A review by merilyn_ohtla
The Diving Pool by Yōko Ogawa

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

There is something unsettling about a quiet forest without bird songs, no animals running around, and no wind through the tree branches. You will feel that unnerving feeling when reading Yōko Ogawa's short stories. There is no active violence, no screaming matches, or physical violence. Instead, you are in a world where muted actions inflicted the cruellest crimes. Where something is just a little bit off. Not a lot, just a tiny bit that we convince ourselves that it is just our imagination. Because accepting anything else will let our mind invoke the most horrifying scenarios. 

And that is something that Yōko Ogawa offers to you. No story will have an ending because the most terrifying conclusion is the one your mind will think of. An unknown monster is the most vicious because we will conjure it up. And we have no one to blame for the fear we will feel.