Strange Repairman Tales

About

1-Sentence Summary

This collection of short stories features a carpenter that helps people plagued by supernatural beings find a way to coexist with their problems.

Reflections

I love this book and I'd love to read the original novel that it's based on (if it ever gets an English release). After reading so many stories and watching so many movies about fighting and exorcising evil spirits, Strange Repairman Tales is a welcome change of pace. The stories are not about fighting off the supernatural phenomena, even though that's what most people in the stories expect when they ask the titular carpenter for help. Instead, the carpenter usually shows them a way to peacefully coexist with these beings by... doing his job: remodeling homes.

One thing that I initially was unsatisfied with was that at the end of the book you still don't know much about the carpenter. However, while I'd like to know more about him and his background, the lack of information actually works in favor of the stories. It helps focus more on each story's main character and their struggles, which make up the heart of the stories. Plus, the main point in all stories is that it doesn't take any supernatural abilities to get rid of the supernatural problems, so it makes sense that the carpenter is just that: a plain, regular carpenter.