The inside jacket of the book, mentions a phenomenon called "Bananamania" which I think is an awful name that describes what happened in Japan when Kitchen, written by Banana Yoshimoto was released. The book was huge there. I'll admit to being a little skeptical when I picked it up, and to partly picking it up because its on the short side and I'm trying to get through 25 books here. But, I wasn't really expecting to read it in one day, or to pretend to be working at my desk while I was really reading the damn thing. It's a really excellent little piece of fiction.
I think the thing that strikes me most about it is the disconnect between what the book is actually about, and the feelings that it leaves you with. Unlike Memories of My Melancholy Whores, which has a disturbing plot, and leaves you feeling rather disturbed, Kitchen is full of death and loneliness, yet leaves you feeling full of hope (not the Hallmark kind) and slightly amused. The book is actually divided into two separate stories (I guess the might technically be considered novellas). The first is about young people living in Tokyo who become orphans, and the second is about a girl whose boyfriend of 4 years dies suddenly and how she is coping with the grief. (See, sounds depressing, doesn't it?) The narration is honest and refreshing. There are are funny bits, and the author puts to words feelings that everyone has but is unable to clearly communicate (for example, I too have an unnatural love of kitchens).
I can't really think of anything else specific to say about it, other than that we only bought the book because we came across a cheap copy at a used book store in Ithaca, NY on our honeymoon (almost three years ago), and Charlie told Matt he should read it. And I'm annoyed that I didn't read it until now. See, this 25 book thing is starting to work (just don't tell my adviser about the whole reading in the lab thing...)
3 down... time to find #4
1 comment:
Awesome! You know, I just picked up this book TODAY to start reading it again. It's probably going to be the first novel I do with my Asian Lit class.
I think you are totally right about the feeling of this book -- it leaves you feeling full of hope and definitely amused. Like you, I read the entire thing within 24 hours, which is exceptionally rare for me. It's one of my favorites.
The only other books where I came close to that kind of a brisk pace were the Harry Potter books, and Haruki Murakami's Norweigan Wood. By the way, I think you should definitely read Norweigan Wood. (It also started a literary craze in Japan, but of a totally different kind.) It has some interesting parallels with Kitchen, now that I think about it...
Post a Comment