JLC12 short story reviews

The JLC12 is coming to an end and whilst I didn't read as much Japanese Literature as I had hoped, I did read quite a bit. I wound up finishing off the challenge with a few short stories from my copy of The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories. 

Here are some quickie reviews of the ones I read:

Bee Honey by Banana Yoshimoto - A Japanese Woman is staying with a friend in Buenos Aires.  She has broken up with her husband, so her mood isn't exactly jubilant.  Her friend tells her about a procession of mothers that will be happening at 2pm and suggests her friend go and watch.  The mothers wear white scarves and march in front of the government building in town.  Their march is about the disappearance of the children - students who disappeared for protesting against the "Junta" who ran the country.  These mothers want information about their missing children and they know they won't get it, so they march every year to show their solidarity and determination.  The narrator watches and listens to an older woman tell her story to her.  And she thinks about her own mother - a woman who took care of her and doesn't always agree with her decisions, but who has always been there.  A mother through and through.  She thinks about a drink her mother makes for her when she has a cold, a drink that she thinks should be called 'honey lemon', but that her mother calls 'bee honey'.

Its a story that offers a slice of life, but doesn't really go anywhere.  Its purpose is to show how people go about their lives and when introduced to new history, culture, and customs they can be influenced/inspired to gain a clear perspective of their own life.  The narrator reflects on her marriage, but she also thinks about her own mother as she watches these mothers marching.  She thinks about the fact that moms are moms no matter where they are from - they are strong, caring, and determined.  She thinks about if she will become a mother and what type of mother she would be.  Yoshimoto writes a quiet and seemingly ordinary story, but the depth of its meaning and questions it sparks are what set it apart.  This is truly food for thought.  Another great story by Yoshimoto. 

The 1963/1982 Girl from Ipanema by Haruki Murakami - is a simple piece by Murakami.  Its purpose is to depict the feelings of a beloved song, The Girl from Ipanema.  Our narrator recalls how the song takes him back to his high school corridor.  He remembers the girl he would eat lunch with, the salads they would devour, and how this song just brings him back to that time.  And then he's in the present and he's at the beach when he sees the "Girl from Ipanema" and offers her a cold drink.  They sit and chat for a bit.  She shows him the metaphysical soles of her feet.  And then she's off, walking down the beach once more.  Its a simple sort of short story that makes you wonder about memory - how a song, smell, or sound can transport you back to another time and place.  Murakami takes a simple idea and uses it to explore the complex nature of memory. Love this!

Same as Always by Yūya Satō - The earthquake led to the power plant meltdown which led to radiation poisoning.  Which means that the land and water are contaminated.  People are moving abroad.  They are searching for food from elsewhere, because the local produce is chock full of toxins.  And yet, there is one mother who is using this disaster to her advantage.  The mother in this story has recently had a child and she is not a happy camper. Nope, motherhood is just not her bag.  She is trying to figure out a way to kill her baby.  She goes through the options, but rationalizes that they will all lead to her getting caught.  Until the meltdown.  Finally, a way out. The mother decides to feed her baby the contaminated food and water.  Yep, she decides that this is the way to get rid of her baby and not be caught.  So, she uses the contaminated water to cook all of the contaminated veggies/fruit in.  And she feeds her happy, laughing baby the contaminated food. She wonders how much poison is in her baby.  Life moves along as she continues feeding her baby poison.  One day, her mother-in-law comes to visit and announces that she is taking her daughter-in-law and grandchild to stay with her - far from these poisoned lands.  Her son is so happy, because he has been worrying about his wife and baby.  Our narrator is not so happy at first.  However, when she sees how the toxins have spread across the lands all over and around, she realizes that she can continue to work on killing her baby.  So she agrees to go.

What a story! Talk about dark and disturbing. Dystopian fiction at its finest. I found myself laughing out loud at the absurdity of the mother's rationale and the dark humor with which this situation is presented.  The author has provided a narrator who is glib about her daily chores and activities - primarily working on killing her baby.  Living in a land where there has been a tragic earthquake and then a nuclear meltdown is just too much for words, let alone rational thoughts.  However, humanity prevails - people help one another, look to survive, and plan to move forward.  This mother sees her life as being rather hellish and takes it out on her baby.  She uses this disaster to her benefit in such a dark and twisted manner it is beyond comprehension.  And therein lies the humor - the dark and twisted nature of humanity.  Yep, in dark times, people can get even darker in their mindsets.  And this mother takes the cake.  I absolutely LOVED this story!


What do you think? A pretty neat trio of shorts, eh? I really enjoyed them all. And, I'm looking forward to reading more shorts from my copy of The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories.

I just wanted to say thank you to Meredith from Dolce Bellezza for hosting her amazing JLC12  - it was truly such a treat to participate in.  I loved reading everyone's posts and getting to find new-to-me authors to fall in love with. Thank you, M!! 

Goodbye Tsugumi by Banana Yoshimoto

Loved this book to bits! Goodbye Tsugumi is now my FAVORITE story by Yoshimoto. It just really touched my heart and got me thinking about my own family, specifically  my cousins.  Growing up, my aunt from Texas would send her three oldest kids to our house for the summer. And when I say house, it was a duplex that barely fitted us all in it.  Yet, we all managed to squeeze in there and enjoy a summer full of pizza, walks to the park, junk food runs at the local shop, and horror movie binges.  I was a kid, so it was all fun times for me. Looking back, I have so many fond memories of those summers. I think those memories ensured my love for this book - this story just gave me all the feels and I really enjoyed it.

This is the story of Maria and Tsugumi.  Cousins who grew up together.  Maria and her mom lived at the inn that Tsugumi's family owned on the beach.  Her father was married, so Maria and her mom endured year of waiting for him to get divorced.  Eventually, the three of them are able to finally live as a family unit, so they move to Tokyo to be together. Leaving behind the inn is hard for Maria who finds herself missing the beach and looking for smells of the ocean as she traipses around Tokyo.  One day she receives a phone call from Tsugumi telling her that the inn is being sold.  Maria is shocked. She always imagined revisiting the inn again and again.  So, she decides to spend her summer at the inn - one last hurrah before its gone.

As we learn about Maria, we learn about her cousin Tsugumi.  A cousin that she is quite fond of and a bit weary of.  Tsugumi was born sick and the doctors told her parents that she would die young.  Growing up alongside Tsugumi, Maria witnessed firsthand the constant battle with fevers and pains that her cousin endured.  She also witnessed the cruel behavior that Tsugumi became known for.  Being sick and knowing that death could come at any time, Tsugumi was not a nice person.  She was unhappy, therefore she made everyone else unhappy. She would throw out insults, steal your favorite treat, make you cry, and remind you that she was the one dying so you had no reason to complain.  She was the worst. She was also strong, smart, funny, and determined.  Tsugumi lived with her illness daily and yet she would push through it to live her life as best she could.  The two cousins grew close after an incident referred to as the Haunted Mailbox.  From that point on, the two seemed to connect even more so than before.  And now, Maria would be spending another summer at the inn with Tsugumi.

Happy to be back at the place she once called home, Maria quickly settles into life at the inn.  The summer moves along nicely - walks on the beach, seafood galore, and quality time with her family.  The girls meet a boy on the beach - his family is opening a huge hotel on the beach that is driving the locals crazy.  Tsugumi and this boy fall in love.  Life is good.  Maria is happy to see her cousin so content.  Things seem to be moving along swimmingly and then...DRAMA.  Yep, drama comes in the form of a dog-napping, a very deep hole, and a close call with death.  Maria sees Tsugumi in all her colors and gets to know her even more so during that last summer at the inn.  She sees her cousin be ill and endure so much pain.  She sees her cousin battle death.  She sees her cousin's resilience.  And, she finally learns about her cousin's take on life in the form of a letter - Tsugumi thought the end was near so she penned Maria a letter.  Its magical, sad, and just lovely to read all about.  I enjoyed it so much.

Yoshimoto has created a pair of cousins that I couldn't help but fall in love with. Their dynamic was such fun to read about.  She's written a story that not only explores family, but also looks at love, death, and illness. And she writes about it all with such depth and authenticity.  You can taste the sea air and feel the sand between your toes.  You can hear the chatter between cousins as they watch their favorite TV show.  You can feel Tsugumi's hand burning with fever.  You can hear the yapping of the dog as he runs around in circles. And you can see the love between all of these characters as they fight, yell, apologize, and accept one another.  Its truly such a treat to experience.

Goodbye Tsugumi is a quiet and emotional story that will just melt your heart.  It will draw you in and keep you hooked.  I would happily recommend it to everyone. 

The Lady Killer: Death Stalks the Nightclubs of Tokyo by Masako Togawa

(Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a  copy of this book!)

about book:

A classic mystery from one of Japan's best-loved crime writers

The Lady Killer leads a double life in the shadow world of Tokyo's singles bars and nightclubs. By day a devoted husband and hard worker, by night he cruises nightclubs cafes and cinemas in search of lonely single women to seduce.

But now the hunter is being hunted, and in his wake lies a trail of gruesome murders. Who is the culprit? The answer lies tangled in a web of clues, and to find it he must accept that nothing is what it seems.

This is a moody, brilliantly plotted mystery from the writer dubbed 'the P.D. James of Japan'.

my thoughts:

My latest read for the JLC12 was such a disappointment. I wasn't even sure I wanted to post about it. Oh well. I guess all our reads can't always be winners. Anyhow, here goes:

The Lady Killer is about a man named Honda who goes around sleeping with lots of women. He's married, but his marriage is devoid of affection.  So, he wanders about, picking up women, and sleeping with them. He even keeps a diary of it - calls it his Hunting Diary.  Well, the women in his diary seem to be dying. Yep, they are being murdered.  And, it looks like Honda is the prime suspect. Except, murder doesn't seem to fit in with his behavior or character.  Plus, why wouldn't he have killed all of the women in his diary - instead only three have been murdered. Hmm...makes his attorney wonder if perhaps someone has decided to set up Honda. But, who? And, why?

That's pretty much the gist of the story. At first I was captivated, especially when reading about the death of the first woman, Keiko.  After that, I fell out of love with the story. It just kept going and going, but the tone was devoid of the typical suspense and thrills that make up a crime thriller. It just felt flat to me and I found that I had to skip ahead to get through the story. Well, mainly, because I wanted to see if I was right about who the killer was - I wasn't. All in all, this book was a dud for me. I should have DNFed it, but for some reason felt the need to see it through. Oh well, on to the next book, right?

Hope you are reading something great. Happy reading!!

My Current Read...

I was looking for a new-to-me author for the JLC12 and found this on my kindle. I had requested it from NetGalley and was lucky enough to get approved. I've just started and I'm already hooked. Here's to good reads!

What about you? What are you reading? Anything you want to recommend - please, do.  And, let me know if you've already read this one - how was it?

Happy reading!!

The Tale of the House of Physics by Yoko Ogawa and translated by Ted Goossen

For my next JLC12 read, I went with my favorite - Yoko Ogawa. Her short story, The Tale of the House of Physics was selected for The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories edited by Jay Rubin. As soon as I saw her name included, I just knew that I was going to be in for a treat. I LOVE all of her work that I've read and am currently counting down the days until I can read her latest book, The Memory Police.  I was thrilled to get a taste of her writing with this short story - its only made me even more excited to read her new book.

The Tale of the House of Physics is a quiet story. Its slow-paced, aches with emotion, and leaves you wanting. Or at least that is how I felt. I couldn't help but get swept away into this tale of a retired book editor recalling the very first book he ever edited.  He's written down a list of the books he has edited throughout his career and thinks back to his first one.  He was a child.  Across the street lived a woman who no one liked.  She lived in an abandoned building that had once house a facility researching particle physics.  No one knew how she came to be there, she was just there.  She didn't talk to anyone and would walk on the edge of the sidewalk.  The children loved to play at the House of Physics.  They would play in the garden and sit out on the front porch.  They weren't afraid of the woman in the house.  In fact, they would listen to her speak about being a writer. You see, she would talk to them, but she would never look any of them in the eye. And she would tell them about being a novelist and how she had written many books. When the children asked for proof, she told them that her books had been burned in the war.  She had nothing left to show them.  The children laughed and didn't believe a word she said.  They continued to play in the garden and even buried a dead weasel they found one time. One day our narrator notices something slightly off about the House of Physics.  He walks over and looks around. He enters the house and finds the woman covered up in a bed in the middle of the front room. She is sick. He runs to get help.  She slowly gets better and he winds up spending time with her.  As he sits next to her, he hears her mumbling.  It finally hits him that she is mumbling a story.  So he writes it all down. He binds the copy he writes and leaves it for her.  And then one day, she is gone. The house is empty and no one knows what happened to her.  Our narrator is left with his memory of the woman, her story, and the House of Physics.

That's the story in a nutshell. There are details I left out, so you can definitely experience it all for yourself when you get the chance to read it. And let me say, you should most definitely read it. I absolutely LOVED it. I loved getting to know this character as he reflected on his career and the House of Physics.  Ogawa captured a feeling of nostalgia, authenticity, and innocence.  She wrote about him with such clarity and emotion - it was superb. I loved reading about his perspective of the woman in the House of Physics.  It made me think about so many things: how strangers can have an impact on your life sometimes; how relationships can develop out of nowhere; how people have histories we are not aware of; and how stories truly are magical. Plus, the simple and elegant style of the story provides such a rich depth to it. Its truly a treat to read.

I would definitely recommend The Tale of the House of Physics to fans of Ogawa and anyone looking for their next great read - especially, if you love short stories.

And now, I'm off to figure out which book to read next. Yoshimoto or Murakami? Perhaps, I should read something by a new-to-me author. Hmm...what do you recommend?

Happy reading!!

A Short Story by Murakami

I just finished reading a new short story by Murakami that was published in the New Yorker - Cream.  Its my second read for the JLC12. My next read will be a short story by Yoko Ogawa that I am so looking forward to. Anyhow, Cream was definitely a typical Murakami story. There was a sense of loneliness, mystery, and the unknown. It left me feeling confused, delighted, and full of questions.

In the story, an older man is telling his young friend about something that happened when he was eighteen.  A memory that haunts him still.  He recounts the time he was invited to a piano recital by a girl who was not his friend.  An invitation from someone he barely knew.  Strange yes, but nonetheless, he decided to go.  So, he traveled to the destination on the map that was provided with the invitation.  Once he got there he realized that the building was empty - in fact, it was locked up and looked as if no one had been there in ages.  Confused and unsure what to do, he knocked and knocked.  No one answered.  He walked away with the intention of heading home.  Finding a bench nearby, he stopped.  There was a small park he hadn't noticed before.  Thinking about what had just happened to him, he found he couldn't breathe, so he bent over and tried to relax in hopes that this panic would soon fade.  Eventually he came to realize that he was no longer alone in the park. An old man was sitting across from him.  The man stared at him and never spoke to ask if he was alright. Instead, out of nowhere, the old man made a comment about a circle - a puzzle.  Confused, he told the old man that he didn't understand.  The old man went on to talk about the circle and cream. Unsure what the old man meant, he tried to figure out this puzzle about the circle to no avail.  He even closed his eyes in concentration and when he opened them he found the old man had vanished.  Looking around, he decided it was time to go home.  Over the years (even now) whenever something inexplicable happened to him he would find himself thinking about the circle.  His young friend asked what the point of the story was and if he ever did figure out the circle puzzle. He told him the point was that odd things happened without explanation and all you could do was not think about them and move on.  He never figured out the circle puzzle, but he did have his own personal ideas about what it could mean.

And that is the story. I didn't give it all away so you can still enjoy it over at the New Yorker - Cream. I did give you plenty to help you get the gist of it all. What do you think? Its odd and has no closure, eh? Definitely a strange tale by Murakami. I found myself thinking about the circle and this notion of cream long after I finished reading. I thought about the young man turning up to an abandoned building and wondering about the invitation he had received. I thought about the point of sharing this memory from his past with his young friend. I thought about how he tried to figure out the circle puzzle over the years. And I thought about what made Murakami write this short story. So many thoughts floating around in my head about such a short tale. Like I said, it was typical Murakami.

Let me know if you read Cream and what you thought of it. Maybe you can give me some ideas as to what it was all about. I'm off to read Yoko Ogawa's short story now. I meant to read it yesterday, but read the Murakami one instead. I'm thinking that was smart of me, because now I know that I will be diving into something vastly different to Murakami and equally superior (if not more so).  Happy reading!!

Convenience Store Woman: A Novel by Sayaka Murata

(Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book!)

about book: (summary from NetGalley)

The English-language debut of one of Japan’s most talented contemporary writers, selling over 650,000 copies there,Convenience Store Woman is the heartwarming and surprising story of thirty-six-year-old Tokyo resident Keiko Furukura. Keiko has never fit in, neither in her family, nor in school, but when at the age of eighteen she begins working at the Hiiromachi branch of “Smile Mart,” she finds peace and purpose in her life. In the store, unlike anywhere else, she understands the rules of social interaction—many are laid out line by line in the store’s manual—and she does her best to copy the dress, mannerisms, and speech of her colleagues, playing the part of a “normal” person excellently, more or less. Managers come and go, but Keiko stays at the store for eighteen years. It’s almost hard to tell where the store ends and she begins. Keiko is very happy, but the people close to her, from her family to her coworkers, increasingly pressure her to find a husband, and to start a proper career, prompting her to take desperate action…

A brilliant depiction of an unusual psyche and a world hidden from view,Convenience Store Woman is an ironic and sharp-eyed look at contemporary work culture and the pressures to conform, as well as a charming and completely fresh portrait of an unforgettable heroine.

my thoughts:

My first book for the JLC12 is Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata.  I was provided with an ARC of this one last year, but wasn't too sure I wanted to read it. For some reason it just didn't appeal to me at the time. However, after reading some positive posts about it and learning that the JLC would be continuing this year I figured I would give it a go. So, I picked up my Kindle and dove right in.  And let me just say - Hurrah! I'm so happy I read Murata's story - it was fantastic!

CSW is a quirky tale about a woman named Keiko.  She's thirty-six and works at the same convenience store she started working at when she was eighteen.  She has no real friends, significant others, and is not particularly close to her family.  In fact, the only time Keiko shows any real emotional attachment is when she is talking about or thinking about or working at the convenience store.  That place gives her life - I'm serious.

As a child, Keiko was the oddball.  She was the kid no one wanted around.  Why? Well, it could be due to her "strange" behavior.  One time, two boys were fighting and everyone was screaming for them to stop.  So, what did Keiko do? She ran and grabbed a spade from the tool shed and whacked one of the boys over the head with it. Her explanation was that she helping to stop them from fighting.  Or, what about the time she pulled down her teacher's clothes.  The teacher was crying and carrying on and everyone was begging her to stop.  So, Keiko remembering something she saw on TV, decided to try it on the teacher - she pulled down the teacher's clothes to quiet her.  Yep, two incidents of "strange" behavior that had everyone worried about Keiko.  Her parents sent her to therapy, they showered her with love, and her little sister followed her around.  As for Keiko, she just didn't understand what all the fuss was about.  In her mind, she was fine.  In everyone else's minds, they couldn't understand why she acted this way - why couldn't she just be "normal?"

Eighteen years have passed and Keiko is still working at the same convenience store she got hired at when she was eighteen.  Her life consists of a routine she has fine-tuned over the years.  She works part-time, visits with "friends" on her days off, and phones her family.  Nothing has truly changed for Keiko, except she is getting older. And that means that people are once again starting to wonder about her.  They are starting to ask questions - why do you still work at a convenience store; who are you dating; why aren't you married?  And, Keiko's stock answers/phrases to these questions no longer seem to apply or suffice.  Her "friends" are starting to look at Keiko like she is someone they don't want to talk to anymore.  And her family is tired of hearing the same muted responses from their daughter/sister.  No one seems happy about/for Keiko.  As for Keiko herself, she is good. Her work brings her peace.  At the convenience store she has her role to play and she enjoys it - she wears her uniform, repeats the same phrases of greeting to her customers, knows her job inside out, and behaves in the same manner day in and day out. She likes the uniformity of her job, because she is able to wear it well and finally "fit in" somewhere. Its like a mask she puts on and it has molded to her face to the point she no longer knows herself outside of the store - she even dreams in convenience store colors.

And then, everything changes the day she meets a guy at work.  He's the newbie that has to be trained.  Except all he does is complain, criticize, refuse to actually work, and come in late.  He winds up getting fired.  Oh, and did I mention that he stalked female customers? Yeah, the guy was a total creep.  So, when Keiko runs into him outside the store and takes him to a coffee shop, I kind of figured that life was about to change for her. Lets just say it changed in some pretty major ways, but then it didn't.  In the end, Keiko was left exactly where she belonged. And that is all I will write about this gem of a story.

Murata has created a wonderful character in Keiko.  She is a woman who is true to herself in so many ways. She does try at times to "fit in", but in the end, she knows who she is.  I found myself warming up to Keiko at times - I could relate to not fitting in (who can't, right?).  I just couldn't relate to some of her quirks - like when she thinks about quieting her crying nephew by stabbing him with a small knife. Yeah, sometimes, she was a bit too odd for my tastes. Overall though, I agreed with her when she pondered over the idea of how people accepted her when she fit into their idea of what constituted as normal - having a deadbeat boyfriend is normal, but being alone is not?  What the hell? Seems like Keiko was living her life - working, living in her own apartment, and socializing on the weekends.  What more could she be doing right? Well according to society, she could be married, having kids, working at a better job, living in a better apartment, having more friends, etc..  Except, Keiko didn't want any of that. She was fine with her life.  She was good with it. So, what was society's problem? She wasn't hurting anyone - why did they care so much to question her choices? And that is the point.  To conform or not to conform - oh, the problems that question will bring.  I love Murata's exploration of conformity in modern day Japan - it was truly a treat to read.

Talk about a new favorite. I just loved this book to bits! I can't wait to read more of Murata's work - I read that its finally being translated into English (she has ten books under her belt!).  And, I also learned that she still works part-time in a convenience store. Yep, her job as a CSW is what inspired her to write this story - how cool is that?!

And now, I'm off to peruse through The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories. I noticed one by Yoko Ogawa in there and I have to read it ASAP. She is one of my favorite writers and I am jonesing for her latest book, The Memory Police. I've already pre-ordered it and am counting down the days until I get my copy.

Happy reading!!

Japanese Literature Challenge 12 (JLC12)

A new year means new reading challenges.  To kick off 2019, I am participating in the JLC12 - Japanese Literature Challenge 12.  Yep, its the 12th year that my dear friend, Meredith, has hosted this wonderful challenge and I am so excited. From January to March, all you have to do is read one (1) book of Japanese Literature.  That's all. How easy is that? And, how fun? If you want any more information, or want to find out who else is participating then head on over to Meredith's book blog, Dolce Bellezza. 

Now I need to figure out which books I want to read. Ever since I re-read Murakami's novel, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimmage, I've been itching to read (and re-read) more of his work, along with some other Japanese writers. I was thinking Yoshimoto - I have several of her books waiting to be read.  I do wish the new Yoko Ogawa book was already out - that would be at the top of my list. Hmm...I need to find more new-to-me Japanese authors. Until then, these are the books I was thinking about reading for the JLC12:

What do you think of my choices? Not bad, eh? Or, do you have any recommendations for me? Let me know, I would definitely appreciate it.
And now, I'm off to start reading for the JLC12.  Happy reading to you, too!!