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A review by booksbythewindow
Escape Routes by Naomi Ishiguro
For full review: https://booksbythewindow.wordpress.com/2022/04/06/escape-routes/
Summary and Overall Thoughts: Escape Routes is a strong short story collection with some really interesting themes running throughout. I enjoyed reading it and found almost every story interesting and engaging, with characters that feel very distinctive. The story that I found the most interesting in the collection was ‘Accelerate!’, which follows a narrator called Evgeny who discovers that when he drinks coffee he develops an ability to speed up beyond normal human activity. After meeting and beginning a relationship with Annalise, someone who loves to live slowly and enjoy every moment, Evgeny’s increasing speed begins to drive a wedge between the two characters and their relationship starts to crumble.
One of the shortest stories in the collection, and one of the least speculative, is ‘The Flat Roof’, which follows Annie as she grieves a loss, sitting outside on her roof. Ishiguro portrays Annie’s emotions really clearly and especially her complicated feelings towards the birds that she comes to rely on for her happiness.
Running throughout the collection are three connected short stories, or one longer short story divided into three parts, entitled ‘The Rat Catcher’. This is probably one of the weirdest stories in the collection, but still compelling in the midst of the strangeness.
I would recommend Escape Routes particularly for those who enjoy speculative fiction and short stories, although it would likely appeal to more general fiction readers as well.
Summary and Overall Thoughts: Escape Routes is a strong short story collection with some really interesting themes running throughout. I enjoyed reading it and found almost every story interesting and engaging, with characters that feel very distinctive. The story that I found the most interesting in the collection was ‘Accelerate!’, which follows a narrator called Evgeny who discovers that when he drinks coffee he develops an ability to speed up beyond normal human activity. After meeting and beginning a relationship with Annalise, someone who loves to live slowly and enjoy every moment, Evgeny’s increasing speed begins to drive a wedge between the two characters and their relationship starts to crumble.
One of the shortest stories in the collection, and one of the least speculative, is ‘The Flat Roof’, which follows Annie as she grieves a loss, sitting outside on her roof. Ishiguro portrays Annie’s emotions really clearly and especially her complicated feelings towards the birds that she comes to rely on for her happiness.
Running throughout the collection are three connected short stories, or one longer short story divided into three parts, entitled ‘The Rat Catcher’. This is probably one of the weirdest stories in the collection, but still compelling in the midst of the strangeness.
I would recommend Escape Routes particularly for those who enjoy speculative fiction and short stories, although it would likely appeal to more general fiction readers as well.