Life Ceremony
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- Create Date：2022-09-12 06:53:20
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Sayaka Murata
- ISBN：0802159583
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Summary
With Life Ceremony， the incomparable Sayaka Murata is back with her first collection of short stories ever to be translated into English。 In Japan， Murata is particularly admired for her short stories， which are sometimes sweet， sometimes shocking， and always imbued with an otherworldly imagination and uncanniness。
In these twelve stories， Murata mixes an unusual cocktail of humor and horror to portray both the loners and outcasts as well as turning the norms and traditions of society on their head to better question them。 Whether the stories take place in modern-day Japan， the future， or an alternate reality is left to the reader’s interpretation， as the characters often seem strange in their normality in a frighteningly abnormal world。 In “A First-Rate Material”， Nana and Naoki are happily engaged， but Naoki can’t stand the conventional use of deceased people’s bodies for clothing， accessories， and furniture， and a disagreement around this threatens to derail their perfect wedding day。 “Lovers on the Breeze” is told from the perspective of a curtain in a child’s bedroom that jealously watches the young girl Naoko as she has her first kiss with a boy from her class and does its best to stop her。 “Eating the City” explores the strange norms around food and foraging， while “Hatchling” closes the collection with an extraordinary depiction of the fractured personality of someone who tries too hard to fit in。
In these strange and wonderful stories of family and friendship， sex and intimacy， belonging and individuality， Murata asks above all what it means to be a human in our world and offers answers that surprise and linger。
In these twelve stories， Murata mixes an unusual cocktail of humor and horror to portray both the loners and outcasts as well as turning the norms and traditions of society on their head to better question them。 Whether the stories take place in modern-day Japan， the future， or an alternate reality is left to the reader’s interpretation， as the characters often seem strange in their normality in a frighteningly abnormal world。 In “A First-Rate Material”， Nana and Naoki are happily engaged， but Naoki can’t stand the conventional use of deceased people’s bodies for clothing， accessories， and furniture， and a disagreement around this threatens to derail their perfect wedding day。 “Lovers on the Breeze” is told from the perspective of a curtain in a child’s bedroom that jealously watches the young girl Naoko as she has her first kiss with a boy from her class and does its best to stop her。 “Eating the City” explores the strange norms around food and foraging， while “Hatchling” closes the collection with an extraordinary depiction of the fractured personality of someone who tries too hard to fit in。
In these strange and wonderful stories of family and friendship， sex and intimacy， belonging and individuality， Murata asks above all what it means to be a human in our world and offers answers that surprise and linger。
Reviews
Karen Patrick
，
I love how Sayaka Murata subverts expectations and writes strange， beautifully compelling stories that writhe around like ocean plants from another planet。 In this world， the concept of normal is turned upside down and inside out。 All taboo topics such as bodily fluids， bodily waste， cannibalism， death， murder， disgusting meals and human body parts are discussed with careful selective precision。 Nothing is written for shock value or cheap， gross scares。 She picks and chooses the most squeamish o I love how Sayaka Murata subverts expectations and writes strange， beautifully compelling stories that writhe around like ocean plants from another planet。 In this world， the concept of normal is turned upside down and inside out。 All taboo topics such as bodily fluids， bodily waste， cannibalism， death， murder， disgusting meals and human body parts are discussed with careful selective precision。 Nothing is written for shock value or cheap， gross scares。 She picks and chooses the most squeamish of topics and weaves an elegant parable out of it that echoes with a secret message we have to decipher。 There is a lot of commentary about womanhood and society's expectations。 I love how she comments on society， showing that even the most absurd and chilling traditions can be normalized if enough people call it normal。 Many of the characters are women under pressure by society and culture。 A woman feels conflicted by her fiance's hatred for wearing outfits made from human body parts even though it's normal in her society， another woman has six different personalities and wonders how to make her husband choose one， a woman attends the funeral of her colleague who wishes to be eaten。 Life ceremony， the titular star of this short story collection is delightfully bizarre。 Imagine a funeral that is also an orgy to produce life in a world where cannibalism is normalized and honoured as respecting a dead person's wishes。 Some other stories were short vignettes and peeks into other people's weird lives like the one about 2 wildly different old ladies and one about 2 girls raising a secret pet who is a middle aged man。 There was also a story about a woman who is fascinated by her human co workers because of their meat flesh and insides。 Very trippy stuff that walks the fine line between hallucination， sci-fi and mental illness because we aren't sure if she's an alien or not。 Overall， I enjoyed this short story collection a lot and was fascinated by it。 It has high re-read value。 I didn't buy a physical copy。 I only read an ebook but if I found it in a secondhand shop， I'd buy it！ 。。。more
Hafsah
，
2。5 starsThis book made me so unbelievably UNCOMFORTABLE I cannot begin to describe the unease。And nothing on earth will prepare you for the HORROR that is the short story called "Life ceremony" no matter how much discomfort you have experienced nothing can compare to it。 I have mixed feelings about everything bc I only started this book as it was recommended and lent to me by a friend and I didn't bother to read the blurb or any online summaries to know what is was about。 I went in BLIND。 Which 2。5 starsThis book made me so unbelievably UNCOMFORTABLE I cannot begin to describe the unease。And nothing on earth will prepare you for the HORROR that is the short story called "Life ceremony" no matter how much discomfort you have experienced nothing can compare to it。 I have mixed feelings about everything bc I only started this book as it was recommended and lent to me by a friend and I didn't bother to read the blurb or any online summaries to know what is was about。 I went in BLIND。 Which is great for surprise which this book was just not in the best way。 Still it was pretty interesting hence the 。5 rating。 。。。more
elena
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i thought “earthlings” was the most disgusting book i’ve read but this one proved me wrong。 never in my life a book made me feel sick to my stomach & almost made me throw up。 but this one did。
jessi ✿
，
“I mean， normal is a type of madness， isn’t it？ I think it’s just that the only madness society allows is called normal。” ✨🎭
Manon
，
Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata is an outrageously bizarre collection of short stories exploring an array of topics from canibalism and conscious objects to structuralism and nurodivergence， this book covers a lot of ground。Reading this strangely addictive collection， Murata’s writing pretty much imploded my rational moral framework。 By the second story， I began to wonder if eating human bodies after they died would be so unethical after all！ Murata has a knack for literary tone and character stu Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata is an outrageously bizarre collection of short stories exploring an array of topics from canibalism and conscious objects to structuralism and nurodivergence， this book covers a lot of ground。Reading this strangely addictive collection， Murata’s writing pretty much imploded my rational moral framework。 By the second story， I began to wonder if eating human bodies after they died would be so unethical after all！ Murata has a knack for literary tone and character study that presents the reader with the space to consider such absurdities。 In this way it truly is a gift to anyone who’s ever felt at odds with the world。Each story in the collection is a stand alone piece， but themes of food and bodies in various contexts thread them all together to produce a tidy little collection。 Here are some of my favourite stories:Life Ceremony- In a dystopian（？） society where dead bodies are cooked and served hot-pot style after they die， Murata’s dead pan prose in Life Ceremony is anything but subtle。 Refusing to hide behind fictitious facade when exploring Japanese socio-political tensions concerning food， tradition， and population control， Life Ceremony is not a story that I will soon forget。Hatchling- Probably the least ‘weird’ story， Hatchling is an extraordinary depiction of personality masking and mirroring。 If you consistantly adapt your personality to please those around you， and are in constant search for your ‘true inner self’， you’ll love this story。 The issues touched upon here seem niche， but I feel they are more common than we realise。 （Also， Freud）Puzzle- Entirely at odds with any literary tradition I’ve come across， Puzzle is probably the weirdest piece of text I have ever read。 The story starts by depicting the image of capitalism: people packed into a train carriage， commuting home from work。 From there， the story descends into weirdness unti the protagonist is speaking to her friend （who is also her stomach） whilst dripping gastric juice everywhere。 Yeah I know。I still don’t know what to make of some of the stories in Life Ceremony， but that’s okay。 I’ve come to accept that you don’t always have to ‘get’ literature to like it。 In any case， Murata’s matter-of-fact tone makes her work immensely readable。To conclude， I am very frugal with my use of the term ‘avant-garde’， but I think this book deserves that title。 Murata is immensely talented。 This book is awesome。 Five stars。 。。。more
Marco
，
stories are a bit hit or miss， but solid 3。5 overall
Erin
，
These stories are so weird and I love them！ The author is operating on some other frequency and I am such a fan。
Thay Kaizer
，
3，5。
Lien
，
Love Murata’s style and vibe but I’m not sure all stories will be as memorable as her full length books are。
rin。
，
saying i love her is not enough i need to worship her mind lick every crevice of her body serve her the bestest morning coffee and brew her soothing tea every day gah damn her books are- *chef's kiss* saying i love her is not enough i need to worship her mind lick every crevice of her body serve her the bestest morning coffee and brew her soothing tea every day gah damn her books are- *chef's kiss* 。。。more
Raya
，
Some stories fell flat， but mostly are amazing。 Very thoughtful and well-written。 Individually， they left different aftertastes and experiences。 As a collection， though， this is definitely my favourite。 Sayaka Murata has done it again。 She managed to convince me with all of these strangeness in her writing。
Oliver Shrouder
，
3。5！ I love the way Murata creates a mood in these stories， they feel cohesive and complete somehow， considering how short a lot of them are， like snapshots of other realities。 There are some noticeably weaker stories， especially the ones of the shorter side， but stories like Life Ceremony and A Clean Marriage are great and stand strong against her novels。
Thea
，
This book is a good read if you want to explore wildly interesting premises in the most boring way possible
zainab khan
，
took me too long to read and some stories were not as good as others
_sapphosangel_
，
i've finally finished this book！ some of the stories were more of a drag but i particularly liked: life ceremony， clean marriage and body magic！i love sayaka murata with all of my heart :'） i've finally finished this book！ some of the stories were more of a drag but i particularly liked: life ceremony， clean marriage and body magic！i love sayaka murata with all of my heart :'） 。。。more
Allie
，
nauseatingly grotesque。 i’m just glad i don’t have food in my systems now or else。
Natascha
，
I Enjoyed it so so much and already recommended quite a lot of people to read specific stories。They are weird and amazing and made me uncomfortable at times。 The writing style （or translation） is just amazing。 There are stories about cannibalism and using parts of dead people， there are stories about friendship and families。 The book ist just great！ “Life ceremony” was my favourite I think and “poochie” was hilarious！
M
，
simple， sometimes i feel like they'd benefit from a little more detail （life ceremony was perfect）。 originally i wasn't sold at all， but hatchling surprised me actually to be honest i think most of the appeal hinges on the shock value， and distracts from their simplicity， but nothing in her writing is all that gross or shocking to me personally i guess simple， sometimes i feel like they'd benefit from a little more detail （life ceremony was perfect）。 originally i wasn't sold at all， but hatchling surprised me actually to be honest i think most of the appeal hinges on the shock value， and distracts from their simplicity， but nothing in her writing is all that gross or shocking to me personally i guess 。。。more
Erika Lynn （shelf。inspiration）
，
4 Stars See more on my Bookstagram: Shelf。Inspiration Instagram 🫀”…the world is but a brilliant mirage， a temporary illusion。” - Life Ceremony。🫀In these twelve stories， Murata mixes an unusual cocktail of humor and horror to portray both the loners and outcasts as well as turning the norms and traditions of society on their head to better question them。 Whether the stories take place in modern-day Japan， the future， or an alternate reality is left to the reader’s interpretation， as the charact 4 Stars See more on my Bookstagram: Shelf。Inspiration Instagram 🫀”…the world is but a brilliant mirage， a temporary illusion。” - Life Ceremony。🫀In these twelve stories， Murata mixes an unusual cocktail of humor and horror to portray both the loners and outcasts as well as turning the norms and traditions of society on their head to better question them。 Whether the stories take place in modern-day Japan， the future， or an alternate reality is left to the reader’s interpretation， as the characters often seem strange in their normality in a frighteningly abnormal world。 In “A First-Rate Material”， Nana and Naoki are happily engaged， but Naoki can’t stand the conventional use of deceased people’s bodies for clothing， accessories， and furniture， and a disagreement around this threatens to derail their perfect wedding day。 “Lovers on the Breeze” is told from the perspective of a curtain in a child’s bedroom that jealously watches the young girl Naoko as she has her first kiss with a boy from her class and does its best to stop her。 “Eating the City” explores the strange norms around food and foraging， while “Hatchling” closes the collection with an extraordinary depiction of the fractured personality of someone who tries too hard to fit in。I fell in love with Sayaka Murata’s book after reading her book “Earthlings”， so I was very excited for this release。 Each story of this collection was very unique and also worked so cohesively together。 Important to note that some of the stories are pretty graphic so a strong stomach is recommended。 Overall， this was a well-written collection and I’m eager to read more from this author。 。。。more
Shannon
，
There were some wild stories in here。 I admire Sayaka Murata's boldness for going all-out with the weirdness every time。 I have to assume the English translation does its best to actually mirror her writing style in Japanese， and I really love how unassuming and everyday and domestic the voices in her stories are， even though they're actually describing the most outlandish things。 Almost every story initially tricks you into thinking it's going to be some cute little domestic piece about marriag There were some wild stories in here。 I admire Sayaka Murata's boldness for going all-out with the weirdness every time。 I have to assume the English translation does its best to actually mirror her writing style in Japanese， and I really love how unassuming and everyday and domestic the voices in her stories are， even though they're actually describing the most outlandish things。 Almost every story initially tricks you into thinking it's going to be some cute little domestic piece about marriage or friendship or work or school or whatever and then， nope， it's actually a story about cannibalism being a totally normalized part of polite society or objects made from human skin and teeth being a highly-desired commodity or two schoolgirls keeping a businessman as their pet。 Then， by the end of the story， you find yourself almost believing that these are totally normal and accepted scenarios。 I can't remember the title， but the last story was probably my favorite， about a woman who has half a dozen personalities depending on what environment she's in who then breaks her fiance's brain by asking him to choose one for her to stick with before their wedding day。 。。。more
Amth
，
Very odd， fantastical， graphic and surreal at times。 There definitely are stand out stories like the titular Life Ceremony， but overall it's a pretty good collection of short stories in Murata's style of writing about women and asexuality Very odd， fantastical， graphic and surreal at times。 There definitely are stand out stories like the titular Life Ceremony， but overall it's a pretty good collection of short stories in Murata's style of writing about women and asexuality 。。。more
Amy Dixon
，
As a collection of short stories I was very mixed some I absolutely loved such as life ceremony and hatchlings but apart from that I found some of the stories didn’t have much going on in them and overall the book wasn’t exactly what I was expecting。
Sam
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Never thought id say this about a book and i dont know how to say it put to out it simply this book。。it gave me the ick，loved the last story though
Marj
，
I don’t know why people even try to venture into comedy these days when a whole sayaka murata exists
Webb
，
I absolutely love Convenience Store Woman and Earthlings。 I am really glad I read this short story collection， but it is not a strong recommendation。Many of the stories in this collection have a highly legible concept， and then the story feels like it does not have much nuance after I figure out the concept and see how it is being applied， and then the story ends。 The two novels of Murata's that I love also have strong concepts/premises， but the novels are long enough that the characters and int I absolutely love Convenience Store Woman and Earthlings。 I am really glad I read this short story collection， but it is not a strong recommendation。Many of the stories in this collection have a highly legible concept， and then the story feels like it does not have much nuance after I figure out the concept and see how it is being applied， and then the story ends。 The two novels of Murata's that I love also have strong concepts/premises， but the novels are long enough that the characters and interactions become the foreground of those stories， and the initial conceptual premise kind of becomes the background or framework。 The characters and personal moments are what make me love those books， which were missing in most of these stories。 That said， I still recommend this to anyone who liked the novels a lot。 My favorite short stories here are Two's Family and Hatchling。 。。。more
Ally Van Schilt
，
Another fantastic read from Sayaka Murata。 This collection had much more in common with Earthlings than it did with Convenience Store Woman， in that it was， at times， just unhinged and whacky and uncomfortable; but at the same time just such a clever and uncompromising insight into humanity。 Definitely “weird fiction” but I’ll absolutely be reading her again going forward！
Arch
，
Now my favorite Murata， Life Ceremony is a celebration of challenging social conventions， toasting the loners， outcasts and weirdos （like me）， and encouraging the exploration and discussion of counternarratives。 It is not a book for the faint of heart because， like signature Murata， the imagery is intentionally graphic and the examples were crafted to decisively hurt sensibilities。 This is my kind of book。 It’s dark， witty and purposeful。 It crosses the line first， so you’re left with a wide， op Now my favorite Murata， Life Ceremony is a celebration of challenging social conventions， toasting the loners， outcasts and weirdos （like me）， and encouraging the exploration and discussion of counternarratives。 It is not a book for the faint of heart because， like signature Murata， the imagery is intentionally graphic and the examples were crafted to decisively hurt sensibilities。 This is my kind of book。 It’s dark， witty and purposeful。 It crosses the line first， so you’re left with a wide， open space to think and deconstruct your own thoughts， values and prejudices。 Often， what stops us from asking the right questions is our tendency to favor the norm。 If the norm is so perverse， then we’re given the license to lean into the discomfort。 This is how Murata approached all 13 of her stories。 She re-imagined the world with different rules and asked us， her readers， what we thought。 The collection broached taboo topics like cannibalism and difficult conversations like marriage。 Typically， with short story collections， I would rate 1 or 2 highly but would find the rest mediocre。 This is the one of the few exceptions。 With Life Ceremony， I cannot even pick a favorite。 Every single story I’ve read appealed to me in different way and together， they have kept me up at night， thinking， tossing and thinking some more。 It doesn’t help that some of the stories reused names and repurposed metaphors （which I think was fully deliberate）。 I’ve taken my time with this book because I knew from the first story that it was going to be a 5-star read。 It felt like being inside of my own head – unfiltered and completely liberated to indulge in my own thoughts no matter how dark。 Murata just gets me， and I cannot wait to read more of her works。 。。。more
Eva
，
Some stories are shocking and enchanting， some are downright boring with too much drivel。 No matter what， Sayaka Murata's books are always fresh， discussing taboo topics as if it was an everyday issue。 Some stories are shocking and enchanting， some are downright boring with too much drivel。 No matter what， Sayaka Murata's books are always fresh， discussing taboo topics as if it was an everyday issue。 。。。more
Jhamdol
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。。。more
A D
，
I’ve never read something like this before。 The short stories （some connected） were so bizarre。 It took reading something dystopian to the next level。 My favorite stories were Life Ceremony （which was hard to read） and Hatchlings。 This book really makes you wonder what a different world would be like。
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Life Ceremony
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Life Ceremony&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Life Ceremony&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0