Good Night Papa: Short Stories from Japan and Elsewhere

By Simon Rowe
Atlas Jones & Co., 2017
ISBN-13: 978-0646961958

Review by Harry Martin

Good Night Papa: Short Stories from Japan and Elsewhere is, as the name would suggest, an eclectic anthology of works written by the Japan-based writer and English teacher Simon Rowe, covering diverse topics and exotic geographies including Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Costa Rica and Morocco to name but a few.

Many of the stories have already gained international recognition, with the title story  ‘Good Night Papa’ being adapted to screenplay in 2013 and winning the Asian Short Screenplay Contest in 2014. Another of Rowe’s Japanese works ‘The Pilgrim’ was also converted to screenplay and gained wide recognition on the international stage along with several other of his writings included in this tome.

Being short stories, this is a very digestible and comfortable read – perfect for those short on time but still looking for a brief literary escape without the dedication and commitment required for a full length novel. Seemingly a keen and adventurous traveller himself, Rowe stays clear of the norm in his themes, exhibiting both memorable and wildly entertaining anecdotes of Tarantino-esque extravagance with ninja barbershop owners, fugitive pilgrims and man-eating serpents terrorising Balinese villagers! However the most outlandish and fantastical stories are tempered by the more subtle and relatable works on offer, with touching and emotive sentiment to dwell upon.

Forming the central unifying threat throughout all the stories is an overarching theme of human resilience and the endeavour to overcome the boundless variety of challenges life can throw at us – from the simple challenge of transporting a piano in ‘Baby Grand’ to the gang warfare in ‘The Foonabiki Barbers’, there is always a struggle of some sort forming the central structure to Rowe’s stories. His characters are often sharp-witted and spontaneous personalities who come up with ingenious and highly creative ways in which to conquer the challenge they have to face.

For me there were certainly some standout pieces – ‘Good night Papa’, ‘Pleasure Land’ and ‘The Foonabiki Barbers’ were all fantastically imaginative and creative works which kept me gripped throughout. Interestingly these were all Japan-centric stories, which made me think that perhaps the level of contact and experience the author has had with Japan enables him to write with greater animation, passion and creativity than he has in some of his other stories. This is not to say that some of the non-Japanese stories are not to be enjoyed, and there are some wonderful nuggets of literary gold in here such as ‘Meet Me Under The Plumeria Tree’ and ‘Tuna Steak’ , but I felt some of the others lacked the memorable spice and eccentricity that Rowe’s Japan stories possess.

Overall I found this an enjoyable and entertaining read, easy to pick up and savour when you are on the go and pressed for time. The variety of material is both stimulating and encouraging as you are never sure how things will conclude, which prompts feverish and frantic reading in order to see how things end. However as Rowe has such evident affinity with Japan and is able to capture with remarkable clarity and lucidity the uniqueness of the Japanese context, he makes me want to implore him for a collection of Japanese short stories or a stand-alone novel, as I am sure he would be able to execute this with masterful precision and create a wildly entertaining piece of work.