Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Das Seidenraupenzimmer by Sayaka Murata

54 reviews

lailybibliography's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

"...it's a wife's duty to be intimate, you know. Tomoya finds it hard to hold down a job, doesn't he? You have to support him in that regard, Natsuki. You're his wife!"
My body was not my own. I had always been secretly shirking the role I had been assigned as a tool of society. The time had come for me to be taken to task for this, I thought.

There is no plot to explain, really. If one truly tried to explain in detail what happens, you will sound insane and thoroughly gross-out anybody in hearing proximity. It is equal parts outrageous, bizarre, uncomfortable and truly, truly disturbing beyond words. The grotesquerie though, serves an important purpose - it's a cutting commentary on bodily autonomy, capitalism, Japanese societal expectation and the longterm traumas of childhood physical, emotional and sexual abuse. It is all described in graphic, nauseatingly straightforward prose, the simplistic language only helped to draw attention to the horror of banality; a never-ending cycle of school, work, reproduction over and over again. It is as if protagonist Natsuki is forever stuck in a state of perpetual childhood trauma, unable to maturely comprehend the horrors perpetrated on her body by those meant to protect her. It seems only natural then why she so doggedly rejects humanity and the physicality of her body (her partial deafness and ageusia due to childhood sexual assault by a tutor). For her, it is merely a vessel of meat and bones keeping her trapped on Earth, continually victimized by adults and wider society. The frankness in laying out the objectives of 'The Factory' (Natsuki and her husband Tomoya's term for society) and unflinching affirmation of the discriminatory systems of oppression underpinning modern late-capitalist Japan (i.e. misogyny, neuro-/ableism, homophobia, ace/arophobia) gets very uncomfortable to read.

 

My mother-in-law sighed. "Look, Tomoya. Do it a lot and make a family, then once the relationship has cooled, you play around outside the marriage. That's the way it is for lots of couples, isn't it? Playing around is a man's reward. Your father has had his fair share , haven't you dear?..."

Gee no wonder your son is a sexually traumatized freak on the verge of a complete psychotic break, lady.  

Is it truly all that horrifying for Natsuki, Tomoya and Yuu to relinquish societal norms and abandon themselves to their basest desires? How were the actions of those around them anymore inhumane than the gradual descent into psychosis, isolation and cannibalism? It's a challenging perspective and Sayaka Murata's prose definitely made me consider why certain things we are societally 'required' to do (go to school, stay employed, marry and have children, etc.) are so enforced when there is so much violence and coercion inherent to it? Why we are so adamant on dismissing platonic companionship in favour of sexual intimacy, which often brings along abuse, conformity and dangerous power dynamics? How one is meant to survive in the Factory when it purports to value personal individuality, yet prosecutes any disturbance of the status quo?

It was ludicrous. Grown-ups used children to satisfy their sexual desires, yet the very idea of children having sex of their own volition sent them into a total fit. It was laughable.

Truthfully, I cannot in good conscious ever recommend this deeply unsettling bildungsroman. This is one, I think, should be found and read by oneself. It's fast-paced, but reflective. There is a lot to contemplate with this one. What is indisputable though is the impressive literary talent of author Sayaka Murata. Her reputation precedes her and rightfully so. Earthlings, without a doubt, stands out as some of the grimmest, outlandish and subversive novels I have read, probably ever. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Incest, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Eating disorder, Infertility, Infidelity, Vomit, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

aceofjades's review against another edition

challenging dark funny sad fast-paced

4.0

This is very much a book that I read.
It was definitely an experience. Maybe not a good one, but an experience nonetheless.
If it had been bad, I would've DNFed, but Sayaka Murata has a way of constructing the narrative that just sucks you in no matter how uncomfortable it gets.
And as always, the she gets it. The social commentary from an "outsider" view is both funny and tragic, and made me very grateful for the fact that I'm as straight as an ellipsoid.
Mind the trigger warnings, please. I didn't read them and was caught completely off guard thinking it was going to be a silly goofy time like "Convenience Store Woman" was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Pedophilia, Sexism, Cannibalism, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Child abuse and Physical abuse

Minor: Infidelity

intoblossom's review against another edition

dark

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Minor: Infidelity, Suicide, and Vomit

shirumoon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

In the first one or two chapters, I was so enthralled with what I'm reading, both stylistically and the setup of the story but unfortunately it didn't unfold in a way that I would have wanted to. Some things that I disliked: 
The main character is kind of running in circles, no matter how much time passes. Sure, might have been a deliberate choice and trauma does stifle your development but the main character's struggling just felt redundant at some point. Also what I generally fail to relate to is that endless enduring of

family absue and coercion

but I guess that's an integral part to the book's social commentary on Asian culture and family dynamics. It was frustrating to read though and made it predictable that at some point... they would lose it. And then the gore increased to unneccessary levels.

To be honest, I'm not quite sure whether I struggled more with the idea of the book itself or with the execution? It just didn't feel new and revelatory to me, just not really a deeper message there beneath that one layer of critizising society. Nicely written nevertheless and it had good pacing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Blood, and Vomit

Minor: Infertility, Infidelity, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

readingwithlex's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

HAHAHAHAHA what the fuck 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Infertility and Infidelity

moonsapphire's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Incest

missjeann's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, and Murder

Minor: Infidelity

sammyghost19's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Sexual harassment

mefrou's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder

snerp_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

The concept for this book was very interesting, and worth exploring, but I feel this book fell flat. 
I did enjoy the small tidbits of world-building around Natsuki's belief in Popinpobopia, and

how she used said beliefs to mask her coping mechanisms and responses to abuse as magical powers in her young mind.

 
I thought we would've gotten a longer narrative through her childhood,

but 40% into the book there was a pretty long time skip, which I felt threw off the pacing.

This would have been fine by itself, but the story seems to unravel too quickly and without satisfactory explanation

in the last quarter of the book.

Alongside those pacing issues, a lot of the heavier topics depicted seemed slightly ham-fisted in and included mainly for shock value, instead of for relevance or genuine exploration. There does seem to be an issue with the characters, especially Natsuki. The voice of her childhood self and her adult self are identical, in a way that both makes her sound too old as a child and too young and naive as an adult. This weird contradiction is prevalent from the start, and never goes away. The ending did not make sense or feel very thought out to me, and the few twists at the end didn't have much foreshadowing. 

However, I did find Natsuki and her husband's relationship interesting, and a refreshing change of pace from most written marriages.

The mechanic of framing Natsuki's vision of herself as an alien was also one of the main things I liked about this book.
I enjoyed the concept Murata created, and was drawn in to read more when she used it to explore Natsuki's feelings and reactions to the mistreatment of her by the adults around her, but I feel the book ultimately veered too hard into shock-value territory, and caused any potential messages or analysis to be flung out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Cannibalism, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Drug abuse, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Acephobia/Arophobia, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Minor: Death, Eating disorder, Infertility, Infidelity, and Stalking