父と私の桜尾通り商店街

今村 夏子 is the author of むらさきのスカートの女, a book that’s rather famous in these circles. Although I would not place her among my favorite writers, I’ve now read several of her books. What I like about her, outside of her accessible writing style, is her fairly unique voice, her very imperfect characters, and her refusal to write an “easy” story (something that we’ve read many times before). She likes to put very ordinary people, almost always female leads, in totally absurd situations (or totally absurd people in mundane situations, that depends) and the result is often interesting or comical or both.

In some ways her work can feel a bit similar to 村田 沙耶香 but (and we’re coming to the things that I’m less fond of) she doesn’t seem as interested in exploring societal issues, and her stories rarely end with clear or satisfying conclusions. They often feel like vignettes, they bring you a mood or a taste of something, but you’re not sure what it is, and it’s soon gone and forgotten.

I would say that the stories in this book are very much her usual style, and the language is as standard as standard can be. If you like her work in general you’ll probably enjoy this one too, otherwise you’re unlikely to be impressed.

Not a sweet short story collection

I picked this up thinking it would be along the lines of 木曜日はココアを or 森崎書店の日々, based on the cover and blurb. In fact it's a mixture of slice of life with touches of fantasy, but there is a slightly unpleasant current throughout. The stories mostly end sadly or ambiguously, and there are some absurd turns of events. It wasn't for me but I don't think it was badly written. The language is pretty accessible.