Toddler-Hunting and Other Stories 

by Taeko Kono 

translated by Lucy Lower 

These stories first published from 1961-1969 

Published in this paperback edition in 2018 by New Directions

These are stories about people teetering on the edge, whether that be the edge of some terrible action, of some buried desire, of some great joy, or of some perverted pleasure. It gives an off-kilter atmosphere to the stories wherein mostly pedestrian things happen. It’s a window into dark thoughts that usually pass quickly, here slowed down and expanded. The writing feels wildly free and also purposefully restrained. 

Given the particular and peculiar nature (both realistically descriptive and dreamlike), I recommend reading the first three stories before making up your mind…it’s a style that takes some settling in. That said, “Toddler-Hunting,” “Snow,” and “Conjurer” are top-tier (haunting) short stories and make this worth a purchase. 

Most of the stories center around a single woman or a woman in an unhappy relationship looking at couples in seemingly happy relationships and bouncing off or into these people/relationships especially when, as is often the case, there are children around; the stories center on motherless women and marriage, happy and unhappy (probably having to do with the invisibility of single, middle-aged women in a society, like most, that so values motherhood). 

The ideas/relationships in the stories are combinations that are familiar but slightly, oddly different…maybe it’s the constant butting-up against taboo. Here are expressions of a sexually repressed culture, bold exclamations of the desires and sensuality of control and domination “…violent methods of arousal (141).” Masochistic women facing bumbling men, it’s fascinating to think about what’s behind the need to put this stuff to paper in such a structured and methodical way. Unique and very good. 

Heave Lit Rating: Recommended

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