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Seven Japanese Tales Book Review

Junichiro Tanizaki
If this collection is meant to showcase the best of Tanizaki's work, it is a disappointingly uneven reading experience. Sometimes, as with the 6-page short story "Terror", or the 10-page "The Thief", he successfully plunges you into a character's visceral experience. Other times, and especially with women characters, he is coolly distant. He may describe the softness of someone's skin, but in such a detached way that you'd think he was describing a sculpture and not a living human being. If there's one overarching theme, it seems to be his characters' inability to grow or change — they are doomed to let their singular fixations pull them along the journey of life.

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No One is Here Except All of Us Book Review

Ramona Ausubel
*"I almost remember you."* Every single sentence lands with poetic grace. I couldn't stop mouthing "wow," as this book grabbed my hand and led me, running, through a dreamlike and devastating fantasy world. For the residents of a tiny Jewish village, the fantasy is a self-imposed coping mechanism: a new creation story that wipes generations of pain away and allows them to start fresh. While World War II rages around them, the village of Zalischik is spared... for a while, at least. Safe as long as their luck holds, the residents must re-invent everything, re-imagine their relationships, and learn to make a new world together.

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The Three-Body Problem Book Review

Cixin Liu
This novel relies too heavily on exposition to really draw me in. The characters are somewhat flat and although it's a page-turner, this feels more like a thought experiment dressed up as a story. The interviews and techincal explanations put the brakes on the plot's momentum. I think the story would be better served by focusing just on Ye Wenjie's experience and letting the reader inhabit her world more deeply.

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The Golden Gate Book Review

Vikram Seth
With a taste of Tom Wolfe nihilism and romantic verse reminiscent of Byron, this novel-in-sonnets is a delight. It's a love story with a less-than-loveable main character, whose selfishness eats into his relationships (both romantic and platonic). Take your time with this slim novel: getting lost in wordplay and rhyme schemes is just as enjoyable as following the story.

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