Strawberry Shortcake

Every time I visit another country, I make a point to buy a book from the airport's bookstore. During my recent trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia, I've picked up two books and one of them is Yoko Ogawa's Revenge.

I have a love-hate relationship when it comes to collection of short stories. Sometimes it just doesn't make sense, or when you're just about to get to the core of the content, the story ended. But I really like it when I'm lucky or smart enough to notice the thematic structure that binds the stories together. And Revenge? Definitely one of the best collection of short stories I've ever read!

Revenge is composed of 11 disturbingly eerie stories that brilliantly pulls together a seemingly disconnected cast of characters. Strawberry shortcake, kiwi fruits, carrots, museum of torture, Bengal tigers... These short stories can be read individually yet they are interconnected, with the last one looping back to the first story.

What I really like about this book is..it is very inviting. Aside from the well crafted storyline, the curiosity on how will the next story links to the previous story will keep you reading. This book also explores the dark side of the most ordinary me and you. Everyday people, going through everyday struggles, dealing with complicated relationship. There are fear, jealousy, paranoia, feeling of longing.. It's all very real, relatable and maybe to a certain extend, it is what you secretly wants to do.

This post is so hard to write cause I don't want to talk about the story and spoil the fun of reading it. If you do plan to read this book, please read it in order.