ALL THE LOVERS IN THE NIGHT (2022) - Review

All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
On Sale: May 3, 2022

Not much happens and everything happens in "All the Lovers in the Night". Mieko Kawakami, the author of the internationally best-selling "Breasts and Eggs" has written an "unforgettable story about women, loneliness and relationships" beautifully translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd.

FIRST SENTENCE: "Why does the night have to be so beautiful?"

QUOTE: "The job that I was doing, the place where I was living, the fact that I was all alone and had no one to talk to. Could these have been the result of some decision I had made? I heard a crow crying somewhere in the distance and turned to the window. It occurred to me that maybe I was where I was today because I hadn't chosen anything."

THE STORY: There are long silences in Fuyuko Irie's day whether she is proof reading alone or is with another person. Small things in her quiet life loom large - light, darkness, weather. Two women befriend her and suggest ways she could interact with the world. Kyoko, an editor who owns her own business, has made sure Fuyuko has a way to support herself. Hijiri, Fuyuko's total opposite in temperament, shares opinions and her love of social life.

The day Fuyuko sees her reflection in a store window she recognizes how drab she has become. She reaches out to make connections finding courage in beer and vodka. After she meets Mitsutsuka, an older high school physics teacher, she joins him weekly at a coffee shop to talk about music and light.

WHAT I THOUGHT: A very intimate story, every reader will find something of themselves reflected as the author shares the differing choices women have made. Even though the men in Fuyuko's life are disappointments, exploring relationships with others helps her move forward with a sense of self-acceptance.

BOTTOM LINE: HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

DISCLAIMER: I received a free e-copy of "All the Lovers in the Night" by Mieko Kawakami from NetGalley/Europa for my honest review.


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COLORFUL (2021)

Colorful by Eto Mori
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Considered a YA book, "Colorful" is instead a story that will touch all ages.

FIRST LINE: "Congratulations, you've won the lottery!" shouts the angel Prapura to a formless soul."

THE STORY: Prapura informs a random soul that he has been chosen for a 'homestay'. Even though guilty of a grave error in his life, he has won the opportunity to return to the world by borrowing another's body. The trick is as soon as the soul is able to recall his own enormous mistake, the homestay ends and he moves on. And that's how the soul came to be Makoto Kobayashi, a ninth grader, who committed suicide. With Prapura as his guide, Makoto slips into his new life and begins to discover its complexities.

WHAT I THOUGHT: This simply written story is a gem. Although there are many references to things Japanese, the story itself has already shown, by having been translated and loved in a number of other languages, that it will resonate with readers everywhere. There's an anime movie with the same name on YouTube if you should care to watch.

Makoto makes assumptions about his parents, his brother, the other students at his school and gets them mostly wrong. His journey leads him to a new understanding of those around him and ultimately, a new beginning. The reader can't help but relate those lessons to their own lives.

Jocelyne Allen did a lovely job of translating "Colorful" for an English speaking audience, but I wondered what it would be like reading it in Japanese.

The story is funny, sad, angry, painful, touching, and colorful. I was moved to tears several times.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. This is a book you share with people you love.

A copy of was provided to me by Counterpoint Press /Net Galley for an honest review.

Publisher: Counterpoint Press (July 20, 2021) (first published July 1998)
Paperback: 224 pages
ISBN-13: 9781640094420 

THE AUTHOR: Ito Mori is a Japanese novelist focusing on children's and young adult literature. She has been described as "one of the most celebrated female writers of fiction in Japan today".

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TOKYO UENO STATION (2020)

by Yu Miri

My rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

 

After death, Kazu, a homeless man finds his spirit lingers in Ueno Park, one of Tokyo's busiest stations. Speaking directly to us, he considers his life, his surroundings, and how he ended up 'sleeping rough'.

A little knowledge of Japan will enhance the experience of "Tokyo Ueno Station" although the conditions of homelessness exist all over the world. It's surprising how much seems familiar.

 

FIRST SENTENCE: "I used to think life was like a book: you turn the first page, and there’s the next, and as you go on turning page after page eventually you reach the last one."

Yu Miri, a Korean-Japanese author, has written a post-tsunami work in this relatively short novel, her most recent to be published in English. Her stream-of consciousness writing is gorgeous and haunting and sad. Morgan Giles' translation does not distract in any way.

Narrator Johnny Heller has a slightly raspy edge to his voice which allows the listener to immediately relate to his portrayal and be drawn into the story. His pronunciation of Japanese words and names seems impeccable.

Length: 3 hrs and 58 mins

Release date: 06-23-20

Penguin Audio

Unabridged

Narrated by Johnny Heller

Translated by Morgan Giles 

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A TALE FOR THE TIME BEING (2013)

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The books that surprise me are the ones that lead me on a new path where I am delighted to find myself.

What attracted me to Ruth Ozeki's tale of a blocked novelist named Ruth, reluctantly living on a remote Canadian island, was the young Japanese girl's diary that washed up on the shore. Ruth took it home thinking it was trash but her husband Oliver discovered the treasure inside.

Focusing back and forth between Nao's and Ruth's stories, the reader becomes vested in the meaning of both lives.

Ozeki is a beautiful, careful writer. There are profound but simple sentences throughout that I felt the need to highlight on my Kindle. If necessary the Japanese words are notated as are some of the more difficult concepts. The reader understands they are safely in the hands of an expert storyteller even though some sections describe difficult and unpleasant things.

This is not a book for everyone. Some might even consider it a boring tale. It is not an easy book to understand. It is layered and esoteric. The reader knows what is on the surface, but at some point it slips beyond one's grasp and becomes something more. Eventually you and the author can no longer rationalize all the elements of magical realism. I finally had to just let the story go where it would and realize that my understanding would not be perfect and would change and morph throughout the time I was part of the story and perhaps even beyond.

There were many points of connection for a reader: Proust, Japan, suicide, kamikaze pilots, history, bullying, Buddhism, quantum physics, and myth.  The sense of considering time from a variety of possibilities was fascinating. The recurring idea of opposites being 'same thing' will stay with me forever as something needing contemplation. 

“A time being is someone who lives in time, and that means you, and me, and every one of us who is, or was, or ever will be.” 

Title: A Tale for the Time Being

Author: Ruth Ozeki

Genre: Literature

Publisher:Viking Adult

No. of Pages: 432 pages

Copyright: March 12, 2013

ISBN: 0670026638

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Source: Amazon Kindle

A Canadian-American novelist and filmmaker, Ruth Ozeki worked in commercial television and media production for over a decade before turning to writing fiction.  She is, in fact, a Zen Buddhist priest. A Tale for the Time Being was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize this year.

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THE BUDDHA IN THE ATTIC (2011)

I have happily stumbled onto the Japanese Literature Challenge #6. I say happily because I just finished reading Julie Otsuka's The Buddha in the Attic and have an overwhelming need to share its haunting beauty with other readers.

An exquisite gem of a book. The Buddha in the Attic is an emotional experience and not a casual read. It borders on poetry.

Rather than telling a story in the traditional manner, Otsuka interweaves the voices of many to create an impression of a whole and by doing so makes the argument that we dehumanize by labeling. It is the small particulars that she brings to the readers attention that make this book unique and moving.

Almost a century ago women were brought from Japan to San Francisco as 'picture brides' for the immigrant Japanese workers. The story follows them through the arc of their history up until their removal during World War II..

I had never heard about the internment of Japanese Americans until I had a roommate in college whose family had lived through the experience and ultimately left this country for Canada. A number of years ago my husband and I drove to the site of the Hart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming, a desolate, isolated place that once was home to over 10,000 detainees. Apparently an interpretive center opened in 2011, but when we were there, it appeared abandoned.

The basic facts are of internment are devastating by themselves. The Buddha in the Attic makes the story personal and heart breaking.

Otsuka's  first novel, When the Emperor was Divine (2002), could be considered a companion piece in some ways. I read that stark and beautifully written novel suspecting it was drawn from family history, and in fact discovered that her grandfather was one of many suspected Japanese spies arrested shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Otsuka's mother, uncle, and grandmother were interred at a camp in Utah for three years.

My father always told me the world was not fair, but what he didn't stress is how randomly cruel it can be even for the innocent.

Tonoharu: Part I (2008)

I bought this book by Lars Martinson and set it aside. After watching this engaging video, it has moved up my list!