The protagonist Kei’s husband – Rei – disappeared 12 years ago. Kei’s life continues, but her feelings have been left somewhere else, along with her memories; she is constantly meditating on her life and her future. One day, she visits the seaside town Manazuru, and as if some magical power is leading her there, she keeps revisiting. 主人公は京、夫の礼は12年前に失踪しました。その後も京の日常は続いていくのですが、思い出に浸り、過去や未来の間をさまよい瞑想しています。ある日、何かの力に導かれるように海沿いの町 真鶴を訪れるようになります。 The book mainly focuses on her relationship with her missing husband, and is told through Kei’s memories and reflections. I really enjoyed the subtle explanations about three women living together in one house; the protagonist Kei, her elderly mother, and her teenage daughter Momo. The story depicts the distance between them…
BUTTER was inspired by the famous crime case of Kanae Kjima in 2009, who was sentenced with the death penalty for conducting a series of murders while taking part in ‘Konkatsu’ (marriage hunting), specifically targeting men seeking marriage. Because of this unusual setting – and her strong personality – the media reported this sensationally, with lurid details about her remarks and crimes; including her sex life and the amount of money she earned from the ex-boyfriends (who she’d killed). BUTTERは、実際の事件をベースに書かれたフィクション、「婚活事件」としてニュースで話題になっていた、木嶋佳苗死刑囚がモデルです。彼女の発言や性格、男性たちとのこと、様々な憶測を盛り込みつつ、センセーショナルに報道された事件でした。 Despite the public curiosity towards the case, a great deal of mystery continued to surround her, in particular regarding how the media described her appearance negatively (or more precisely, the…
Having lived in London for a long enough now to be able to explain the difference between life in Japan and life in the UK, I’d say the sense of societal peer pressure, in particular, is much stronger in Japan. I’m certain everyone in Japan has the feeling it’s just all too much, at one point or other in their lives. However, the overwhelming conformity gradually pushes you back onto the ‘correct’ track to follow. Society just won’t let you drop off the route you ‘should’ take. イギリスと日本の違いについて、なんとなく答えられるくらいには長くイギリスに住んだかなと思う最近、日本の同調圧力は特に大きな違いだなと感じています。きっと、日本でも誰しもが、他人に合わせるなんて「もう充分」と感じることが一度や二度はあると思うのですが、それでもどこかで思い直し、指定されたルートや、正しい道に戻っていく…そんな感覚。脱線なんてさせない、そんな圧力。 Sayaka Murata’s award-winning novel ‘Convenience Store Woman’ was a big success, even in its English translation. However, I felt at times that…
I was luckily part of #HowMuchOfTheseHillsIsGold#Readalong .This book was set in America’s Western gold rush period but came from the very unique angle of writing about a family of Chinese descent and the struggles of immigrants and cultural heritage.This was a topic I had never heard of before, and this book felt like it helped me learn a new page in world history.The author’s writing is very beautiful, in particular the landscape as seen through Lucy’s eyes felt so real. With lots of metaphors and quite abstract writing, it was sometimes a bit difficult for me to clearly understand what was going on, however, the more I read, the more I loved…
It’s such an interesting book about how stories are written, created and told. Very subtle and beautiful but really comical at the same time.The mystery part of this book was very beautifully written, but I personally think this book is not necessarily for mystery fans, it might be more appealing to literary fans. To avoid potential spoilers, I’m not going to write a detailed synopsis here, but the story starts at the library of rejected books, where unpublished manuscripts are stored. The young editor finds an extraordinary masterpiece hidden in the shelf! Who wrote this? – the book was so gripping and I found myself wondering all the way through…
Over the past year, it’s become such a massively hyped book that I even felt a little hesitant to read it at first; however, the unique setting and strong female protagonist made the reading experience extraordinarily fantastic, all in all! アメリカで出版され、英語圏で大ヒットとなった作品。人気すぎて読むのを躊躇ったほど。笑読みだしたらあっという間!ステキな主人公とユニークな舞台設定に魅せられ、ページを捲る手が止まりませんでした。 Abandoned by her family, the protagonist Kya grows up alone in a shack in the swampland. 主人公のカイアは幼い頃に家族に見捨てられ、たった一人で湿地で暮らしています。 Honestly speaking, it took me a while to get into the core plot; the first few chapters of the book in particular were slow going. It sounded like a very typical ‘poor kids from a disadvantaged background’ kind of story, but if you feel the same I did, please do persist beyond…
Are you a ‘feminist’? I think I am. It’s so sad to admit this but there are still so many misconceptions and negative stereotypes associated with feminists. あなたは「フェミニスト」ですか?私自身は自分をフェミニストだと思っています。世間ではフェミニストに対する誤解やネガティブなステレオタイプがまだ多くて、なんだか残念。 Do you support equality of men and women? I expect most of people would answer yes. Can you list some of the inconvenience or problems in society to achieve the equality? Can you at least try to understand what it means for me to make society ‘equal’ despite gender? What are all the frustrations I feel in everyday life? Isn’t society not really even trying to achieve the equality? 男女の平等を支持しますか?きっと多くの人がYESって答えると思うんです。でも、平等を実現するために、社会の不都合さや問題を挙げることはできますか?ジェンダーにとらわれない「平等」って一体何のことなのか、せめて理解するような姿勢を示すことができますか?私が感じている日々の不満はいったい何なのか。社会は本当に平等を実現するための努力をしているのでしょうか・・・ This book explains so much about frustration I feel towards the male…
This book was ‘YES!!!! That’s exactly what I would say in that situation!!!’ kind of book that I really enjoyed reading while I commute. 「そうそれ!よく言った!!」と思うような瞬間ばかり。通勤途中に笑いながら読みました。 The main character was Frances a 20-ish woman in uni, her friend Bobbi (ex-girlfriend) and people around her. Frances gets involved with a married guy and starts cheating. 主人公は20代の学生Francesと、彼女の元カノBobbi、そしてその周りの大人たち。Francesは既婚者と関わり浮気をはじめます。 They are all such unlikable characters but I kept laughing about all the things they say, especially Frances says about herself. It is impossible to empathise with their situations but it captures the feeling of awkwardness and anxiety realistically. 好きになれないキャラクターばかり登場しますが、彼らの会話がとてもおもしろい。特にFrancesの回想シーンが最高です。決して共感できる内容ではありませんが、居心地の悪さや不安をとてもリアルに描いた作品です。 This book has a similar feeling to Convenience Store Women, but does not tackle social issues so…
It was a story of survival from the infamous Auschwitz. Although it was very easy to read, the writing was not on an amazing level. It sounded too much like a cheap love story while I was supposed to be reading about the horror and inhumanity of Auschwitz. アウシュビッツの生存者の物語。とっても読みやすい作品ですが、決してよく書けているわけではないという印象。強制収容所のおどろおどろしい空気や、恐怖…そういったものが全く伝わってこず、安っぽいラブストーリーを読んでいるような気分になりました。 The book is based on the real story, including the love drama part. It’s such a miracle that the couple survived and the story of them is passed down to the world through this book all around the world. I really wished if this book had more depth in the writing, it would have become another one of the masterpieces on…
This book was not really about ‘story’ but conversations with interesting people who the main character Faye met throughout her journey in Greece. 「物語」ではなく、主人公 Fayeがギリシャで出会う人々との「会話」を楽しむ一冊。 It had a lot of black humour in it that made me smirk. Almost like a guilty pleasure, I found it hard to put it down. So many conversations I almost wanted to underline, just because they sounded so perfectly written! ブラック・ユーモアたっぷりで、思わず何度も鼻で笑ってしまいました。ずるずると引き込まれ、読みだしたら止まらない、そんな魅力があります。マーカーでハイライトしておきたくなってしまうような、完璧!な文章をいくつも見つけました。 It reminded me of Flights / Olga Tokarczuk a lot. If Flights was a collage of beautiful pictures, Outline was like a very insightful Instagram feed, including proverbs from someone you just met, and observations of people you happened to meet. All the people appeared…
Because of its catchy title and the very interesting background of the author (she works for convenience store), this book was everywhere when she won the Akutagawa Prize in 2016. 2016年に芥川賞を受賞した「コンビニ人間」、キャッチ―なタイトルと、作者自身もコンビニで働いているという経歴から、すごく注目されていました。 Because I tend to pick the book which is more relatable to myself, this book Convenience Store Woman was something I have been avoiding to pick up. I decided to give it a try when I found out it is finally translated into English… 私はより共感できそうな主人公の本を選んでしまう傾向にあるので、この本はどちらかというと避けてきた一冊。でも今回、英訳が出版されると聞いて、なんとなく手に取ってみました。 Surprisingly, I really enjoyed reading this book. It was about the life of a woman who finds it hard to assimilate with the societal norm to behave ‘normally’ in Japan. The main character works…
Winter is the second book from Ali Smith’s seasonal series. I really enjoyed her first seasonal book, Autumn. I’ve been waiting for so long to get Winter in paperback! I should say I enjoyed Autumn more than Winter, but it does not mean I did not like Winter. Ali Smithの季節シリーズの2作目がこのWinterです。1作目の Autumnがとても良かったので、Winterのペーパーバック版が出るのを待ち遠しく思っていました。正直、私はWinterよりもAutumnの方が好みだった。でも、決してWinterが悪かったわけではなく、良い本です。 Winter was a great book, describing the sentiment of politics and the current mood of the UK very very well. Also, the story is set during the Christmas Holiday season. Reading this reminds me of my own experience, very depressing dark, grey weather and homey feeling, spending time with British family (my fiance’s family) for Christmas. Winterは、イギリスの政治や近年の様子を本当によく描いているのがすばらしかった。物語の舞台はクリスマスなので、私が過ごしたロンドンの薄暗くて、でもあたたかいイギリスの家族(フィアンセの家族)と過ごしたクリスマスを思い出しながら読むことができました。 However, the middle…