i found this short story anthology in montreal over a year ago, half afraid that it would be one of those books that appears interesting, yet potentially not so much and then actually turns out for the worst. but luckily it’s an excellent collection of short fiction by 20th century writers—as good as it seemed it might be when i was inspired to buy it. there’s a good range of styles here from representations of every day life, to political works, to folkloric tales, to more psychological explorations of relationships.

some of the shortest pieces were my favorites, for their clear moments of weight, like “Blind Chinese Soldiers” by Hirabayashi Taiko and “Yellow Sand” by Hayashi Kyoko. But “Residues of Squalor” by Ota Yoko was definitely my favorite. it seemed to trudge on a little, but illuminates so brilliantly at the very end.

i’m curious to see what other works by these writers have been translated to english.