Laura
Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa
Hunchback opens with a bang – an account of the “narrator’s” super steamy threesome at one of Tokyo’s most sought-after swinger’s club. Or – to be more accurate – our narrator’s entirely fictional account of a super steamy threesome. Shaka Isawa is writing from a private care home, where her congenital muscle disorder keeps her confined to her space, never far away from her electric wheelchair and ventilator. She keeps her mind active and stretches her creative muscles by living her life mostly online – posting outrageous and erotic content online, mostly to a silent and unresponsive audience. Author Saou Ichikawa deftly paints a very rich picture of Shaka’s life in a short amount of time – her medical difficulties, her frank and funny inner voice and crucially, the boredom with her life. So you understand why, when a young male careworker reveals he knows about her online activity, Shaka proposes sex – despite the very real physical danger it could put her in.
This short novella manages to explore so much – sex, desire, life as a disabled person in Japan –in such a short amount of time. What a talented writer Ichikawa is to create such a rich and compelling world in the space of just under 100 pages! As if that’s not enough, Ichikawa also pulls off a powerful ending – without giving too much away, by the end of this story you are left questioning everything you have read in this short and sharp novella – in the best kind of way.
Lotte
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
Lyra is a spirited orphan girl raised among the masters and scholars of Jordan College. She lives a wild and carefree childhood alongside the physical form of her spirit animal; her daemon, Pantalaimon. An opportunity to break free of Oxford comes in the form of charismatic Ms. Coulter, a scholar and explorer that promises Lyra the world. But when her friend Roger disappears, she and Pan take it upon themselves to rescue him from the kidnapping bandits known as the Gobblers. Her journey takes her not only into the icy depths of the arctic but to an earth bending shattering of reality where the entire fragility of the universe is questioned.
Pullman’s brilliant exploration of constricting ideologies is subtly incorporated into his world of original fantasy nuances and fascinating characters. He has spun a complex but fascinating web of spiritual realms, identity exploration and the importance of authenticity when faced with the magnitude of the universe. The narrative is thick with magical realism – yet Pullman allows the reader to consider if aspects are in fact, magical, or simply normalised in a neighbouring universe. This book simply blew me away and left me hungry for more.