/lit/ - Literature

>>23033124
Although it's kind of a spoiler. To me, I could feel the exact moment all hope was lost, and not having been sure before that moment made it delectably gut-dropping.
Even knowing how it goes, though, it's still a poignantly beautiful portrayal of a society gradually, voluntarily letting itself die, one thing at a time.

>>20924101
I really loved The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa. It's superficially a dystopia, but really it's about incremental self-alienation and self-deception in a doomed world.
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki hit me really hard for complicated personal reasons. I liked it a lot, but it kind of petered out imo.
Convenience Store Woman was delightful and short.
I am a Cat was a pretty charming historical serial, if you're into that kind of stuff. Even if it's not your favorite book, it's historically significant so it's worthwhile.
The Oxford Collection of Japanese Short Stories has a couple really excellent picks, and a couple historically important ones (eg, the one Rashomon's based on)

>>16485279
It's not strictly in the horror genre, but this read like a dream that keeps dipping in and out of nightmare. The whole thing has this sparse, sorrowful vibe, and it explores a level of self-abstraction and alienation and suppressed dread in a world where it's too late to do anything.
It's classified as a dystopia, but I really think that's just a convenient vehicle. The themes have almost nothing to do with power or politics, or values. It's just a tragically beautiful moment in a world waiting to die.
Same author also did a horror-lite short story collection called Revenge. If you dig Japanese people pretending they're not on the edge of a psychotic break, you might be into it.