October 25 Reading Reflection — Shi Shi

I had mixed experiences with this week’s readings, but overall found the themes refreshing since I feel like a lot of what we’ve read so far has been about identity/relationships/role in the world. This week’s readings definitely feel a little more centered on the environments they’re set in which was a nice change of pace.

I did not like reading Yoko Tawada’s Scattered All Over the Earth, and I found it really hard to engage with. I think what also threw me off was that I didn’t realize there was a change in narrator between the chapters at first, so I was completely confused. I did like, however, the decision to have Hiruko’s dialogue typeset in lowercase to distinguish her language from others’. The overall plot of the story was sad and a little eerie though, with her home country no longer existing and only being remembered as a place where sushi is from. 

The Memory Police also had some overlap in its dystopian structure and topic of memory, however, the narrative style of this piece was a lot easier for me to engage with. I enjoyed this story, especially as it started to criticize their government system and become a little suspenseful. While I was reading it though, I kept wondering how the narrator was able to recall all of these events when certain parts of it had “disappeared” from her memory. This story in particular made me feel pretty sad and reflective of the nature of loss.

The Little Woods in Fukushima was also difficult for me to read, and I think it’s because of the narrative style not being completely linear. There were multiple moments where the author would reference something, but not entirely, and then reference it somewhere else in parentheses, and that confused me. 

I think my favorite story from this week was The Easy Life in Kamusari as it was more lighthearted and playful. I really felt a sense of brotherhood develop between Yoki and Yuki, and I also enjoyed seeing Yuki’s character evolve throughout the chapter;  each of the characters felt very distinct from each other and made me grow connected to them quickly. I also liked the setting and trade it focused on as it’s much different from the urban settings and occupations we’ve been reading about in past stories. I enjoyed the coming of age storyline and how it’s intertwined with the environment, using the seasons and changing duties of the lumber business to show growth and community-building.