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The Nakano Thrift Shop – by Hiromi Kawakami

In this slim novel, Kawakami tells the ins and outs of the daily operation of a second-hand shop, and her…

book review, hiromi Kawakami, Japanese literature, literary fiction, the nakano thrift shop, translated literature, women in translation

Kitchen – by Banana Yoshimoto

This book contains two novellas, Kitchen and Moonlight Shadow. The two protagonists are both female college students suffering from the…

banana yoshimoto, book lover, book review, Japanese literature, literary fiction, translated literature, women in translation

Beauty and Sadness – by Yasunari Kawabata

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Kawabata usually chose one aspect of Japanese culture to feature in his novels:…

book lover, book review, Japanese literature, literary fiction, translated literature, yasunari kawabata

Snow Country – by Yasunari Kawabata

I found it fascinating that each of Kawabata’s novels covers different Japanese traditions, be it tea ceremony, No mask, mountain…

book lover, book review, Japanese literature, literary fiction, translated literature, yasunari kawabata

The Sound of the Mountain – by Yasunari Kawabata

The Sound of the Mountain is a novel set in post war Japan. Shingo Ogata is a 59 year old…

book lover, book review, Japanese literature, literary fiction, translated literature, yasunari kawabata

The Life before Us – by Romain Gary

The Life before Us (La Vie devant soi) portrays a heartbreaking parental love story between a sensitive and prematurely wise…

book lover, book review, French literature, literary fiction, romain gary, translated literature

God’s Boat – by Kaori Ekuni

From May 2018 to Apr 2019, the Japan Times ran a very informative and interesting “Works by Japanese Women” series…

book lover, Japanese literature, kaori ekuni, literary fiction, summer read, translated literature, women in translation

The Emissary – by Yoko Tawada

This novella is set in a dystopian Japan in an unknown future. Tokyo is not environmentally safe to live in…

book review, Japanese literature, literary fiction, translated literature, women in translation, yoko tawada

The End of Loneliness – by Benedict Wells

“I’ve known Death a long time, but now Death knows me.” So begins the story of the three Moreau siblings…

book in translation, book lover, book review, German literature, literary fiction, translated literature

The Lover – by Marguerite Duras

“I often think of the image I can see now, and of which I’ve never spoken. It’s always there, in…

book in translation, book review, French literature, literary fiction, marguerite duras, the lover, translated literature

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#FrenchLit It's early July but looks like several bookstagrammers have gotten ready for #readwit month. Meanwhile I'm still stuck in France with either Modiano or Nothomb! Really it's Summertime and with all the travel plan and family reunion, I just want to read something light, amusing and short. Life Form by Amelie Nothomb fits the bill perfectly. . In just 125 pages, Nothomb addressed many different social issues in this partly autobiographical, partly epistolary novel: the gorging of food among US Army soldiers stationed in Iraq as a means to deal with the atrocities of the unjust war; the epistolary relationship between a writer and her fan readers and the art of writing letters; the relationship with food and one's treatment of obesity as a work of art; the identity issue; and the shared reality which may or may not be true. . Life Form is a brilliantly clever novel blending facts and fiction together in a humorous and satirical tone. . Published in French in 2010, in English in 2013 by @europaeditions Translated from the French by Alison Anderson.
#FrenchLit Marie Ndiaye’s writing is very well crafted and polished. Her long sentences, though not as long as Saramago’s, convey complex human psychology and deep and complicated emotions. Her story is rather dark and unsettling. A young woman abandoned her black mother, and later her own daughter left her husband and her two children. In 288 pages, Ndiaye presents the underlying thinking and frustrated emotions of the five characters told in five different POV’s and covering four generations in a family. . Ladivine was my first book by Ndiaye and I was impressed with her unique writing. I could see why it might not appeal to other readers, but for me her well written prose coupled with some surreal elements made for a mesmerizing and unexpected read, if not a little frustrating by the long descriptions of all the multiple characters’ inner thoughts in the second half of the book. I myelf am totally vested in the chapters about Clarisse, David and Ladivine, Sr., and don’t care much for the chapters about Ladivine, Jr. and her little daughter. . Translated by Jordan Stump Published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2016 (first published in 2013)
#FrenchLit Modiano never disappoints. In just under 200 pages, his spare, dreamy and elegiac prose lured us into a suspenseful atmosphere with mysterious characters who delved into the past reminiscing of a love stopped short. . At times I wonder what 18 year old young man would be so naive to allow himself to become entangled in such a circle of friends which led him into darkness. But who knows, Paris in the 60s was a different time, the young man's identity was not fully developed, and he was blindly in love. . My third Modiano and won't be the last. Translated from the French by Mark Polizzotti Published in English by Yale University Press in 2015.
#japaneseliterature From May 2018 to Apr 2019, the Japan Times ran a very informative and interesting "Works by Japanese Women" series which highlighted "some of the lesser read in translation but equally deserving female writers". Kaori Ekuni was one of them. . In God's Boat, Yoko was married to her former college professor when she met her "true love" who was also married. They had a "bone melting love affair" and the result was the little girl Soko. . When her true love suddenly disappeared, Yoko divorced the professor and left Tokyo. She and her little daughter started their journey in life on a "God's boat", moving from one city to the next after living for about a year in each city. Yoko didn't want to settle down in any place, for fear of not being able to "catch" her true love. . Wherever she went, Yoko worked as a piano teacher by day, and a bar waitress at night. She daydreamed about her love and made up stories to tell Soko about her perfect father. . Or not. . The novel was narrated by two unreliable narrators, Yoko and Soko, interchangeably in each chapter. Soko had never met her father, yet she claimed her mother's stories were not true. . Ekuni's writing is simple yet very captivating. Her writing draws you in with charming details of daily life, a maddening you-can-die-for love, and the touching and tense mother-daughter relationship. . Filled with lots of beach scenes and sweating hot summer days, God's Boat is a perfectly light and entertaining summer read, even though the ending is vague, be it happy or devastating depending on how you interpret it. . "Summer is a special time. Every one of my cells has preserved its memories. And summer is when each one if them is suddenly awakened, trembling restlessly." God's Boat By Kaori Ekuni
#FrenchLit "I am nothing. Nothing but a pale shape, silhouetted that evening against the cafe terrace, waiting for the rain to stop" . So begins the story of a man suffering from amnesia during the days of the Paris Occupation and losing his identity. He went to a detective agency to get help and the boss there gave him a name and a job. Guy Roland went on working as a private detective for 10 years. When his boss retired, he set out on a journey to investigate his own past and looked for his lost identity. Layers of memories came back to him when he encountered people, looked at old photographs and listened to fragments of stories assuming to be of his own life. . As in real life, will Guy Roland ever find out who he really is? That's a big question. . Another strange novel from the Nobel prize winning author Patrick Modiano about fragments of memory, lost self, and hidden identity. . "I believe that the entrance halls of buildings still retain the echo of footsteps of those who used to cross them and who have since vanished. Something continues to vibrate after they have gone, fading waves, but which can still be picked up if one listens carefully. Perhaps,  after all, I never was this Pedro McEvoy, I was nothing, but waves passed through me, sometimes faint, sometimes stronger,  and all these scattered echoes afloat in the air crystalized and there I was." . Published in 1978 (French), 2004 (English) Translated by Daniel Weissbort A Verba Mundi book @godinepub
#JLit Yoko Ogawa's writing topics are so diverse. . The Housekeeper and the Professor (2003) is a touching story of a professor who loves mathematics but can retain 80 minutes of memory only, and his friendship with and his influence on the housekeeper and her teenage son. . Hotel Iris (1996) is an unsettling novella of a sadomasochistic relationship between a young girl and a middle aged man. It's not for the faint of heart. . The Diving Pool (1991) is a collection of three eerie and strange short novellas about obsession, love and pregnancy. . Whatever her subject matter is, Ogawa's writing is exquisite, suspenseful, and darkly humorous. . I'm looking forward to reading her upcoming translation The Memory Police, out on Aug 13.
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