Reviews
Kitchen Curse by Tiffany Tsao, Eka Kurniawan, Benedict Anderson, Annie Tucker, Maggie Tiojakin
lori_reads_everything's review against another edition
3.0
Well...
I struggled to rate this book because it just REALLY wasn't for me. There were a few stories I enjoyed (Caronang, Auntie, The Stone's Story), but I found most of them to be incredibly odd, aimless, and even a touch depressing. Gratefully, this was a short read, so I can give it 2.5 slightly traumatized stars and move on to the next book.
I struggled to rate this book because it just REALLY wasn't for me. There were a few stories I enjoyed (Caronang, Auntie, The Stone's Story), but I found most of them to be incredibly odd, aimless, and even a touch depressing. Gratefully, this was a short read, so I can give it 2.5 slightly traumatized stars and move on to the next book.
nyah_ellexa's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book was incredibly interesting and insightful.
All of the short stories present all relate to the author’s qualms with his country, Indonesia.
As someone who was completely unaware of Indonesian politics, religion, and revolts, this book was truly educational.
I haven’t felt the urge to learn from a book so much ever since The Poppy War, but this was undeniably fascinating. The stories that particularly engrossed me were the ones relating to women’s strife and the exploitation of sexuality, which I found to be really well done. I later began to research the author, and found out that he’s a rather devout believer in women’s rights and disapproves of the sexism present in his country primarily brought about by religious beliefs and colonization.
I would love to read more about this author, and this is truly my favorite short story I’ve ever read.
All of the short stories present all relate to the author’s qualms with his country, Indonesia.
As someone who was completely unaware of Indonesian politics, religion, and revolts, this book was truly educational.
I haven’t felt the urge to learn from a book so much ever since The Poppy War, but this was undeniably fascinating. The stories that particularly engrossed me were the ones relating to women’s strife and the exploitation of sexuality, which I found to be really well done. I later began to research the author, and found out that he’s a rather devout believer in women’s rights and disapproves of the sexism present in his country primarily brought about by religious beliefs and colonization.
I would love to read more about this author, and this is truly my favorite short story I’ve ever read.
l4r4777's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.5
whogivesabook's review against another edition
2.0
Part of the reason I read is to gather up knowledge of the world. To collect stories and absorb them and learn about different cultures and people.
This collection certainly provides a good window into Indonesian culture. Interesting stuff.
It made me think that the west has lost a lot of those ties to the dark and superstitious currents that used to run through our stories. Which is a shame in the sense that it doesn't make our stories as interesting... But also a good thing, because it doesn't cause people to be terrified of baby stealing ghosts.
This book, unfortunately, is just a bit of a miss. The author isn't that good at short fiction. The stories aren't well crafted. The content is interesting, but there's very little skill at play.
It gets two stars because The Stone's Story really was fantastic. But one fluke can't redeem it.
I would definitely read something longer by this author. I was just upset at the execution of these stories.
This collection certainly provides a good window into Indonesian culture. Interesting stuff.
It made me think that the west has lost a lot of those ties to the dark and superstitious currents that used to run through our stories. Which is a shame in the sense that it doesn't make our stories as interesting... But also a good thing, because it doesn't cause people to be terrified of baby stealing ghosts.
This book, unfortunately, is just a bit of a miss. The author isn't that good at short fiction. The stories aren't well crafted. The content is interesting, but there's very little skill at play.
It gets two stars because The Stone's Story really was fantastic. But one fluke can't redeem it.
I would definitely read something longer by this author. I was just upset at the execution of these stories.
vis_98's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I should preface this review by saying I've not read any of this authors full length works only this collection of short stories. On the back of the book it says the author writes like Gabriel Garcia Marquez and I'm here to tell you that while maybe that's the case with his full length novels it's not the case with his short stories.
Honestly, maybe if the order of the short stories was different I might have raised the rating a quarter or half star. Most of the stories fall flat, with no definitive motion of either characters or plot. A few of the stories are good, some i even enjoyed but they were the minority. I understand the sharing of stories with no real depth or meaning, I share dozens with friends and family all the time, but with them at least there is a shared connection. I was disappointed to feel that reading the whole book felt a bit like a waste of my time. Perhaps there exists someone for whom this collection of stories does it, but it was not for me and I would not recommend it to others.
Honestly, maybe if the order of the short stories was different I might have raised the rating a quarter or half star. Most of the stories fall flat, with no definitive motion of either characters or plot. A few of the stories are good, some i even enjoyed but they were the minority. I understand the sharing of stories with no real depth or meaning, I share dozens with friends and family all the time, but with them at least there is a shared connection. I was disappointed to feel that reading the whole book felt a bit like a waste of my time. Perhaps there exists someone for whom this collection of stories does it, but it was not for me and I would not recommend it to others.
ovidusnaso's review against another edition
3.0
De fleste forfattere ser ut til å foretrekke enten å skrive lange, lange romaner, serieromaner, eller kortere verk. Eka Kurniawan forfrisker derfor med denne demonstrasjonen (endelig oversatt til engelsk) på at han ikke trenger 600 sider på å fortelle en god historie, men at han kan klare seg med så lite som fire-fem sider. Som novellesamling bærer den forfatterpreget hans, men minner mer om indonesiske noveller og dikt fra før Reformasi (kanskje til og med før Suharto), noe som forsterker det tidløse inntrykket som alltid kommer igjen i bøkene til Kurniawan. Med unntak av to noveller likte jeg dem alle som en, og til og med de jeg ikke var så begeistra for (av estetiske årsaker) ga inntrykk av at forfatteren prøvde å formidle et budskap som indonesiske lesere muligens vil ha større glede av.