Floating Like the Dead: Stories

by Yasuko Thanh

In this sharply observed and erotically charged debut collection, Journey Prize-winner Yasuko Thanh immerses us in the lives of people on the knife edge of desire and regret, hungry for change yet still yearning for a place to call home, if only for a little while.
 
In a story set in 1960s Germany and crackling with sexual tension, a young woman on the verge of making a life-changing decision is sent to work as a homemaker for a farmer and his family while his wife is away. When his dying lover becomes convinced he is being visited by a ghost, a man is forced to confront his own fears about being left behind. In a Mexican resort town where anything goes, a woman searching for a place to belong pushes herself to the limits of love and despair. And in the Journey Prize-winning story "Floating Like the Dead," a group of Chinese lepers spend their last days dreaming of escape after they are exiled to a remote island off the coast of B.C., at the turn of the twentieth century.
 
Many of the characters in these stories are expats, outlaws, and outsiders, some by choice, others by circumstance. Yet in their struggles to be themselves and to belong, they remind us of our own deepest longings and desires. With this seductive and emotionally compelling collection, Yasuko Thanh announces herself as an exciting new voice in Canadian fiction.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Canada, Canadian Literature

240 pages, Paperback

First published April 3, 2012

About the author

Yasuko Thanh’s work has appeared in numerous publications, including Prairie Fire, Descant, PRISM international, and Vancouver Review. The title story, "Floating Like the Dead," won the prestigious Writers' Trust of Canada/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize in 2009. She was a finalist for the Future Generations Millennium Prize, the Hudson Prize, and the David Adams Richards Prize, which recognizes unpublished manuscripts. She recently received her MFA from the University of Victoria. She has lived in Mexico, Germany, and Latin America, and now lives in Victoria.

Reviews

[Magdelanye · Rating 5 out of 5]

These 8 exquisitely written stories are each of them more like novellas so full and rich with detailed nuances and intense glimpses into lives on the edge of extreme, entrapped by their own conditions, 'belonging to no one but calling everywhere home'. p77

[Ian M. Pyatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful debut with eight wonderfully written stories, it was hard to choose a favourite as each had such a diverse set of characters, stirred your emotions, and a different meaning as you read the story.

This book is a keeper and would recommend to anyone who likes short stories.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new Canadian voice and what a wonderful voice it is. This terrific collection of short-stories has both grit and grace in every story. Raw yet human.

[Carmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent quick read! I am excited for new writings by Yasuko!

[Rebekkah P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reasons I enjoyed this book included: beautiful prose; diverse settings, including pleasingly familiar and Canadian ones; not just diverse characters but stories about members of oppressed minorities that acknowledged and included some struggles faced by members of their group, while not being *about* those struggles; and of course just straight up interesting, beautiful, challenging stories.

There were a couple reasons I was not super in love with it, though. Mainly, there were a lot of kind-of "hanging" endings that I didn't feel added to the story (some did, and I loved that). Also there was a moment when I just felt really tired of reading about drug-fuelled shitty behaviour and seamy goings-on, but I'm glad I continued reading because there were more stories that didn't gross me out later in the book.

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short story collection is one I was expecting much different things from. Like most short story collection there were some hits and some misses. I did enjoyed a few story as they were heartbreaking and looked in a darker light. There were some that were lack luster. Overall I think Thanh has great skill in telling this story of loss, death and grief. A lot of the stories have foreigners in foreigner places. Theres a lot of story of women and their strength in loss.

Overall 3.75 out of 5 dead birds.

[caileyy · Rating 4 out of 5]

the first story “spring blade knife” had me crying on the train. when he told his dad to stop crying and his dad responded with “but you’re my little boy.” SOBBING.

some stories i like better than others but overall floating like the dead is a fantastic cohesive collection of stories of yearning to find somewhere or someone that feels like home, the brutal consequences of our actions, and the too often cruel nature of the universe — all written in such a way that is hauntingly beautiful.

excited to check out more of thanh’s work.

[Lester · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just home after a trip to Vancouver..so many of these stories visited me on the trip. Growing up in Victoria, and living in Vancouver..then returning to visit both cities..WOW! Yasuko Thanh has much truth in her stories..read them and see with your own eyes, life.
Walking along Main and Hastings in Vancouver today is walking with all the 'ghosts' of the past.
D'Arcy Island is real..and there are many D'Arcy islands all over the world.
Humans..we are our own................
Thankx Suko...

[Lucile Barker · Rating 3 out of 5]

10. Floating Like the Dead by Yasuko Thanh
Strange collection of short stories. The title story is set on an island off B.C. in the early 2oth century where Chinese lepers were sent and left to their own devices. As they die off, the precarious situation of the survivors becomes more and more desperate. Thanh writes about rootless characters who start to do one thing that goes wrong. Great descriptions, but I don’t know if I would read it again.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though I'm not fond of short stories, this collection is quite good with quirky stories of unusual characters in strange situations in variety of locations, though well delineated & quite atmospheric. The stories deal with love, jealousy, suffering & illness, impending death....& all leave you with an uneasy feeling of a work unfinished.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of great writing but each story was quite dark with few (any?) characters with redeeming qualities. That made it hard for me to really like the book. And I worry for Yasuko's mental health. If you want to feel bad about yourself, your partner, the state of the world and feel like getting depressed read this book.

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

From death row to bank robbery, drug dealing and kidnap, these stories vary in time and breadth. The title story is set on D'Arcy Island, which isolated leprosy patients from others -- not the fate that Ah Sing wanted for himself. Disturbing and heart-breaking stories.

[Michelle Aurelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Beautifully written stories by a talented writer. None of them really spoke to me much though.

[Gail Kennon · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5...mostly i enjoyed it though i found the stories a bit long. will not seek out other work by this author...found the last story moving..

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn, these stories are good. There are razor-sharp vignettes and crushing historical fictions. As recommended by the person who suggested this book, skip the first story and come back to it. While good, the first story isn't representative of what Thanh does best.

4.5/5 stars

[Dhanamusil · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED everything about this book. My girlfriend lent it to me, but I am definitely going out to buy it, can't imagine it not part of my collection. The short stories are a mirror into humanities many angles. I read each story twice, and was sad to move on, only to fall in love with the next story. The subjects are vast, from drugs to rape, to old age and lepers, fiction it seems, yet steeped in experience. If you like reading "The Sun" magazine, you will love this book. I can't stop thinking about it.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of stories takes place all over the world and tackles many subjects. It is a very ambitious and also successful collection. My favourite is the titular story "Floating Like the Dead" which is about a leper colony off the coast of British Columbia. The very sad tone of the story still haunts me.

[Marion Listgarten · Rating 1 out of 5]

they are short stories. I don't like short stories

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent collection of short stories.