Welcome in the Murata-verse. In this dystopian world society’s OK with cannibalism and it’s upped its recycling game by re-using humans after their death.

Still, not freaked out? Then you might actually enjoy Murata’s collection of twelve stories ranging from surreal and creepy to thought-provoking and fairytale-esque. Those familiar with this Japanese author’s work will know that she doesn’t shy away from controversial views on topical issues, whether it’s motherhood, marriage, gender roles or sex. Her aim is not merely to shock, but rather to question social norms and customs, asking if society’s perception of “normal” is necessarily right and acceptable.

Full review:https://westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2022/07/14/life-ceremony-sayaka-murata/

I've heard about Convenience Store Woman and Earthlings but having read neither, I was curious to explore Murata's writing and making her acquaintance. I think this collection of short stories is a great place to start.

I have read little short story collections, so going through this book was new for me. Also, it's been a while since I read Japanese lit, so the surrealistic nature of the stories was also relatively 'new'. All in all, I really liked this introduction to short stories and Murata!

I especially liked her explorations of re-using human materials in A First Rate Material & Life Ceremony, her take on how society views sex and relationships in A Summer Night's Kiss, Two's Family and Body Magic and, maybe most of all, Murata's obsession with food?

I will definitely be reading Convenience Store Woman & Earthlings soon after having read this.

I’m new to Sayaka Murata’s writing, though many English language readers may already be familiar with her work through the prior translations of her novels Convenience Store Woman or Earthlings by Ginny Tapley Takemori. Takemori continues the commendable and celebrated work of translating Murata’s fiction here with a first collection of short stories rendered into English: Life Ceremony.

As with Earthlings, the stories of Life Ceremony fall into that literary category of magical realism. Though they may all be set on a relatively contemporary Earth, they also almost all have some outré element placing them within perhaps some other universe, world, or near-future. Though employing elements appreciated in conventional literary fiction, Murata’s work here also mines the speculative fantasy genre in ways that would make the stories equally recognizable in genre magazines like Uncanny or Asimov’s (to name a pair.)

Specifically Murata uses subtle dark fantasy in this collection of stories to explore the inherent subjectivity and permeability of cultural taboos across places and time: customs that seem fixed at any moment yet shift in the grand scheme of humanity according to societal contexts and individual revelations. The characters populating the stories in Life Ceremony are navigating those conventional literary realms of self discovery, realization, within worlds that seem confusing, without any irresolute compass of tradition to steadfastly rely upon.

Murata expressly voices this theme through the words of her protagonist in the title story of this collection. Here, they may apply to ‘instinct’ and ‘morality’, but ‘custom’ or any other related term remain equally applicable through the swath of stories in Life Ceremony.

I feel like pointing out that until a moment ago they had been talking about a different human instinct. Instinct doesn’t exist. Morals don’t exist. They were just fake sensibilities that came from a world that was constantly transforming.

Now, not every story in Life Ceremony deeply delves into the same echoed theme or dash of weirdness. A few more conventional, and at times bright or sweet, tales are mixed in along those darkly deviant ones. For those interested in some detail on the specific contents, here’s a basic rundown of the twelve stories that make up the collection:

“A First-Rate Material” – A superb start to the collection to set the tone and themes that unite all to follow. A couple debate their comfort with incorporating parts of humans into objects for recycled use. What once was only normal to do with other animals, has now become fashionable and accepted for the human source as well: organs, hair, nails, etc. being used to make everything from bags to furniture to clothes, etc. Taking Victorian mourning jewelry trends and morbid appreciations to logical extensions, this story also uniquely makes readers consider what we consider as perfectly untroubling in our use of fellow animals.

“A Magnificent Spread” – Reading this reminded me of a criticism in the newspaper I came across awhile back regarding viewer objection to a recurring segment on a late-night comedy talk show where the host would have guests eat some sort of ‘disgusting’ food and watch to watch their revulsion and reactions. The issue of course is subjectivity. One culture’s ‘disgusting’ is another’s ‘delicacy’, and branding something of non-European tradition that is respected elsewhere as ‘disgusting’ is fraught with issues. This story delves into that idea over a dinner where a dating couple is about to ‘meet the parents’. It works well with more humor and light-heartedness than some of the other stories contain.

“A Summer Night’s Kiss” – A shorter work approaching alienation/belonging through an elderly character who is a virgin and was herself conceived without sex, through in vitro fertilization.

“Two’s Family” – A tender tale where the outsider aspect of it has already become more accepted in the world: non-traditional families. Two female friends who have decided to platonically live together after each failing to find a romantic partner by the age of thirty look back on their life and family at later age, facing mortality.

“The Time of the Large Star” – Another shorter, and largely atmospheric piece, with the most other-worldy setting within the collection: a land of night where no one sleeps. It’s a story of adapting to a staggeringly unfamiliar world, composed in a haunting, almost dream-like way.

“Poochie” – I actually recently watched a classic Kids in the Hall sketch that shares the basic premise of this amusingly absurd short story: some children adopt a wayward businessman as a pet. Canada or Japan, TV or book, the humor translates just as effectively.

“Life Ceremony” – If the morbidity of human body parts being repurposed doesn’t put one off in grotesque shock from the first story in the collection, this title story may. The society of this story exists comfortably with a tradition of ritualistic cannibalism as a quasi-symbolic practice for libido enhancement and mating rituals. It’s a change brought on by alarming falls in global birth rates. Though the protagonist of the story has great qualms with what was taboo being now so quickly accepted, her journey and interactions lead her to begin reconsidering her visceral response and what meanings the rite might actually hold.

“Body Magic” – I’d consider this the weakest of stories in the collection. Like the previous story this is set in a world where traditions of sexual interaction are different, here told from the perspective of high school girls.

“Lover on the Breeze” – The curtains on the window of a young girl serve here as a very unconventional narrator, in a love-triangle sort of story with the arrival of a boyfriend who begins to visit her room as she grows older.

“Puzzle” – An extremely bizarre story with a woman who seems to actually? be a building, but who is in search of biological fluids of others. I think this is one I’d need to reread to try and grasp further.

“Eating the City” – I loved the ecological concepts in this story, which addresses botanical traditions societies may have over what is considered food or not – if it is grown wild, or not; a weed, or not; grown on a farm versus grown in an urban landscape.

“Hatchling” – With the final story Murata subverts the idea of a world or culture in constant flux into the concept of a person in context flux, a character who has no real personality, but is rather an amalgam of ersatz personas built and arranged in a way to simply fit into society as the situations of life may demand. It’s a nicely philosophical way to end the collection and tie up the overarching theme of the stories herein, full-circle.

The characters within Life Ceremony are riding the waves of transformative societies and self maturation, trying to find compromises – something assured – within the bouleversements of human existence. Murata’s stories demonstrate that moments of stability become possible by learning an openness to curiosity and adaptation, and through celebrations of life and death that define our mortality.

This is a collection that should be picked up by speculative fantasy fans and conventional literary readers alike. The offbeat, sometimes grotesque or shocking nature of some of the stories may cause some members of the latter group to pause. But expanding of horizons and looking at things from a slightly off-kilter perspective is exactly what the appropriately titled Life Ceremony collection is all about.

Thanks to Grove Press and NetGalley alike for the opportunity to discover more fantastic literature in translation.

I have never read anything by Murata before, and went into these short stories without knowing anything about the author or what she writes. I’ll be completely honest, I almost stopped reading after the first short story because I was just so startled by the content (I suppose I am a baby). However, I’m glad I decided to continue reading because I’m quite certain that Murata has a new fan in me, and I’m excited to get my hands on her other work. There are twelve stories in this collection, each dissecting and exploring society in different and creative ways. The stories varied in intensity, with some being quite unsettling while the others were tame in comparison. At first glance, this may make the collection feel a bit scattered, but I think it ultimately made for a more balanced collection (if they were all incredibly intense, I don’t think I could’ve finished the stories). All of these stories forced me to pause and ponder the state of society, and I appreciate the fact that the works were both entertaining and insightful. These stories were strange (in a good way), and helped get me out of my comfort zone when it comes to choosing books to read. I’m glad I continued reading

I won't soon forget this collection of imaginative, sometimes revolting short stories, which I read in a very short period of time. I've already started reading one of this author's previous novels.

Sayaka Murata really said I am going to ask ALL the existential questions and let's see if you can take the answers.

What are we gonna eat?
How are we gonna live?
What will happen when we die?

All these and more questions are raised in this very readable short-story collection which I was incredibly excited for after thoroughly enjoying Convenience Store Woman by the same authors. Some of these stories are gruesome, some are unbelievably weird but all of them have a point. Especially the ones towards the beginning of the collection are pretty short in length and thus, if read back to back, can be a bit overwhelming because as I was still trying to grasp what was going on in one story, I had already been cast into the next slightly dystopian albeit not entirely unrealistic scenario. Apart from the titular story, I especially enjoyed the discussion on putting on different personalities in the last story "Hatchling".

If you were able to stomach Tender Is the Flesh and liked having your brains picked by The Employees, pick up this short story collection this summer!

Thank you to Grove Atlantic and Netgalley for the Review Copy.

This is a refreshing collection of absurd yet plausible short stories happening either in the future or in a parallel present. Some may find them weird and even disgusting, but all the stories have one thing in common: they convey emotions. What's normal and what's abnormal can change through time, and what seems a shocking and disgusting custom today can be socially acceptable or even expected in a few years.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for an Advance Review Copy.

Thank you, Grove Atlantic, for the advance reading copy.

I find the first three short stories really intriguing and the rest of the stories somewhat extra to add it to the list.

But I did enjoy the entire read letting myself expect not too much and not too less considering the previous books by the author and my reading experience of the same.

I was quite surprised when I found myself enjoying the first few stories but I had to calm myself down while reading each of them reminding myself not to throw up, convincing myself that they are just stories.

Read this collection if you feel you'd not react adversely while reading about body fluids/excretion, human meat in details in some stories plus some other weird topics which you wouldn't expect from a normal short story.

Yes, go for this collection of you feel like reading a weird story collection.

Sayaka Murata's short story collection Life Ceremony is an odd, uncanny exploration of being a misfit and alienation. I had a dose of her bizarre and eccentric writing with Convenience Store Woman, which, unfortunately, ended up a miss for me.

However, her writing and characters had already intrigued me enough to anticipate this upcoming short story collection. Murata's writing and Takemori's translation are accessible and soothing while at the same time, the plot leaves you questioning.

This collection is a blend of weird and mundane, with the latter (A Summar Night's Kiss and Two's Family) being my favorite. From clothes and furniture made of human remains to cannibalism and a woman captivated by sweat, vomit, and body heat, Life Ceremony was a fun romp that caught me by surprise. Murata did not disappoint this time around!

So that was a wild ride..
I didn't think I'd like this collection much after having read the first story, but I gradually started enjoying the stories more as I got used to the topics.
Most of the short stories definitely made me feel uncomfortable though.

<i>A First-Rate Material</i>

I found this story quite disturbing, which really was probably the purpose of it - we have normalised eating animals and using their skins to such a degree that most people are not perturbed by wearing leather boots or cashmere sweaters at all.
However, translate that into the same objects made of human skin and hair...
While I didn't enjoy reading this story at all (in the conventional sense), it did make me think.

<i>A Magnificent Spread</i>

This one I really enjoyed, especially Keiichi's thoughts on not forcing one's own culture/food on other people, but just sharing it with others while also preserving it.

<i>Life Ceremony</i>

"Normal is a type of madness."
This story (which is also the title story of the book) really shows how norms change over time, and in this fast-paced world, they change even faster, making things that were unthinkable just 30 years ago perfectly fine now. The example for this in the story is eating human flesh after a person has died, which is not normal at all in 2022, but who knows what people will think of it in a few centuries.

<i>Puzzle</i>

CN: vomit
The story itself was really quite disgusting as it contained graphic descriptions of all sorts of bodily fluids; however, I really liked the way it was written and couldn't stop reading despite feeling really grossed out the entire time.

<i>Hatchling</i>

Okay, this one was hands down my absolute favourite as I found it very relatable, having to be different people/having different personas depending on who you are with and what people expect of you.

3.7 stars.

Thanks to Grove Atlantic and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC!

Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata
5/5 ⭐️

At a glance, Life Ceremony is a collection of short stories, each one wildly weird and wonderful.

Get a deeper look though, and you see how actually shocking and bizarre they reaaaally are— based in complex realities surrounding consumerism, expectation, sexuality and conformity. But also so much more.

I loved each story for completely different reasons. The longer I sat with them the more they took on different shapes.

One story in particular (Two’s Family) cut straight to the heart of of family structure and dynamics and just totally shook me. I’m still just 🤯

Let’s just say, I’m grateful I went in blind. It actually added to my overall experience and really felt like I was in a spinning teacup (in a good way 🤪) with all the themes and topics thrown at me throughout its 200-pages.

Pub date is July 7, is it on your radar?

And if you’ve read it, please slide into my DMs.
We need to talk about Poochie 😅

Not quite as troubling and unsettling like Earthlings but more in depth and elaborated than Convenience store woman, Sayaka Murata portrays the bare nature of human kind in dystopic, strange worlds that challenge the idea of morals.

This collection of short stories touches on subjects that Sayaka Murata already wrote on in her previous books and manages to capture her style perfectly: the grotesque and disturbing, the commentary of societal pressure and expectations, the lack of morals and extreme positions when it comes to core themes related to what makes us human - death, sex, marriage, family, food, culture.

Each of the stories is centered around a character that doesn't (quite) fit into their society for one reason or another and then explores further the disconnection that prevents them from being "normal". On the opposite end often stays a character whose views are on the other extreme spectrum, or at least one that understands "normality" and tries to help the protagonist find their place within the lines drawn by society.

Here are my thoughts on each of them as I have read them in order (spoilers ahead):

1) A FIRST RATE MATERIAL:
I've heard about clothing made out of human hair before, a tradition that died down. This first story argues that it is a waste not to reuse corpses much like we make use of dead animals for leather, wool and so on. On one hand, this terrifies me and gives me the creeps as I remember that human soap was created at a terrible point in history. But on a personal level, I am using the lungs of someone who is now dead. Am I not practicing exactly what Murata is describing? After all, you don't need your body anymore once you're dead.

2) A MAGNIFICENT SPREAD:
Food is a big topic in this collection and very dear to me. There are again two opposing views: everyone has their preferences which they shouldn't impose on others vs we should all try to embrace as much variety as possible in order to learn about the world around us. Out of everything from S.M., this is perhaps her most wholesome.

3) A SUMMER NIGHT'S KISS
I stand corrected, this is the most wholesome story in the collection. Two elderly women, a virgin and a nymphomaniac, as best friends.

4)TWO'S FAMILY
I am reading this while rooming with a 70 year old lady receiving chemotherapy. How ironic. This one raises very important questions about our views on marriage as a social contract, about what a family truly is and implies, about the expectations and harsh judgments we often impose in order to frame an ideal (heteronormative - as critiqued by this story) life.

5) THE TIME OF THE LARGE STAR
Short, confusing and innocent. Not quite grasping it, maybe adults refusing to return to the fantastic world of dreams, too stressed with real life, caught in the rat race?

6)POOCHIE
Back to more disturbing stories. A corporate animal having a mental breakdown and being reduced to a pet.

7)LIFE CEREMONY
Not as harsh to digest as Earthlings (yes, this was supposed to be a pun), yet out of all stories the title one naturally includes all the familiar themes we have seen from S.M. Beyond the commentary on humans being animals so they should be repurposed in a similar manner after dying, I think there are two just as major hiding in here. First, Japan's natality problem fixed by some pervese sacralization of sex, which loses any pleasure and focuses solely on producing children. Life ceremonies, which replace funerals, are meant to also replace the death of a person with the creation of another after consuming the deceased, consuming their life. But the number of babies resulting in this manner is slowly leading to the destruction of "family" as we know it, half of the born children being raised by institutions. The other even more subtle theme would be people's attitude towards societal change, no matter the manner in which it changes, either fully embracing it or refusing it on the premise that things that are accepted nowadays would have been taboo in the past. Great commentary which can be applied to a long list of current topics, from civil rights to body autonomy and so on.

8) BODY MAGIC
A coming of age story, rather a story about girls embracing their sexuality. I would say discovering sexual arousal at such an age is rather normal, but it still feels weird to read about a (equivalent of a) middle schooler masturbating. Oh, and there's a retelling of the incest plotline from Earthlings.

9)LOVER ON THE BREEZE
Now this is the most confusing one. Curtains have feelings too? Was the curtain supposed to be a real human being? Voyeurism.

10)PUZZLE
S.M. has a fixation with organs and bodily fluids, while Sanae has a fixation with orifices. Very uncomfortable to read, but interesting descriptions nonetheless, the woman in this story being able to see through people's skin, see their organs and fluids word together, being envious of them as she herself feels empty and parasitic. That is until she fills herself with other people who have become her mere organs. Commentary on how without others, we are empty vessels, on how we need other people in order to feel full and function? be Many questionmarks here.

11) EATING THE CITY
Another food story! This time on the premise of natural food that grows on the ground and is picked up by yourself is much tastier and healthier than anything in the store. Very drawn out and at some points even boring - there's only so much to say about eating weeds off the street.

12)HATCHLING
My favorite of them all because I too switch character completely depending on who I am with and what history I share with that particular group. But Haruka takes it to an extreme, much like the other characters, and is now forced to settle on a mask to wear for the rest of her life as her wedding approaches. Loved, loved, loved this story!


Thank you netgalley and publishers for granting me access to an advanced copy.

Thank you to Grove Atlantic for providing me with an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

After reading Convenient Store Woman, I knew that I wanted to read everything Murata Sayaka publishes/has published.
Which, of course, led me to quickly request an eARC of Life Ceremony as soon as I saw it up on Netgalley.

Sayaka doesn't fail with this collection of short stories! From the very first story, you're made to feel uncomfortable. By the end, it felt completely normal being in this world.
From human clothing and furniture to a blanket's point of view, Sayaka delivers and demands your attention.

I may not be the best person to give a full in depth review of what each story covers, but I will tell you that this collection is super entertaining and also quick to get through.

RATING FOR EACH STORY

• A First-Rate Material: 4 ⭐️
• A Magnificent Spread: 4 ⭐️
• A Summer Night's Kiss: 3 ⭐️
• Two's Family: 3 ⭐️
• The Time of the Large Star: 3 ⭐️
• Poochie: 3 ⭐️
• Life Ceremony: 4 ⭐️ (what a fucking ride)
• Body Magic: 3 ⭐️
• Lover on the Breeze: 3 ⭐️
• Puzzle: 3 ⭐️
• Eating the City: 4 ⭐️
• Hatching: 3.5 ⭐️

All in all, it's a very fascinating collection! This will definitely be a collection I will return to and read a story here and then. It may not be for everyone, but if you're already familiar with this author's work and enjoy it, you'll definitely enjoy this collection!

OVERALL RATING:
⭐️ 4 STARS ⭐️

"normal is a type of madness, isn't it? I think it's just that the madness society allows is called normal"

As with all of Sayaka Murata's books, Life Ceremony was bizarre, but also brilliant. In this book, as well as in Convenience Store Woman, Murata talks about how the "normal", the things accepted and expected by society are arbitrary. Moreover, if you deviate from that norm, you will be judged and badgered until you comply.

Life Ceremony is a short story collection and that is not usually a genre I gravitate towards because I feel like it's almost impossible to relate to and like all of the stories. So there were some stories in this book that weren't my favourite, but overall the collection as a whole really made me think and stayed with me for days.

The story that gives the book its title really resonated with me personally, as a vegan, although I'm sure people with other experiences may still find it brilliant and relate to it in a different way. For me, it showed the hypocrisy of people when it comes to animals and how desensitized we have all become to the cruelty done to them. It's about the stories we tell ourselves to minimize the way we use animals for food, clothes and so many other goods. Once you realise all of this, as I did when I became vegan, you become aware of how ridiculous it is that we as a society consider this to be "normal", which makes me come back to the quote I used to open this review: "normal is a type of madness", it really is.

Life Ceremony is a collection of twelve short stories about not confirming to traditional societal norms by the wonderfully eclectic Sayaka Murata.

The stories lean more towards Earthlings than Convenience Store Woman which may give you an inkling of what to expect. Murata’s stories are often quite disturbing on the surface level but also mind-opening after some deep thought to decipher the true meaning behind the story.

Short shorties are often hit of miss with me and I am yet to find a collection where I truly enjoyed all stories equally. Here are the stories which impacted me the most and gave me food for thought (pun initially not intended but now intended): First-Rate Material, A Magnificent Spread, Life Ceremony and Hatchling.

Overall, Life Ceremony is a though-provoking, sometimes funny and sometimes unnerving collection which will leave you in deep thought or perhaps a bit confused but nevertheless absorbed in Murata’s world. I will still read every book by Sayaka Murata as I love the way she stretches the boundaries of societal norms and challenges you to think about your own place in society.

Think Earthlings was weird? This was weirder, and then some. I can handle weird in my fiction, but this collection of short stories felt like it was trying too hard to shock at the expense of plot, character development and all of the other things a reader might be looking for in a good short story.

I loved Convenience Store Woman, and although I didn't love Earthlings quite as much it still held appeal and was a memorable read. I found these stories to be lacking the warmth and substance of Sayaka Murata's previous offerings. Not for me!

I admit that I went in expecting something like Convenience Store Woman, which I had really enjoyed. The stories here are good but not quite what I thought I was in for. They can be a little disturbing, a little gross, but also poignant. Overall, the collection is a bit of a mixed bag but a journey worth taking.

Murata’s works tend to be either strong hits with me, or very strong misses. Unfortunately, this one fell in the latter category for me. I appreciate the message Murata is trying to get across, and it’s pretty similar in each of her works. She often critiques perceived social norms and how they often serve to strip people of their autonomy and humanity. That message is still prevalent in Life Ceremony, which I appreciated, but I just didn’t enjoy the ways in which she went about it. I expect “weird” fiction from Murata and you get that here. I enjoyed some of the earlier stories, but then things got a little too weird for me. The breaking point for me was when one of the stories involved prepubescent family members having sex. I know my threshold for weird may be lower than most fans of Murata, but I really had a hard time finding enjoyment in the book after that.

I loved Convenience Store Woman enough that I’m definitely open to trying more of Murata’s books in the future, but this is not one that I would recommend to most readers.

This is a like a car crash that you can't look away from but in the best way possible. More similiar to Earthlings this is a disturbing collection of short stories. The social commentary in these stories was thought-provoking and grotesque in every best way. Also loved the Earthling and Convenience Store Woman references.

Sayaka Murata has taken up the ante with this disturbing yet fascinating short story collection on subverting the norm in extremes (sometimes a little too much and frankly, doesn't make sense). It's uncomfortable, grotesque at times, and injects some valuable social commentary here and there. But I must say, some short stories seem more like fillers and affected my reading experience negatively. I cannot overstate how weird this collection is! The first story has so much shock value, personally but it raised some questions.

Thank you so much to Grove Atlantic for the advanced copy. Fair warning though, if you're specifically looking for something like Convenience Store Woman then you'll probably find this not to your taste.