LN + Book thoughts

Allow me to describe Carmilla in a sentence: vampire gothic horror novella with sapphic ‘undertones’ (to put it lightly). And also a neat fun fact– this was published in 1872, so it actually predates Dracula by 25 years and stands as an early work of vampire fiction. This novel begins with our narrator (Laura), her father, and two governesses living in the isolated countryside. Due to some circumstances, they end up allowing a beautiful and mysterious young woman named Carmilla to stay in their castle for some time. Laura and Carmilla are both immediately drawn to one another, and our narrator remains captivated by Carmilla even as she displays increasingly odd behavior. Not to mention the mysterious sickness that seems to have suddenly spread through the nearby town.

With the introductory stuff out of the way, let’s talk about vampires. This novel basically captures a victim’s firsthand perspective of vampire seduction. No idea if that trope originates from here or if that’s just a folklore thing, but whatever, mysterious yet alluring vampires will always be timeless. I wasn’t expecting a piece of Victorian literature to be so overtly homoerotic. But Carmilla and Laura’s relationship had some very sensual and romantic moments. While Carmilla’s obsession with her might’ve been due to some predator-prey dynamic, that doesn’t stop Carmilla from having some banger lines. “I live in you; and you would die for me, I love you so”, and one of my favorite lines, “But to die as lovers may—to die together, so that they may live together.”

This work wasn’t particularly scary, albeit a bit creepy at times, but that wasn’t really the author’s fault. There’s hints throughout the beginning of the novel all pointing to something being off and creating this uneasy atmosphere. However, since I’m a modern reader who is familiar with vampires (and since I went into this knowing it’s a vampire story) I can immediately tell what every clue is leading to. This didn’t really kill my enjoyment of the story though. I liked picking up on the little details and then thinking about how this was probably influential to later works. Plus, Carmilla and Laura’s relationship being the focal point of the story kept me very absorbed in the text.

Originally I was planning to get into Kawakami’s work with her more popular book, Heaven, but I’m not in the mood for adolescence and bullying right now. Instead I decided to read this book, which sort of felt like a coming-of-age story but for an older woman.

The pacing is slow, but this aspect is compensated by strong writing and really vivid imagery. Basically this book is that phrase “beauty in the mundane.” Just the first page alone really draws you in with these rich descriptions of the city at night. In keeping with this simplicity, the plot itself is simple and easy to follow. Fuyuko Irie lives an unsatisfactory and mundane life as a copy editor. As a protagonist, she feels very subdued, if that description makes any sense. But while she does have a very ‘go with the flow’ attitude, it’s not as if she necessarily lacks agency. She has a desire to change, but feels unable to, which leads to her spending a majority of the book dealing with internal struggles. Her withdrawn and reserved nature were painfully relatable. Emphasis on painful, because she was so relatable at times that I was worried I could end up like her in about 10ish years (hopefully without the alcoholism).

Her character contrasts well with her only friend, Hijiri. I liked their friendship, it felt like they had a genuine bond. It was through Fuyuko’s interactions with Hijiri and other women that I started sensing a theme of womanhood in Japan. I don’t have much to say on that aspect, but there were moments that just stuck out to me. Spoilers: For example, when one character was warning Fuyuko about Hijiri and basically telling her that Hijiri is horrible blah blah. But then when she hands Fuyuko a gift it’s the same gift that Hijiri gave her. That was just really funny and ironic to me. Oh, and when Fuyuko meets with her friend from highschool whose become an unhappy wife in a loveless marriage. Just thinking about how friendships can drift away, and when you see them again they’ve basically become a complete stranger. And how you miss the version of them you remember from the past. Also I’ve neglected to mention Mitsutsuka. While I did like her conversations with Mitsutsuka about light, I wasn’t really that invested in their romance. But I think it was a much needed vehicle to spark her development.

I first read this book about a year ago and I absolutely loved the angst-ridden, dramatic prose. Recently, I had an assignment for a school paper where I had to compare a myth to its contemporary retelling. I immediately thought of this book because I just loved it so much. Grief and loss are integral to the story of Gilgamesh, and Herbert Mason captures these aspects so well. Gilgamesh’s quest for immortality is surprisingly emotional. Everything is mired by Enkidu’s death, grief drives Gilgamesh towards action but also keeps him stuck in an emotional limbo. He can’t move on.

The only other version of Gilgamesh I’ve read is the faithful translation published under Penguin Classics by Andrew George (the version I had to read for class). While it’s still good, I prefer Mason’s interpretation of the story. He updates some things for modern audiences, and it just happens to suit my tastes more. I felt more attached and sympathetic to the way Gilgamesh is portrayed in his retelling, and I felt like it was more clear in this version that Gilgamesh had indeed developed as a character. Enkidu’s death also felt more emotionally poignant (but to be fair the original fragments of Enkidu’s final moments are lost). I remember being so compelled by Enkidu’s speech when I first read that scene. And then as Gilgamesh cries for the first time and Enkidu says, “Why am I to die, you to wander on alone? Is that the way it is with friends?” ^_^

OP protagonist quite literally becomes a God. Initally, I thought this would just be another really cliche story, but I ended up enjoying this. It's well-executed, short, and entertaining.

Vol. 1 was a bit slow and mostly dedicated to worldbuilding and set up. But the 2nd vol. contained the main plot and picked up the pace. The writing was good and I enjoyed the antics of godhood and also being a dungeon master. The comedy wasn’t necessarily my cup of tea, but it was still fine. I think that Anri was a likeable protagonist, however all the other characters like Lili or Tena had no personality other than being loyal and holding a reverence for Anri. But, I can’t complain tooo much since this is how it usually is in the isekai genre anyways.

This novel felt pleasant to read. There was no unnecessary harem, and everything was just lighthearted fun. Plus, the side stories were pretty nice too. They fleshed out the world and made me marginally care for the other characters as well.

The atmosphere in this novel has almost a dream-like quality to it. The prose is simple yet very effective at conveying each character’s thoughts. The rotating pov’s were nice. Each character was so distinctly different from each other. They all had differing views on life which made each of their perspectives feel fresh.

After reading it, I had to sit down and think about it for a while (in my intellectual era). There’s a lot of ideas and feelings that are packed into those two volumes. Also, I only realized after reading it that the author is Mikage Eiji. The same person who wrote the very popular Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria (which I have yet to read).

This is a really fun read. I’m still a bit early into it, but I really enjoy the characters and all the shenanigans that happen. I don’t think it takes itself too seriously (I mean at one point the main character literally fights Slenderman) which is what makes this really fun. Seeing Ella (the main character) struggle to rp as a crazy child is peak entertainment. My favorite moment was when Ha-rim and the other kids played the most tense game of house with Ella.

It’s interesting to see what the author comes up with to make the fights fun. Ella is sort of op, but she does have her limitations, so it’s fun to see what the author does to work around that. The kids, (especially Ha-rim) are pretty clever so seeing them come up with solutions is nice. The game mechanics are interesting and seem plausible enough to be in an actual game.

Also, as a side note Ella’s character design reminds me a lot of Mary from Ib.