarre, satirical writing style i would have definitely drop this 70 pages in. i was completely encapsulated with the the character cast, especially yuu. while i enjoyed this, i felt that the cannibalism and incest were not need to further the plot, rather they were written for shock value. that’s my main gripe with this book - if you are sensitive or easily disgusted by those topic i wouldn’t recommend this.

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