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Hit Parade of Tears
A new collection of stories from the cult author of Terminal Boredom.
Izumi Suzuki had ideas about doing things differently, ideas that paid little attention to the laws of physics, or the laws of the land. In this new collection, her skewed imagination distorts and enhances some of the classic concepts of science fiction and fantasy.
A philandering husband receives a bestial punishment from a wife with her own secrets to keep; a music lover finds herself in a timeline both familiar and as wrong as can be; idle high school students find adventure in another dimension but aren't all that impressed; a misfit band of space pirates discover a mysterious baby among the stars; Emma, the Bovary-like character from one of Suzuki's stories in Terminal Boredom, lands herself in a bizarre romantic pickle.
Wryly anarchic and deeply imaginative, Suzuki was a writer like no other. These eleven stories offer readers the opportunity to delve deeper in this singular writer's work.
Izumi Suzuki had ideas about doing things differently, ideas that paid little attention to the laws of physics, or the laws of the land. In this new collection, her skewed imagination distorts and enhances some of the classic concepts of science fiction and fantasy.
A philandering husband receives a bestial punishment from a wife with her own secrets to keep; a music lover finds herself in a timeline both familiar and as wrong as can be; idle high school students find adventure in another dimension but aren't all that impressed; a misfit band of space pirates discover a mysterious baby among the stars; Emma, the Bovary-like character from one of Suzuki's stories in Terminal Boredom, lands herself in a bizarre romantic pickle.
Wryly anarchic and deeply imaginative, Suzuki was a writer like no other. These eleven stories offer readers the opportunity to delve deeper in this singular writer's work.
289 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 11, 2023
337 people are currently reading
12685 people want to read
About the author
Izumi Suzuki
23 books379 followersIzumi Suzuki was born in 1949. After dropping out of high school she worked in a factory before finding success and infamy as a model and actress. Her acting credits include both pink films and classics of 1970s Japanese cinema. When the father of her children, the jazz musician Kaoru Abe, died of an overdose, Suzuki’s creative output went into hyperdrive and she began producing the irreverent and punky short fiction, novels and essays that ensured her reputation would outstrip and outlast that of the men she had been associated with in her early career. She took her own life in 1986, leaving behind a decade’s worth of groundbreaking and influential writing.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 414 reviews
January 24, 2023
(3.5) I read Terminal Boredom, the first translated collection of Izumi Suzuki’s work, in 2021, and it became an instant favourite – quite simply one of the best short story collections I have ever read. I was excited to read more of her fiction in Hit Parade of Tears. Unfortunately, this book doesn’t quite live up to its predecessor. While the characters have similarly distinct personalities and voices, the pieces collected here are often more successful at capturing a mood than telling a story.
There are recurring details that sometimes make Hit Parade of Tears seem like a particularly idiosyncratic novel-in-stories. The overall vibe is one of 1960s and 70s counterculture, epitomised by political statements and, particularly, music. (This also makes Hit Parade feel more obviously rooted in the time it was written, and much less prescient, than Terminal Boredom.) Another theme concerns characters who live among ordinary people, but believe themselves to be alien in some way – though it’s often unclear whether these beliefs are delusions. In this book we meet people who see visions of the dead, or other worlds; who can remember little of their recent past; who suspect they were born on another planet or have been alive for centuries.
The best story in the book is ‘The Covenant’, in which two misanthropic girls decide to to make a ‘sacrifice’ together; it’s alive with well-developed characters, an original plot and a vivid sense of cynicism. I really liked ‘Softly, As In a Morning Sunrise’ too: a proper sci-fi story about a crew scouring a planet for strange animals, it has the most solid plot and is also really funny. ‘Hey, It’s a Love Psychedelic!’ combines strong cultural context with an intriguing time-travel twist, although it ends abruptly (a repeating problem). I loved the atmosphere in ‘Memory of Water’ – its sense of despair, details like the 3D art experience; it felt closest to what I was expecting from the stories in this collection.
I initially thought ‘My Guy’ was an odd choice to open the book. Although it begins promisingly, and the narrator’s voice is immediately distinct, the narrative is choppy and difficult to follow. But perhaps it’s an appropriate first story after all – emblematic of the problems the weaker stories share. ‘I’ll Never Forget’, for example, is a sequel to the story ‘Forgotten’ from Terminal Boredom, but is far less successful; disjointed in a way that makes its events confusing.
A trio of stories – ‘Full of Malice’, ‘After Everything’ and ‘The Walker’ – seem to be connected, sharing a common thread about a woman searching for her younger brother. They also operate according to a kind of dream-logic where absurd incidents pass without comment, reminding me of Leonora Carrington’s surrealist fiction. ‘The Walker’ is relatively strong as a strange, brief standalone story. ‘Full of Malice’, apparently one of the author’s earliest works, is very short yet still lacks clarity, and could have been left out (if not, I suppose, for its connection to the others).
I enjoyed this new selection... but some of the stories in Hit Parade of Tears made me wonder whether those in Terminal Boredom represented the absolute apex of the author’s work, with the remainder inevitably being less impressive. There is no doubt that Terminal Boredom is the superior collection. If you haven’t read Izumi Suzuki before, start there.
I received an advance review copy of Hit Parade of Tears from the publisher through NetGalley.
There are recurring details that sometimes make Hit Parade of Tears seem like a particularly idiosyncratic novel-in-stories. The overall vibe is one of 1960s and 70s counterculture, epitomised by political statements and, particularly, music. (This also makes Hit Parade feel more obviously rooted in the time it was written, and much less prescient, than Terminal Boredom.) Another theme concerns characters who live among ordinary people, but believe themselves to be alien in some way – though it’s often unclear whether these beliefs are delusions. In this book we meet people who see visions of the dead, or other worlds; who can remember little of their recent past; who suspect they were born on another planet or have been alive for centuries.
The best story in the book is ‘The Covenant’, in which two misanthropic girls decide to to make a ‘sacrifice’ together; it’s alive with well-developed characters, an original plot and a vivid sense of cynicism. I really liked ‘Softly, As In a Morning Sunrise’ too: a proper sci-fi story about a crew scouring a planet for strange animals, it has the most solid plot and is also really funny. ‘Hey, It’s a Love Psychedelic!’ combines strong cultural context with an intriguing time-travel twist, although it ends abruptly (a repeating problem). I loved the atmosphere in ‘Memory of Water’ – its sense of despair, details like the 3D art experience; it felt closest to what I was expecting from the stories in this collection.
I initially thought ‘My Guy’ was an odd choice to open the book. Although it begins promisingly, and the narrator’s voice is immediately distinct, the narrative is choppy and difficult to follow. But perhaps it’s an appropriate first story after all – emblematic of the problems the weaker stories share. ‘I’ll Never Forget’, for example, is a sequel to the story ‘Forgotten’ from Terminal Boredom, but is far less successful; disjointed in a way that makes its events confusing.
A trio of stories – ‘Full of Malice’, ‘After Everything’ and ‘The Walker’ – seem to be connected, sharing a common thread about a woman searching for her younger brother. They also operate according to a kind of dream-logic where absurd incidents pass without comment, reminding me of Leonora Carrington’s surrealist fiction. ‘The Walker’ is relatively strong as a strange, brief standalone story. ‘Full of Malice’, apparently one of the author’s earliest works, is very short yet still lacks clarity, and could have been left out (if not, I suppose, for its connection to the others).
I enjoyed this new selection... but some of the stories in Hit Parade of Tears made me wonder whether those in Terminal Boredom represented the absolute apex of the author’s work, with the remainder inevitably being less impressive. There is no doubt that Terminal Boredom is the superior collection. If you haven’t read Izumi Suzuki before, start there.
I received an advance review copy of Hit Parade of Tears from the publisher through NetGalley.
July 3, 2023
Started off very strong but then the last stories just dragged on and didn't feel particularly engaging.
November 19, 2024
Many stories in Hit Parade of Tears involve strong women meeting strange men. The banter and exchanges between them are equally clever and entertaining. Overall, I greatly enjoyed most stories.
My Guy 4 stars
Young girl looking for attention. Finds it in an unexpected way from a chance meeting. Two possible explanations for the ending. Reminiscent of the X-Files.
Trial Witch 4 stars
Great story to read in October. A humorous story with a Supernatural slant.
Full of Malice 4 stars
Sister’s search for her brother, who was taken to “hospital”at age five. A good twist. More horror than sci-fi.
Hey, It’s a Love Psychedelic!
3.5 stars
Musicians and mix tapes. Record shops and fashion. Friendship and fix-ups. The narrative hops across time lines. I liked some hops/parts better than others.
After Everything 3.5 stars
Seems to continue the story Full of Malice. Almost read like an intermission or a movie preview.
The Covenant 4.5 stars
At onset, Sachiko’s husband has a Messiah complex and claims to have ESP . He also claims to be a conduit for communication with lifeforms from another planet. The majority of the story follows a teenage girl, Akiko, who is not sure if she is a human being or from a distant planet. The narratives collide in the conclusion.
The Walker 3 stars
An eternal walk meets a girl with an udon cart.
Softly, As in the Morning Sunlight 4.5 stars
A rag tag crew travels the universe collecting unusual animals for Earth’s upper class. An unexpected discovery on their latest mission changes the trajectory of their story. I love sci-fi stories with ships that are comprised of an unruly and unlikely crews.
Memory of Water 5 stars
A girl alone in the world suffers from sickness, exhaustion, and inertia. She gathers enough energy to attend a viewing of a “realistic, 3-D show” that triggers a seizure. Was she transported across time and space, was it a distant memory, or was it an hallucination? It was not what I thought and it was so much more.
I’ll Never Forget 4 stars
Set after a planetary war between Earth and Meele. Two women, of different species, share a spiritual frequency and a connection to the same man.
Hit Parade of Tears 3.5 stars
A couple (who are “long lifers”) reminiscing about the days of their youth. They discuss music, cinema, drugs, protests, things lost to the world, and the new world they inhabit.
My Guy 4 stars
Young girl looking for attention. Finds it in an unexpected way from a chance meeting. Two possible explanations for the ending. Reminiscent of the X-Files.
Trial Witch 4 stars
Great story to read in October. A humorous story with a Supernatural slant.
Full of Malice 4 stars
Sister’s search for her brother, who was taken to “hospital”at age five. A good twist. More horror than sci-fi.
Hey, It’s a Love Psychedelic!
3.5 stars
Musicians and mix tapes. Record shops and fashion. Friendship and fix-ups. The narrative hops across time lines. I liked some hops/parts better than others.
After Everything 3.5 stars
Seems to continue the story Full of Malice. Almost read like an intermission or a movie preview.
The Covenant 4.5 stars
At onset, Sachiko’s husband has a Messiah complex and claims to have ESP . He also claims to be a conduit for communication with lifeforms from another planet. The majority of the story follows a teenage girl, Akiko, who is not sure if she is a human being or from a distant planet. The narratives collide in the conclusion.
The Walker 3 stars
An eternal walk meets a girl with an udon cart.
Softly, As in the Morning Sunlight 4.5 stars
A rag tag crew travels the universe collecting unusual animals for Earth’s upper class. An unexpected discovery on their latest mission changes the trajectory of their story. I love sci-fi stories with ships that are comprised of an unruly and unlikely crews.
Memory of Water 5 stars
A girl alone in the world suffers from sickness, exhaustion, and inertia. She gathers enough energy to attend a viewing of a “realistic, 3-D show” that triggers a seizure. Was she transported across time and space, was it a distant memory, or was it an hallucination? It was not what I thought and it was so much more.
I’ll Never Forget 4 stars
Set after a planetary war between Earth and Meele. Two women, of different species, share a spiritual frequency and a connection to the same man.
Hit Parade of Tears 3.5 stars
A couple (who are “long lifers”) reminiscing about the days of their youth. They discuss music, cinema, drugs, protests, things lost to the world, and the new world they inhabit.
May 15, 2024
Like Terminal Boredom: Stories, Hit Parade of Tears is a collection of short stories you read for the vibe and not precisely for entertainment. This collection is less sci-fi leaning and includes some stories that are fantasy, it’s also feminist and LGBTQIA+. Also, this is not going to make sense, but reading this felt like drinking a dry martini - you feel fancy but why the fudge would you do this to yourself, girlie?
I don’t really know how to review it. I didn’t have a favorite story, though if someone pointed a gun at me and made me pick one, I guess I’d go for “Trial Witch.” In this story, a woman gets a trial to become a witch and she’s dating an asshole, which leads to fun moments. “My Guy” gets a special mention because I liked the open ending and how it left me wondering. The rest of the stories were a mix of peculiar, bizarre, and whatever.
Terminal Boredom: Stories has stories that have a sad-feeling in them. Hit Parade of Tears read like a quiet ‘angry women’ vibe in which women refuse to conform and resist through peculiar ways (i.e., dating alleged aliens). It’s also a book about embracing your uniqueness, which I think I appreciated, maybe. I don’t know. I’m just trying to say good things at this point.
It seems this year we’re getting non-fiction from Izumi Suzuki (Set My Heart on Fire) and I’m looking forward to it! Ever since I read that first collection, I've been intrigued by her, so I'm excited to read something that isn't a wacky short story for once.
Content warning: the book isn't dark per se but there are many mentions of rape and some of genocide.
I don’t really know how to review it. I didn’t have a favorite story, though if someone pointed a gun at me and made me pick one, I guess I’d go for “Trial Witch.” In this story, a woman gets a trial to become a witch and she’s dating an asshole, which leads to fun moments. “My Guy” gets a special mention because I liked the open ending and how it left me wondering. The rest of the stories were a mix of peculiar, bizarre, and whatever.
Terminal Boredom: Stories has stories that have a sad-feeling in them. Hit Parade of Tears read like a quiet ‘angry women’ vibe in which women refuse to conform and resist through peculiar ways (i.e., dating alleged aliens). It’s also a book about embracing your uniqueness, which I think I appreciated, maybe. I don’t know. I’m just trying to say good things at this point.
It seems this year we’re getting non-fiction from Izumi Suzuki (Set My Heart on Fire) and I’m looking forward to it! Ever since I read that first collection, I've been intrigued by her, so I'm excited to read something that isn't a wacky short story for once.
Content warning: the book isn't dark per se but there are many mentions of rape and some of genocide.
July 27, 2023
im so confused my brain is not ready for this level of disjointed scifi
but still 3 stars for those two girls murdering that creepy old man and that woman turning her husband into salmon jerky
but still 3 stars for those two girls murdering that creepy old man and that woman turning her husband into salmon jerky
August 20, 2024
READING VLOG
*3.5
to all my vivienne westwood girlies with miu miu specs and birkins or baggus filled with stuff stuff stuff. ur sonny angels. different shades of gloss for different days, different occasions. wired headphones. lime packets for lackluster tequila sodas at happy hour.
meant to be read in between moments. in between luncheons with girlfriends. in between work and commute. in between love and luxury. in between breaks. breaks from work, breaks from boys. meant to be read in confidence, build confidence, because sexiness is part of confidence. but confidence also exudes a sense of power. this is meant to empower female energy.
a collection of the strange and sensual, suzuki writes herself in. boys revolve around her. the world revolves around her. and even things outside of earth revolve around her. salmon roe in the sky. aliens dressed as boys. ends of worlds, always on the mind.
a bizarre collection of sexy stories i will return to in the near distant star, once in a blue moon.
*3.5
to all my vivienne westwood girlies with miu miu specs and birkins or baggus filled with stuff stuff stuff. ur sonny angels. different shades of gloss for different days, different occasions. wired headphones. lime packets for lackluster tequila sodas at happy hour.
meant to be read in between moments. in between luncheons with girlfriends. in between work and commute. in between love and luxury. in between breaks. breaks from work, breaks from boys. meant to be read in confidence, build confidence, because sexiness is part of confidence. but confidence also exudes a sense of power. this is meant to empower female energy.
a collection of the strange and sensual, suzuki writes herself in. boys revolve around her. the world revolves around her. and even things outside of earth revolve around her. salmon roe in the sky. aliens dressed as boys. ends of worlds, always on the mind.
a bizarre collection of sexy stories i will return to in the near distant star, once in a blue moon.
April 16, 2023
A collection of disjointed feminist pop culture science fiction shorts that, while not quite as revelatory as the earlier Terminal Boredom, are enduringly disturbing and intriguing. Hauntologists will be delighted by the amount of stories that allude to the idea of living entirely in earlier eras of pop music as a terrifying dystopian fate.
August 17, 2024
This was so disappointing after loving Terminal Boredom. There were 1 or 2 stories I liked but for the most part they were quite boring and often too long.
September 23, 2024
Hit Parade of Tears -Izumi Suzuki
3،5/5⭐️
صدرت العام الماضي ترجمة هذه المجموعة الجديدة من قصص الكاتبة اليابانية إيزومي سوزوكي (1986 – 1949) الكاتبة المتألقة التي رحلت عن عالمنا قبل أكثر من 36 عامًا، وكانت تكتب عادة قصص خيال علمي وفانتازيا والمجموعة متنوعة ومدهشة وتدور في عوالم غرائبية كعادة قصصها،
قصة|Trial Witch،
هي الأبرز في المجموعة ربما لأنها فانتازيا .. ربما لأن اعتدت على كتابة إيزومي للخيال العلمي.. تتفاوت مستوى القصص لكن الأكيد أنها كلها مميزة بطريقتها الخاصة، أرشح بقوة مجموعتها الأخرى|Terminal Boredom: Stories.
*أسجل اعتراضي وكرهي للغلاف :(
3،5/5⭐️
صدرت العام الماضي ترجمة هذه المجموعة الجديدة من قصص الكاتبة اليابانية إيزومي سوزوكي (1986 – 1949) الكاتبة المتألقة التي رحلت عن عالمنا قبل أكثر من 36 عامًا، وكانت تكتب عادة قصص خيال علمي وفانتازيا والمجموعة متنوعة ومدهشة وتدور في عوالم غرائبية كعادة قصصها،
قصة|Trial Witch،
هي الأبرز في المجموعة ربما لأنها فانتازيا .. ربما لأن اعتدت على كتابة إيزومي للخيال العلمي.. تتفاوت مستوى القصص لكن الأكيد أنها كلها مميزة بطريقتها الخاصة، أرشح بقوة مجموعتها الأخرى|Terminal Boredom: Stories.
*أسجل اعتراضي وكرهي للغلاف :(
February 4, 2024
Kinda relatable to want to turn your cheating husband into a piece of jerky
November 12, 2023
I started reading this book before leaving Japan, and now that I'm back, I finished it. It's a superb and weird combination of Science Fiction writing with a Shinjuku aesthetic. These are highly unusual and original stories. I wrote a bit about this book on my blog here:
https://open.substack.com/pub/tosh/p/...
https://open.substack.com/pub/tosh/p/...
September 28, 2025
The stories was hit and miss but I enjoyed quite a few of them a lot. Liked the tone and writing style. I think I enjoyed this one more then the other story collection I read by this author
April 2, 2023
Many thanks to Netgalley and Verso Books for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
Izumi Suzuki does not do things like any others, she breaks free from the law of science fiction making her story solely her own. With astounding ideas coming from an ingenious mind, though sorrowfully a short lived woman, her tales stand against the passing time with lingering emotions after you finish reading it
Suffused with dark humor, imbued with missing memories and sense of loneliness, these stories are stunning in their delivery but the abrupt ending may throw you off, the haunting narrative stay around making u want more.
Im thrilled to be able to read this collection of short stories from an author i discovered last year and absolutely loved. Terminal boredom was a great piece of collection that showcased Suzuki's ideas on society and her perspectives on gender roles & dynamics, challenging notions on societal issues and her setting revolved around the present issues set in the future was brilliant to say the least. For me, this newly tranlsated book comprised some of her best works & her less than stellar pieces bcus honestly, this was slightly lacking than her first book
We are still served with the absurdity of her characters, the non linear storytelling she excelled in, the weird disjointed plot weaved in the stories which i found myself attracted to but also cannot comprehend or wrap my head around some of them. There are the stories of intergalactic couple, on time being inexistent or irregular, of a spaceship crew foraging wild exotic animals, the girl who wandered between reality and delusion, the hilarious hijinks of a wife on a witch trial, casting spells on her husband, the search of a lost brother in an asylum by his older sister & more. There is a story that seems to be a continuation from the previous collection on the intergalactic couple which felt nostalgic, sad, devastating and damn my mind was spinning reading it.
1. My Guy - a woman love an alien man, a dreamlike tale end with a sinister tone
2. Trial Witch - a wife is on a trial to be a witch discovered her philandering husband and transform him into animals & various forms
3. The Covenant - two girls making a blood sacrifice to call for the alien in another world
4. Softly, as in a morning sunrise - a band of space pirates in an unmarked territory found a baby in the woods
5. Hey, its a love psychedelic! - a disjointed time bending story of a judgemental girl living her life
6. Memory of Water (my favourite) - painted a woman's despair in an almost realistic experience in the outside world
7. I'll Never Forget - a continuation from previous story in last collection Forgotten with Emma stuck in a hate love relationship with the man she fled
8. Full of Malice - a woman undergo a surgery of removing top half of her head to dispose the malice so as to live only being happy
9. The Walker - a ridiculous story on what happened when you dont pay for ur meal? U get decapitated
10. After Everything - short snippets of what is life after death
11. Hit Parade of Tears - a 150-year-old man live for way too long and unable to relish in the world
With 11 short stories, Suzuki lends her ideologies in form of storytelling filled with absurdities, anarchic ideas, elevate science fiction to another level. her characters seem troubled and lonely, an alien different from the rest, a stranger in their own skin.
For me personally, when i love the stories, i love it. But i get put off a bit when the stories that i really like ended on an unfinished note that i just go huh and actually felt unsatisfied by it. But it could prove that im invested in the world and want more. But sadly we will never get more. This new collection will be divisive, you either love it or hate it. I like it by the end for how great some of the stories are and i can get away with some of the weakest ones bcus the stories that i love in here, I REALLY LOVE IT.
Izumi Suzuki does not do things like any others, she breaks free from the law of science fiction making her story solely her own. With astounding ideas coming from an ingenious mind, though sorrowfully a short lived woman, her tales stand against the passing time with lingering emotions after you finish reading it
Suffused with dark humor, imbued with missing memories and sense of loneliness, these stories are stunning in their delivery but the abrupt ending may throw you off, the haunting narrative stay around making u want more.
Im thrilled to be able to read this collection of short stories from an author i discovered last year and absolutely loved. Terminal boredom was a great piece of collection that showcased Suzuki's ideas on society and her perspectives on gender roles & dynamics, challenging notions on societal issues and her setting revolved around the present issues set in the future was brilliant to say the least. For me, this newly tranlsated book comprised some of her best works & her less than stellar pieces bcus honestly, this was slightly lacking than her first book
We are still served with the absurdity of her characters, the non linear storytelling she excelled in, the weird disjointed plot weaved in the stories which i found myself attracted to but also cannot comprehend or wrap my head around some of them. There are the stories of intergalactic couple, on time being inexistent or irregular, of a spaceship crew foraging wild exotic animals, the girl who wandered between reality and delusion, the hilarious hijinks of a wife on a witch trial, casting spells on her husband, the search of a lost brother in an asylum by his older sister & more. There is a story that seems to be a continuation from the previous collection on the intergalactic couple which felt nostalgic, sad, devastating and damn my mind was spinning reading it.
1. My Guy - a woman love an alien man, a dreamlike tale end with a sinister tone
2. Trial Witch - a wife is on a trial to be a witch discovered her philandering husband and transform him into animals & various forms
3. The Covenant - two girls making a blood sacrifice to call for the alien in another world
4. Softly, as in a morning sunrise - a band of space pirates in an unmarked territory found a baby in the woods
5. Hey, its a love psychedelic! - a disjointed time bending story of a judgemental girl living her life
6. Memory of Water (my favourite) - painted a woman's despair in an almost realistic experience in the outside world
7. I'll Never Forget - a continuation from previous story in last collection Forgotten with Emma stuck in a hate love relationship with the man she fled
8. Full of Malice - a woman undergo a surgery of removing top half of her head to dispose the malice so as to live only being happy
9. The Walker - a ridiculous story on what happened when you dont pay for ur meal? U get decapitated
10. After Everything - short snippets of what is life after death
11. Hit Parade of Tears - a 150-year-old man live for way too long and unable to relish in the world
With 11 short stories, Suzuki lends her ideologies in form of storytelling filled with absurdities, anarchic ideas, elevate science fiction to another level. her characters seem troubled and lonely, an alien different from the rest, a stranger in their own skin.
For me personally, when i love the stories, i love it. But i get put off a bit when the stories that i really like ended on an unfinished note that i just go huh and actually felt unsatisfied by it. But it could prove that im invested in the world and want more. But sadly we will never get more. This new collection will be divisive, you either love it or hate it. I like it by the end for how great some of the stories are and i can get away with some of the weakest ones bcus the stories that i love in here, I REALLY LOVE IT.
Read
May 11, 2024brilliant, evocative, strange. sometimes irreverent and darkly funny. sometimes reflective and bleak. often an attempt to reconcile feelings of hope and despair.
also - the writing is EXTREMELY efficient. this book is full of strange and fascinating plots, and each story manages to hook you with its opening sentences and then efficiently and smoothly lay down the lore that you need before proceeding with the rest of the story.
i also love that the stories feel continuous and connected without feeling repetitive - arguably the most important part of a story collection.
there’s a lot more i could say about this collection, especially with regards to what we know about the author herself. i, however, am not an expert on suzuki or her work - as much as i wish i was. i am merely fascinated by what her works have to offer in the way of sci-fi, fantasy, and reflections on self/life/humanity.
also - the writing is EXTREMELY efficient. this book is full of strange and fascinating plots, and each story manages to hook you with its opening sentences and then efficiently and smoothly lay down the lore that you need before proceeding with the rest of the story.
i also love that the stories feel continuous and connected without feeling repetitive - arguably the most important part of a story collection.
there’s a lot more i could say about this collection, especially with regards to what we know about the author herself. i, however, am not an expert on suzuki or her work - as much as i wish i was. i am merely fascinated by what her works have to offer in the way of sci-fi, fantasy, and reflections on self/life/humanity.
May 14, 2024
I’m a sucker for weird feminist sci fi (esp written by bipoc women) and given izumi suzuki has a growing cult following I was excited for this one. I had a rollercoaster of a reading experience because I would devour one story then basically skim through the next. (to be fair, the longer stories are set against the backdrop of 1960-70s countercultural japan so the references went way over my head.) I loved her chaotically self-aware female narrators (my fav was a woman who was completely indifferent to the fact that she irreversibly turned her husband into a piece of dried meat - she was just like “oh well” and put him on her dresser), but overall I can’t say this collection left any strong impression on me.
fav stories: my guy, trial witch, the covenant, softly as in a morning sunrise, memory of water
fav stories: my guy, trial witch, the covenant, softly as in a morning sunrise, memory of water
December 25, 2024
A bit abrupt at times, these stories share the settings and ideas found in Terminal Boredom, much of it based on the experience of solitude, misocosmia, pessimism, and so on. Readers of Scott Bakker might recognize the attitude from his series' villains.
But there's other more nuanced things going on here, too, such as the observation that "there are tons of people out there experiencing the world like they're fictional characters, living out their lives with no backstory until somebody--a voice of another character--comes along to fill in the blanks."
Recommended for those who have one thing they can never forget.
But there's other more nuanced things going on here, too, such as the observation that "there are tons of people out there experiencing the world like they're fictional characters, living out their lives with no backstory until somebody--a voice of another character--comes along to fill in the blanks."
Recommended for those who have one thing they can never forget.
August 27, 2023
I think I enjoyed the previous collection of Suzuki's stories a bit more, but this was still quite good. Suzuki, who took her own life in 1986, was an actress and model as well as an early exponent of what I might call Ballardian science-fiction -- her stories have an odd mixture of reality and fantasy. This collection has a number of stories anchored in everyday malaise and the weight of normal life, and an almost hopeful yet resigned quality laced with black humor and camp. Good stuff overall.
August 23, 2023
Na goede reviews hierop besloten me toch maar weer eens aan sci-fi te wagen. Wederom blijkt dat het genre gewoon niet aan me besteed is, en daar kan dit boek verder niets aan doen. Buiten het genre om vond ik het echter ook gewoon oersaai. De verhalen waren naar mijn idee compleet inwisselbaar. In stijl en toon voelden ze allemaal hetzelfde. Ik kon er totaal niet inkomen en vergat vaak halverwege het verhaal alweer wat er aan het begin gebeurd was. Daarnaast sloeg de geïnternaliseerde misogynie je om de oren. De cynische vertellers waren allemaal heel erg 'not like other girls'. In élk verhaal moesten opmerkingen gemaakt worden over dat andere vrouwen dik, lelijk, onaantrekkelijk of sneu waren.
October 17, 2025
“Devo andare all'ospedale psichiatrico, devo incontrare quella donna che si impegna con tutta sé stessa a creare un amore che non verrà mai ricambiato. L'amore non è una casa in cui stare sereni una volta che l'hai costruita, si rovina giorno per giorno, richiede uno sforzo costante, quotidiano, altrimenti prima o poi diventa forma priva di sostanza...”
voglio calarmi le stesse sostanze che si calava la Suzuki mentre scriveva questi racconti
5⭐️
voglio calarmi le stesse sostanze che si calava la Suzuki mentre scriveva questi racconti
5⭐️
November 15, 2025
2.5
Alcuni racconti sono anche carini e con un'idea di base interessante, ma il problema principale per me è la prosa veramente basica e piatta; faccio veramente fatica a leggere questo tipo di libri in cui non c'è un minimo di ricerca e di attenzione alla scrittura. Non è importante solo raccontare qualcosa, ma anche il modo in cui lo si fa.
Alcuni racconti sono anche carini e con un'idea di base interessante, ma il problema principale per me è la prosa veramente basica e piatta; faccio veramente fatica a leggere questo tipo di libri in cui non c'è un minimo di ricerca e di attenzione alla scrittura. Non è importante solo raccontare qualcosa, ma anche il modo in cui lo si fa.
Read
May 10, 2023🤟
July 2, 2023
What if you just went completely left-field with your fiction? If you just let your imagination go slightly twisted and wrote down the result? That's what, I think, Suzuki asked herself before she sat down to write these stories. Told in an almost disaffected and joking tone, the stories in Hit Parade of Tears are both hilarious and weird and I had a great time with them. Thanks to Verso Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The eleven stories in Hit Parade of Tears all share a sense of the absurd happening during an otherwise completely normal life. Each story has this one thing that shifts it entirely into something so abstract you just have to keep going with it. Suzuki provides no explanation, or background, or context, she just confronts you with something weird and expects you to deal. It's not just the plots that initially discombobulated me, it is also the writing itself. I've been reading a bit more Japanese fiction lately and have therefore become more familiar with what I'd call the general tone of Japanese writing. You know how you can recognise if I a book was written by a Brit or an American, and not just because of spelling? It's a tone, a vibe, and I'm slowly dialing into the Japanese frequency of writing, I think. But I still had to really get used to Suzuki. Her writing is so... straightforward, in the sense that she just straight out says things you might otherwise build suspense around. Once I'd keyed into it, though, I did enjoy it.
Hit Parade of Tears opens with 'My Guy', a tale of either aliens or love betrayal. 'Trial Witch' was one of my favourite stories, as a woman is suddenly given some magical powers and her philandering husband suddenly finds himself drawing the short end of her experiments. 'Full of Malice' is incredibly brief but fascinating. A young woman in search of her brother, who was sent to a facility for being "slow", may or may not find herself in another dimension and in danger. It is honestly... so odd, but I can't get it out of my mind. 'Hey, It's a Love Psychedelic' honestly kind of went over my head a bit. I didn't catch the music references and so lost a bit of connection with how it played around with time, but I did find it intriguing. 'After Everything' was, I think, connected to 'Full of Malice'? It was incredibly evocative, even if it felt a little plotless. 'The Covenant' is a story about feeling like an outsider, of connecting to something not human, and yet also looking for connection. It's complex, contains murder, and gripped me! 'The Walker' feels like another story connected to 'Full of Malice' and 'After Everything', but maybe I'm reading too much into it. 'Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise' features a spacecrew of outcasts, a surprise baby, and smiling bunnies! 'Memory of Water' is a story about being disconnected from the world and yourself, bone-weary by all of it and incapable of joining it. 'I'll Never Forget' is, I think, related to Suzuki's Terminal Boredom and I did feel like maybe I missed some of its meaning, even though it can stand on its own. And finally, 'Hit Parade of Tears' was an intriguing story about long life, meaning, and freedom.
As I said above, I was very intrigued by Suzuki's writing style. There is a bluntness to it, which fits perfectly to her attitude as described in the blurb. It is a going against the expected, moving beyond the usual set-up and confronting readers with something different and slightly twisted. I was very intrigued by the premise of each story and the overarching disconnect that they speak to. As such, I did find myself feeling disconnected as well, as if nothing was really hitting me anymore, as if everything was passing by me. I think this was probably Suzuki's intention, but it did mean I had to shake off a blue feeling after finishing Hit Parade of Tears. Not every reader might enjoy that, but it was an intriguing experience for me. I'd definitely be interested in reading Terminal Boredom as well, if I find myself with the mental resources to dig myself out of the disassociation afterwards. The translations were also done very well, as far as I could tell, flowing with the tone of the story.
The translation credits break down thus: 'My Guy' and 'Trial Witch' by Sam Bett; 'Full of Malice' and 'Hey, It's a Love Psychedelic' by David Boyd; 'Hit Parade of Tears', 'I'll Never Forget' and 'Memory of Water' by Helen O'Horan; and 'After Everything', 'The Covenant', 'Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise' and 'The Walker' by Daniel Joseph.
I did enjoy reading Hit Parade of Tears, although I didn't find myself connecting to each story. I was very intrigued by Suzuki's twisted protagonists and her blunt writing style, but I also found myself disconnecting from the stories a lot.
URL: https://universeinwords.blogspot.com/...
The eleven stories in Hit Parade of Tears all share a sense of the absurd happening during an otherwise completely normal life. Each story has this one thing that shifts it entirely into something so abstract you just have to keep going with it. Suzuki provides no explanation, or background, or context, she just confronts you with something weird and expects you to deal. It's not just the plots that initially discombobulated me, it is also the writing itself. I've been reading a bit more Japanese fiction lately and have therefore become more familiar with what I'd call the general tone of Japanese writing. You know how you can recognise if I a book was written by a Brit or an American, and not just because of spelling? It's a tone, a vibe, and I'm slowly dialing into the Japanese frequency of writing, I think. But I still had to really get used to Suzuki. Her writing is so... straightforward, in the sense that she just straight out says things you might otherwise build suspense around. Once I'd keyed into it, though, I did enjoy it.
Hit Parade of Tears opens with 'My Guy', a tale of either aliens or love betrayal. 'Trial Witch' was one of my favourite stories, as a woman is suddenly given some magical powers and her philandering husband suddenly finds himself drawing the short end of her experiments. 'Full of Malice' is incredibly brief but fascinating. A young woman in search of her brother, who was sent to a facility for being "slow", may or may not find herself in another dimension and in danger. It is honestly... so odd, but I can't get it out of my mind. 'Hey, It's a Love Psychedelic' honestly kind of went over my head a bit. I didn't catch the music references and so lost a bit of connection with how it played around with time, but I did find it intriguing. 'After Everything' was, I think, connected to 'Full of Malice'? It was incredibly evocative, even if it felt a little plotless. 'The Covenant' is a story about feeling like an outsider, of connecting to something not human, and yet also looking for connection. It's complex, contains murder, and gripped me! 'The Walker' feels like another story connected to 'Full of Malice' and 'After Everything', but maybe I'm reading too much into it. 'Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise' features a spacecrew of outcasts, a surprise baby, and smiling bunnies! 'Memory of Water' is a story about being disconnected from the world and yourself, bone-weary by all of it and incapable of joining it. 'I'll Never Forget' is, I think, related to Suzuki's Terminal Boredom and I did feel like maybe I missed some of its meaning, even though it can stand on its own. And finally, 'Hit Parade of Tears' was an intriguing story about long life, meaning, and freedom.
As I said above, I was very intrigued by Suzuki's writing style. There is a bluntness to it, which fits perfectly to her attitude as described in the blurb. It is a going against the expected, moving beyond the usual set-up and confronting readers with something different and slightly twisted. I was very intrigued by the premise of each story and the overarching disconnect that they speak to. As such, I did find myself feeling disconnected as well, as if nothing was really hitting me anymore, as if everything was passing by me. I think this was probably Suzuki's intention, but it did mean I had to shake off a blue feeling after finishing Hit Parade of Tears. Not every reader might enjoy that, but it was an intriguing experience for me. I'd definitely be interested in reading Terminal Boredom as well, if I find myself with the mental resources to dig myself out of the disassociation afterwards. The translations were also done very well, as far as I could tell, flowing with the tone of the story.
The translation credits break down thus: 'My Guy' and 'Trial Witch' by Sam Bett; 'Full of Malice' and 'Hey, It's a Love Psychedelic' by David Boyd; 'Hit Parade of Tears', 'I'll Never Forget' and 'Memory of Water' by Helen O'Horan; and 'After Everything', 'The Covenant', 'Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise' and 'The Walker' by Daniel Joseph.
I did enjoy reading Hit Parade of Tears, although I didn't find myself connecting to each story. I was very intrigued by Suzuki's twisted protagonists and her blunt writing style, but I also found myself disconnecting from the stories a lot.
URL: https://universeinwords.blogspot.com/...
May 19, 2023
'Hit Parade of Tears', by Izumi Suzuki, is the newest short story collection from the cult author of 'Terminal Boredom'.
The stories were masterfully translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett, David Boyd, Helen O’Horan and Daniel Josep.
I loved 'Terminal Boredom' and I thought 'Hit Parade of Tears' was just as good.
The stories will leave you with a lot to unpack and think about once you're finished.
Some stories were better than others, which is usually the case when it comes to short story collections.
The highlight for me was a story titled 'The Covenant'. It's a story about adolescent girls who sacrifice an older man because their lack of emotions leads them to believe they may be extraterrestrial.
The stories were masterfully translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett, David Boyd, Helen O’Horan and Daniel Josep.
I loved 'Terminal Boredom' and I thought 'Hit Parade of Tears' was just as good.
The stories will leave you with a lot to unpack and think about once you're finished.
Some stories were better than others, which is usually the case when it comes to short story collections.
The highlight for me was a story titled 'The Covenant'. It's a story about adolescent girls who sacrifice an older man because their lack of emotions leads them to believe they may be extraterrestrial.
August 21, 2025
I thought this was really endearing and affecting in spots :) Favs were My Guy and Trial Witch
October 2, 2023
This was very interesting. My first Izumi Suzuki book and I have to say that I Love her style of writing. There is a mixture of horror, fantasy, magic realism, and sci-fi. I wish I could have given it a much higher rating but since I'm not a huge sci-fi and fantasy reader, I felt like I couldn't connect with some stories as much as I wanted to. I did really enjoy the weirdness in the way she expresses herself. Izumi explores loneliness, longing, memory, connections, and much more.
I loved how some stories were based in the '60s-'70s in Japan, even though I did miss some of the references, especially in, "Hey, It's Love Psychadelic" which carries a lot of cultural contexts, and my favorite, the music scene from that time. I felt as if, maybe I would have known more about the artists/records mentioned, I would have felt that nostalgia that was much needed throughout that story.
My favorite story was My Guy and Memory Of Water. Both of these had a perfect mixture of strange humor and melancholy, a rollercoaster of emotions for the mundane.
Thank You so much to Netgalley for allowing me to review this short stories collection!
I loved how some stories were based in the '60s-'70s in Japan, even though I did miss some of the references, especially in, "Hey, It's Love Psychadelic" which carries a lot of cultural contexts, and my favorite, the music scene from that time. I felt as if, maybe I would have known more about the artists/records mentioned, I would have felt that nostalgia that was much needed throughout that story.
My favorite story was My Guy and Memory Of Water. Both of these had a perfect mixture of strange humor and melancholy, a rollercoaster of emotions for the mundane.
Thank You so much to Netgalley for allowing me to review this short stories collection!
January 15, 2024
The first few short stories of the book were interesting but then the rest of the book dragged on. I was dreading to finish reading the rest of the book. Kind of disappointed because so many people praised it a little too much.
June 20, 2023
fascinating just as "terminal boredom" is. such an interesting woman, you really get a strange and lucky glimpse into who she was through her work
July 19, 2023
just an appendage of terminal boredom, huge disappointment
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