Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Kitchen

by Banana Yoshimoto, Megan Backus (Translation)

3.8 of 5 stars 3.80 · rating details · 13,395 ratings · 1,012 reviews

When Banana Yoshimoto's Kitchen was first published in Japan in 1988, "Banana-mania" seized the country. Kitchen won two of Japan's most prestigious literary prizes, climbed its way to the top of the best-seller list, then remained there for over a year and sold millions of copies. With the appearance of the critically acclaimed Tugumi (1989) and NP (1991), the Japanese li...more

Paperback, 152 pages

Published April 17th 2006 by Grove Press (first published 1988)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami

Best Japanese books

7th out of 348 books — 1,244 voters

Japanese authors

6th out of 95 books — 82 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Mar 14, 2013 Gavin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: literary

One of the many things I love about goodreads is that a person is able to see what other “friends” think about a novel before committing oneself to reading it. I would have never read KITCHEN had I not seen that Mariel, Oriana, and Jason Pettus, three of my friends, all thought highly of this slim book.

But, even with the high ratings of these three “friends”, I still had to find out information about Banana Yoshimoto, the author. So I went to Wikipedia (obviously, where else would I go?) and re...more One of the many things I love about goodreads is that a person is able to see what other “friends” think about a novel before committing oneself to reading it. I would have never read KITCHEN had I not seen that Mariel, Oriana, and Jason Pettus, three of my friends, all thought highly of this slim book.

But, even with the high ratings of these three “friends”, I still had to find out information about Banana Yoshimoto, the author. So I went to Wikipedia (obviously, where else would I go?) and read about her accomplishments and many literary awards in her home country of Japan. It seemed there was a phase lovingly referred to as Bananamania both in the US and in Japan. Then, just as I had decided that perhaps this book was not worth moving to the top of my TBR pile, I saw that Yoshimoto had outspokenly said that she aims to win the Nobel Prize in literature. (I loved this bravado!) Most critics don’t see this as happening, saying she is a “lightweight.” Well, I put what the critics had to say aside and began reading this novel.

And I have to say I loved the use of a kitchen as a metaphor for life and life’s daily interactions. When you stop to think about it, there are a lot of events that happen in a kitchen over the course of the day. I had never stopped to give this much thought. (In graduate school I did read some essays by a sociologist and anthropologist team that ventured across Europe studying bathrooms as a way to see into a country’s culture.) But if the kitchen metaphor was only a stand-a-lone point of the story, the book would have floundered. So Yoshimoto supplies whatever actions happen in a kitchen (home, apartment, restaurant, even the simple act of eating as communion) with direct language that is sparse, beautiful, and laden with underlying messages. You see, the real question of this novel is: What does love mean to a person when it becomes absent in one’s life?

This is an incredibly difficult question to answer, for both the characters in the story as well as for the reader. In the story, Mikage loses her grandmother and is then invited to stay with Eriko (a transvestite) and her (his) son, Yuichi. For the most part, this piecemeal family goes about its daily interactions as any “normal” family would. That is until tragedy strikes. I won’t spoil what happens, but let’s just say Mikage loses again, along with some other characters. It is at this point that the reader takes on a new role: one of participant. There are several choices that the reader must make: 1) stop reading; 2) allow the events to play out and continue reading; or 3) believe in the tragedy and get lost in the story. I chose number 3. And even though I have no basis of understanding to compare to these characters, I felt their pain, the confusion, the moments of helplessness that teeter precariously on the edge of hopelessness.

Perhaps it would be easy to label this as just a sentimental novel by an overrated novelist—but that may be missing the point. This is a powerful novel if allowed to be read as a powerful novel. It tries to give answers to difficult questions. Sometimes the novel succeeds. Sometimes it fails, even, dare I say, becomes hokey. But all of that can be whitewashed over by the simple notion that this novel achieves what other great novels achieve: the ability to be whatever the reader wants it to be.

I cannot say that Banana Yoshimoto will be a contender for the Nobel Prize, but I can say that she delivers a strong argument for being one of the great writers currently writing today.

VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
(less)

37 likes · like · see review

Jan 25, 2011 Idle Hippo marked it as to-read · review of another edition

maap kalo tulisan ini sepertinya gak nyambung ama bukuna

"Ada buku EA?" ...

Inget buku ini otomatis inget kelakuan seorang rekan durjana yang bisa bikin malu sesama rekan durjana. Ternyata ketua dewan pembina jaduler lebih durjana dari gw :))

Buku ini didapat dilapak buku bekas Dewi Sartika dalam rangka Reuni Durjana sekaligus merayakan ultah seorang durjana yang sudah di rancang sejak awal bulan atas permintaan seorang durjana yang bermukim di Tangerang.

Jam 12an nyampe di lapak buku Dewi Sartika...more

15 likes · like · see review

Jan 18, 2013 Samadrita rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: asian-literature, japan, slice-of-life, romance, novella-short-stories, semi-favorites, melancholia, feminism-feminist-undertones, lgbt, 1001-and-more, awesomesauce, by-women-who-matter

There's something about Japanese writers. They have the unparalleled ability of transforming an extremely ordinary scene from our everyday mundane lives into something magical and other-worldly. A man walking along a river-bank on a misty April morning may appear to our senses as an ethereal being, barely human, on the path to deliverance and self-discovery.
There's something deeply melancholic yet powerfully meaningful about the beautiful vignettes they beget. Few other writers are capable of c...more

14 likes · like · see review

Jul 09, 2007 Jason Pettus rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oh, let's face it; I love everything Banana Yoshimoto's ever written! But that said, she's not for everyone; she's a minimalist storyteller, at least in my opinion, able to turn the emotional state of the right reader with the flick of just one beautiful perfect phrase, but only if you're ready to catch that beautiful perfect phrase and appreciate it for what it is. Give up on this review yet? Then you shouldn't be reading Yoshimoto! Actually consisting of two novellas, Kitchen (named after the...more

36 likes · like · see review

Dec 22, 2010 Helvry Sinaga rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Novel karya Banana Yoshimoto terdiri dari dua judul, Kitchen dan Moonlight Shadow. Secara umum, cerita tentang sepasang anak muda yang ditinggal orang terdekat, dan berusaha bangkit dari bayang-bayang kesepian dan rasa kehilangan itu.

KITCHEN
Kitchen bercerita tentang seorang gadis muda di Tokyo, Mikage, yang ditinggalkan oleh kematian neneknya. Ia sebatang kara, hingga ia bertemu dengan Yuichi Tanabe di pemakaman neneknya. Yuichi adalah seorang pekerja paruh waktu di toko bunga favorit neneknya....more

7 likes · like · see review

Apr 07, 2007 ruzmarì rated it 5 of 5 stars

"Kitchen" is a great little novella, and reading it is like having an old friend come to stay with you for a few days out of the blue. That one friend who had just the perfect quirky turn of phrase, the oddly poetic outlook on things like noodles and shoelace-tips. Yoshimoto's writing has matured since "Kitchen," but this story remains fresh and thoughtful, charming and simple and deep. My favorite part of the book, though, isn't the title novella but the one included after it, "Moonlight Shadow...more

14 likes · like · see review

Apr 09, 2013 Nidhi Singh rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: japan

If there is a colour for the prose of Banana Yoshimoto, it is blue. Reading ‘Kitchen’ is like walking in the clear crisp air of a blue night in Tokyo. She works beautifully with surrealistic imagery, with artless simplicity. The images of the night, the houses in the streetlight, the colour of the sunset and the sky, the moonlight in the kitchen transpire again and again in the beautifully sparse writing until one breathes completely in the dreamlike quality of it. These images do not convey the...more If there is a colour for the prose of Banana Yoshimoto, it is blue. Reading ‘Kitchen’ is like walking in the clear crisp air of a blue night in Tokyo. She works beautifully with surrealistic imagery, with artless simplicity. The images of the night, the houses in the streetlight, the colour of the sunset and the sky, the moonlight in the kitchen transpire again and again in the beautifully sparse writing until one breathes completely in the dreamlike quality of it. These images do not convey the sinister, furtive, darkness of night: it is but the beautiful melancholy of night where dreams and reality conflate. The loneliness of the characters flows and merges with these images. How evocative a description of pain, loneliness, separation, and human mortality! Death and loss can truly be a binding force for people, drawing them closer, reshaping their sensitivities, in coming to terms with their insurmountable loss. And there is the knowledge that no one can understand your loss except for someone who has been through a similar sadness. Yoshimoto’s characters, in their unusual ordinariness, adopt a number of contrivances for a liberation from their grief. Some change homes, some change their gender. They cook extravagant meals, find shelter in some secluded monastery with a waterfall or in the simple domesticity of the Kitchen. Some keep the grief hidden so that it doesn't take the form of perceptible reality. Memories are shining and bright, and they live on but they also keep sucking their bearer away from the present. Moving on gets difficult. And it’s a pain in itself to come to a delivery where one learns to take care of a memory as a memory; something that has passed and doesn’t belong to the present.

"I'll never be able to be here again. As the minutes slide by, I move on. The flow of time is something I cannot stop. I haven't a choice. I go.

One caravan has stopped, another starts up. There are people I've yet to meet, others I'll never see again. People who are gone before you know it, people who are just passing through. Even as we exchange hellos, they seem to grow transparent. I must keep living with the flowing river before my eyes."
(less)

7 likes · like · see review

Feb 19, 2012 Cam Tu rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: must-have, worth-a-re-read

I once threw this novella onto my friend and told him to read it. Obediently, he took one glance at the book and told me how ironic it was that this story should be about a woman and a kitchen. Of course he was only judging the book by its cover, but to me it's just how he described it. In the story, the kitchen symbolized life and to Mikake Sakurai it stood as her favorite place in the world. Mikake, who would charmingly grasped my hand and offered me a cup of tea walked me through her emotion...more

3 likes · like · see review

Feb 12, 2013 طَيْف rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

روايتان للكاتبة اليابانية"بنانا يوشيموتو"...بين دفتي كتاب

أما عن روايتها الأولى"مطبخ" فقد لمتها بداية لاختيار العنوان...فذاك الكم الهائل من الحب والحزن والوجع، كان بإمكان الكاتبة أن تؤطره بعنوان أجمل، ولما فكرت بسبب اختياره عنوانا، خطر لي ذاك المكان الذي هو بؤرة الحياة ومركزها في المنزل، وهو المكان الذي يشهد أغلب أنشطتنا اليومية، والذي يرتبط كثيرا بذكرياتنا الحميمية، وهو ما جعل بطلة الرواية "ميكاج" تلجأ له لما ماتت جدتها، وغدت وحيدة، وتجد فيه سلوتها، فتركن إلى دفئه محاوِلةً تجاوز حالة الفقد والحز...more روايتان للكاتبة اليابانية"بنانا يوشيموتو"...بين دفتي كتاب

أما عن روايتها الأولى"مطبخ" فقد لمتها بداية لاختيار العنوان...فذاك الكم الهائل من الحب والحزن والوجع، كان بإمكان الكاتبة أن تؤطره بعنوان أجمل، ولما فكرت بسبب اختياره عنوانا، خطر لي ذاك المكان الذي هو بؤرة الحياة ومركزها في المنزل، وهو المكان الذي يشهد أغلب أنشطتنا اليومية، والذي يرتبط كثيرا بذكرياتنا الحميمية، وهو ما جعل بطلة الرواية "ميكاج" تلجأ له لما ماتت جدتها، وغدت وحيدة، وتجد فيه سلوتها، فتركن إلى دفئه محاوِلةً تجاوز حالة الفقد والحزن والألم الذي ألمّ بها..فالمطبخ الذي يطالعنا الحديث عنه في بداية الرواية هو البطل الأول الذي يساهم في إعادة التوازن لتلك الروح القلقة.

يا لبساطة الفكرة...ويا لجمال معالجتها من "بنانا يوشيموتو"...قدمتها بلغة بسيطة لا تخلو من جمل أدبية جميلة، وبتكثيف للمشاعر يخترق القلب...كيف نخرج من حالة الفقد لما تستبد بنا، كيف نعالج حزننا لما يصبح شعورا دائما مسيطرا؟؟كيف نمضي بعد أن كبلنا هذا الفقد بخوف من فقدٍ يتكرر؟؟

ميكاج تتعرف على يوشي الذي يقف بجانبها دون أن يعرفها سابقا، ويعرض عليها السكن معه ومع والدته، لتمارس هناك هوايتها بالطبخ والاهتمام بالمطبخ بعد أن ظل مدار اهتماماتها، بل كان أول مكان تفحصته ولفت انتباها في شقة يوشي، لتنشأ بينهم علاقة صداقة متينة، تتراوح بين القوة والضعف، وبعد تعرض الأم للقتل، تقدم ميكاج الدعم ليوشي في معاناته، مما يمنحها سببا في الحياة، ويمنحها هدفا تحيا لأجله، ومشاعر دافئة تعوضها عن دفء أسرتها.

نفس الثيمة تربط الرواية الثانية بالأولى..ففي "خيالات ضوء القمر"، تتحدث الكاتبة عن الفقد وكيفية التغلب على المشاعر والوحدة التي يخلفها بحكاية أخرى.

ساتسوكي تفقد حبيبها في حادث سير، مما يصيبها بالحزن العميق، ويجعلها تقف عند حدود الزمن فلا تستطيع تجاوزه، فـ"هيتوشي" يظهر بأحلامها ويحدثها، فتشعر دائما بوجوده حولها وفي حياتها،
حتى تقابل "أورارا" التي تساعدها على رؤية روح"هيتوشي" في ظروف خاصة على حافة النهر، لا تتكرر إلا كل مائة عام، فتودعه مرتاحة...

"ومع تسلل أنوار الفجر الأولى بدأ كل شيء يتلاشى على مهل، وأمام ناظري راح هيتوشي يبتعد شيئا فشيئا راح يلوح بيده مبتسما وبدوري أومأت بيدي"

الموت يجمع بين أبطال روايتيها...وبين الروايتين أيضا...رائحته تعبق بالمكان

ورغم أن الفكرة في الرواية الأولى مبتكرة، ولكنني عشت الثانية أكثر...قد تستمر الحياة فعلا ونستمر معها بالمسير، ولكن يبقى عبق الفقد يحوم حولنا، يحيل حياتنا قفرا بعد أن كانت بالأحبة حدائق غنّاء

(less)

7 likes · like · see review

May 16, 2009 Dan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: borrowed, literature, read-in-2009

This is a wonderful book containing two tales of loss, love and loss of those loved. The first story lends it's name to the title and is the longer of the two. It was a gripping tale dealing with death, love and family. I enjoyed it greatly. The second story Moonlight Shadow was another beautiful tale of loss and personal growth. Kitchen did not allow time for me to make use of a bookmark but I feel it will stay with me for a long while.

3 likes · like · see review

Aug 24, 2012 bakanekonomama rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: jepang, 日本文学, yagitudeh, terjemahan

Menerjemahkan buku dari bahasa Jepang ke bahasa Indonesia adalah perkara yang sangat sulit. Jauh lebih sulit ketimbang komik, karena jelas sekali banyak gambar yang tersaji di komik. Gambar-gambar itu berperan penting dalam memberikan penjelasan kejadian apa yang sedang berlangsung saat itu.

Berbeda dengan cerpen atau novel. Mereka tidak punya gambar untuk mendukung isi cerita. Sehingga semua tergantung kekayaan imajinasi sang pembaca untuk bisa menafsirkan apa yang terjadi dalam cerita. Hal itul...more Menerjemahkan buku dari bahasa Jepang ke bahasa Indonesia adalah perkara yang sangat sulit. Jauh lebih sulit ketimbang komik, karena jelas sekali banyak gambar yang tersaji di komik. Gambar-gambar itu berperan penting dalam memberikan penjelasan kejadian apa yang sedang berlangsung saat itu.

Berbeda dengan cerpen atau novel. Mereka tidak punya gambar untuk mendukung isi cerita. Sehingga semua tergantung kekayaan imajinasi sang pembaca untuk bisa menafsirkan apa yang terjadi dalam cerita. Hal itulah yang kurang bisa ditangkap sebagian besar penerjemah Indonesia-Jepang. Dalam hal ini penerjemah cerpen atau novel karya sastrawan Jepang, bukan penerjemah komiknya. Banyak aspek-aspek sosial budaya di Jepang yang sulit sekali untuk diterjemahkan ke dalam bahasa Indonesia. Akibatnya, buku-buku yang diterjemahkan tidak memiliki kekuatan dari segi cerita maupun alur.

Saya membeli buku ini ketika diskon di toko buku. Bukunya diobral habis-habisan, tampaknya tidak laku. Ketika buku berbahasa Jepang yang begitu terkenal tidak laku di pasaran Indonesia, permasalahannya hanya ada dua. Penerjemahan yang buruk atau cerita yang tidak sesuai dengan kultur sosbud Indonesia. Buku ini yang pertama. Saya tidak bisa menangkap apa maksud Yoshimoto di dua cerpen yang tersaji di buku ini. Padahal, saya sudah mendengar kehebatan cerita ini sejak lama. Tapi, ketika saya membaca versi Indonesianya, saya tidak mendapatkan feel-nya sama sekali. Datar. Nggak bermakna. Absurd. Ya, saya tahu sih banyak sastrawan Jepang yang karya-karyanya memang absurd. Tetapi, menurut saya keabsurdan disini bukan disebabkan oleh ceritanya.

Hal yang sama juga terjadi kepada buku-buku bahasa Jepang lainnya yang diterbitkan dalam bahasa Indonesia. Tidak semuanya memang, tetapi sebagian besar yang diterjemahkan oleh penerjemah amatir ataupun penerjemah yang menerjemahkan buku itu bukan dari bahasa sumbernya, melainkan dari bahasa Inggris. Kalau buku-buku Jepang yang diterjemahkan oleh para dosen sastra Jepang sih tidak perlu diragukan lagi kualitasnya. Penerjemahannya sangat bagus. Tapi, ternyata buku itu tetap tidak bisa menarik hati masyarakat Indonesia, ya. Nah, kalau yang ini sih jelas permasalahannya ada di nomor dua.

Penerjemah itu memang penting sekali dalam menyampaikan isi pesan buku. Dialah yang nantinya akan menentukan penerimaan buku ini di masyarakat, karena mereka tidak bisa bahasa aslinya. Jadi, menerjemahkan bukanlah perkara mudah. Bahkan ada yang namanya penerjemah tersumpah, yang bisa masuk penjara kalau ia sampai salah menerjemahkan atau menginterpretasikan bahasa yang ia sampaikan. Nah. Interpretasi ini juga penting, karena ada aspek-aspek bahasa yang tidak diungkapkan secara harfiah.

Sekarang, kalau saya mau membaca buku-buku berbahasa Jepang, saya rasa saya tidak akan memilih lagi saduran bahasa Indonesianya. Kecuali kalau penerjemahnya jelas-jelas adalah sensei-sensei Jepang, khususnya yang senmon(keahlian)-nya adalah kesusasteraan Jepang. Saya sudah kapok beli beberapa buku terjemahan seperti Jeritan Lirih (Oe Kenzaburo), In The Miso Soup dan 69 (Murakami Ryu), yang semuanya diterjemahkan ke bahasa Indonesia dan saya sama sekali nggak bisa menangkap maknanya. Bahkan semua buku itu akhirnya jadi onggokan, yang nggak akan pernah selesai saya baca... (less)

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 14, 2013 Chana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: better-romance, chick-lit, japan, trippy-fiction

Japanese chick lit written by an author named Banana Yoshimoto. I admit to having chosen the book because the author is named Banana, the book is titled Kitchen, and it is not a cookbook.
The book actually consists of two stories: Kitchen and Moonlight Shadow. I liked both of them quite a bit. They are weird, melancholy one minute and buoyant the next giving the book a wacky feel, not to mention the transvestite thread that runs through the stories, which just skews the book further off base but...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 30, 2012 Zee rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: booksread2012, contemporary, japanese

So deceptively simple, yet so full of emotion that it had me reeling. Yoshimoto's prose is like a time machine that took me back to some very difficult events in my life, events I thought I would never recover from, and like her protagonists I was surprised that I too found myself in the kitchen when things looked very bleak indeed.

What is it about food that gives us comfort when facing loss on an earth-shattering scale? Following instructions on how to prepare a dish, making a cup of tea or to...more

4 likes · like · see review

Mar 09, 2010 Jia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Mikage, kau terpesona pada ibuku?" tanyanya.

"Begitulah. Habis dia cantik sekali," kataku jujur.

"Ya, ya," sambil tertawa, Yuichi berjalan ke arahku lalu duduk di lantai di depanku. "Dia menjalani operasi plastik."

"Masa?" tanyaku berpura-pura tenang. "Mungkin karena itu wajah kalian samasekali tidak mirip."

"Bukan itu saja...," Yuichi melanjutkan tanpa mampu menahan geli, "dia itu laki-laki."

(Kitchen, Banana Yoshimoto, hal.16)
________________________________________________________________
Ah, dari...more

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 17, 2009 Black Elephants rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Kitchen is a novel made up of two short stories: the eponymous one and another. It is written by one of Japan’s most popular contemporary writers Banana Yoshimoto. This was actually her debut novel, and it contains all the zest and magic of a new author just setting out.

The two stories, while separate, are connected by the themes of love, loss and enchantment in a world of reality. Our first opens with the protagonist Mikage unsure how to move on after her grandmother’s death (being her only the...more Kitchen is a novel made up of two short stories: the eponymous one and another. It is written by one of Japan’s most popular contemporary writers Banana Yoshimoto. This was actually her debut novel, and it contains all the zest and magic of a new author just setting out.

The two stories, while separate, are connected by the themes of love, loss and enchantment in a world of reality. Our first opens with the protagonist Mikage unsure how to move on after her grandmother’s death (being her only then living relation in the world). She ends up moving in with the quiet but intriguing Yuichi and his mother/father Eriko. The second is about young Satsuki, who has lost her young lover of many years, and how she meets the enigmatic Urara, who seems to know something of how Satsuki can meet him again.

What I really loved about these stories was the language, and I have always believed that if the translation (in this case done by Megan Backus) is phenomenal, then the original must go even beyond that. But all credit does not wholly belong to the translator. Banana Yoshimoto herself is very aware of her words. It’s not so much an elegance or ornamentation of language but more the grace of simplicity and a focus on regular details. Many of today’s novels take the reader on a rollercoaster ride through plots and characters of the fantastic, the grotesque and the bizarre. But Yoshimoto, even with her plots of dreams and the dead, is refreshingly on Planet Earth, and the effect is lovely.

Some quotes:

“The space that cannot be filled, no matter how cheerfully a child and an old person are living together - the deathly silence that, panting in a corner of the room, pushes its way in like a shudder” (21).

“Looking out the window as the evening wind came through the screen door, a remnant of pale blue stretching over the hot sky, we ate boiled pork, cold Chinese noodles and cucumber salad. I cooked for them: she who made a fuss over everything I did; he who ate vast quantities in silence” (57).

“Memorizing the recipe, I would make carrot cakes that included a bit of my soul. At the supermarket I would stare at a bright red tomato, loving it for dear life. Having known such joy, there was no going back” (59).

My new vocabulary word:

“Jostled by the motion of the bus, I was determined to keep that dirigible, so far off in the sky, in sight no matter what” (34)

n. A self-propelled lighter-than-air craft with directional control surfaces

(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 03, 2008 Shery rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone, teens, adults

Although this book surrounded many themes of love and death, it was surprisingly light and refreshing. Yoshimoto writes in a very classy but bold style which conveys the inner strength of main characters.

The first character, Mikage is a young adult living in contemporary Japan, whose grandmother had died at the beginning of the book. She then moves in with a friend, Yuichi, and his mother, Eriko who was a transsexual. Through a series of events, which includes another death, and slow recovery,...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 20, 2008 Shimelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Shimelle by: Jen

Having read this last week, I'm now confused. Not about the book (which reads in a way that doesn't require the slightest bit of effort) or about Japanese culture (which comes to life with enough universality to make sense). No. I was confused as to why, with an MA in contemporary English literature -- and a specialism in gender studies -- I had only come to find this book now, at the suggestion of a dear friend. During my studies, professors lauded extremes. Books like Tim & Pete, Dennis Co...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jul 10, 2007 Leslie rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: those who like reading about eating, fans of green tea, udon, and tempura

Shelves: favorites

Brooklyn has the best tag sales. People there seem to only own good stuff, and sometimes get in the mood to sell it all off for fifty cents a pop. It was at such a tag sale that I spotted the book, which I had earlier seen on the "currently reading" list of a very ahead-of-the-curve friend's blog (that was in 2001, before "blog" had entered the mainstream vocabulary and this Yoshimoto reading dude was the only person I knew who had one). The tag sale also featured some beautiful blue glass dishe...more

3 likes · like · see review

Dec 22, 2012 BoekenTrol rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-listed, bookcrossing, books-i-own, dutch_language, asian_fiction_or_non-fiction, off_mtbr_2012, 2012

Since Yoshimoto is a new writer to me and the book is listed on the 1001-list, I expected a hard-to-read book. But, much to my surprise, it was a very quick and easy read.

That doesn't mean that I dislike the book, that it was not good. On the contrary! I liked it a lot! The main characters, though they are strange and in mourning, are likeable persons. The emotions described are very recognizeable, very real, even though they're just made of paper and ink.

Both "Kitchen" stories I preferred ove...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 27, 2008 Jennifer rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Any time I try to read Japanese novels I feel like I'm missing something. In Kitchen, as in the few other Japanese novels I've read, the prose seems flat and spare. I'm beginning to think it's not a question of translation and more a question of a different writing style. Mikage, a young woman, is left alone when her grandmother dies, following the deaths of her parents and grandfather. She ends up being sort of adopted by the Tanabe family, a young man her age and his transsexual (m to f) mothe...more

7 likes · like · see review

Oct 10, 2011 bookczuk rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookcrossing, first-novel-or-book, foodie, made-me-look-something-up, taught-me-something

For such a slim volume, this book took me forever to read. It's two stories, one more a novella and the other more a short story, each about love, loss and loyalty told in a minimalist, ethereal sort of style. Kind of like a haiku version of fiction writing. Characters were beautifully drawn, though I think the improbably Eriko with his/her zest for life charmed me the most. The snippets of Japanese life and culture were fascinating, especially in Kitchen 1, and the bits focused on food (I must...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jan 27, 2011 Shovelmonkey1 rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: japanese lit fans

Recommended to Shovelmonkey1 by: 1001 books list

Shelves: 1001-books, bookcrossing-books, read-in-2011, japanese-literature

Loved this book, although I was surprised by the sudden, almost terminal end to the main story. This is a book about loss and bereavement and how people adjust or find escape in places or things associated with the person who has gone. Someone very close to me died last suddenly last year after a short illness and this book summarised a lot of what I felt at the time. It also reinforced one of the things that he taught me - hang onto life and live every minute because it's only coming around onc...more

8 likes · like · see review

May 01, 2013 Emi rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: japanese-books

Yet another book by Yoshimoto that I've recently read. Once again, I can't decide whether I liked it or not.
The "slice of life" novels are somehow addictive. You keep reading them even when the plot doesn't seem to be too exciting. However, sometimes such novels end in a way that makes you feel like you've wasted your time. I have to say this is exactly how I felt after finishing "Kitchen". Even though the whole premise of this story was ridiculous, at first I really liked it. But then came the...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 10, 2013 Boris Van rated it 2 of 5 stars

The book starts promising but soon gets stuck on some poorly founded dreamy metaphores about life and death, without ever making a clear or original point. It is a book about normal people, dealing with loss and learning to love life. Themes, that really can sprout some fantastic stories. But shamefully, some semi-poetic sentences are forced into the story but do not lift it in any way. The protagonists aren't unrealistic or over-the-top, instead they are just plain boring. Even the magical stuf...more

like · see review

Mar 01, 2013 Alice rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: the-ones-i-read-for-school

I am not sure how much different this novel is in its original language, but in English, Kitchen was stunning.

Yoshimoto's sparce descriptions made the few that were much more developped and intense. Through Mikage's love for kitchens, plants, and Eriko we learn a multitude of life lessons. Although sometimes a bit depressing and haunting: The fact that we are born alone, live alone, and die alone; will most likely follow me throughout my life- yet even though they were saddening they reflected...more

like · see review

Jan 21, 2013 Mayday rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-2013, borrowed-from-library-rental, family, indonesian-translated, romance, strong-female-lead, want-to-buy-someday

Ada dua cerita dalam novel ini, yang pertama adalah Kitchen dan yang kedua adalah Moonlight Shadow. Lima bintang untuk Kitchen (karena saya dibuat tertawa dan menangis), dan empat saja untuk Moonlight Shadow. Jadi dibuletin aja jadi lima bintang.

Minggu lalu saya nyari-nyari di perpus satu buku tipis karena saya sudah dapet satu novel tebel tentang sejarah Islam di Spanyol (tepat sekali, pas saya lagi dapet pinjaman Cesare, jadi bisa dapat cerita dari dua sisi yang berbeda). Ada rak-rak tempat no...more Ada dua cerita dalam novel ini, yang pertama adalah Kitchen dan yang kedua adalah Moonlight Shadow. Lima bintang untuk Kitchen (karena saya dibuat tertawa dan menangis), dan empat saja untuk Moonlight Shadow. Jadi dibuletin aja jadi lima bintang.

Minggu lalu saya nyari-nyari di perpus satu buku tipis karena saya sudah dapet satu novel tebel tentang sejarah Islam di Spanyol (tepat sekali, pas saya lagi dapet pinjaman Cesare, jadi bisa dapat cerita dari dua sisi yang berbeda). Ada rak-rak tempat novel-novel dengan ukuran yang tidak mengintimidasi di Perpus Kota Malang, saya lihat ada penulis Jepang, lalu saya baca ringkasan di belakang novel itu.

Fetish dapur? Aneh ya. Lalu saya lihat salah satu karakternya punya ayah yang seorang transvestite, tanpa pikir panjang saya langsung bawa novel ini pulang, hew hew :3 dan oemji ini novel ditulis bahkan sebelum orang tua saya menikah, dengan karakter bapak yang suka memilih menjalani hidupnya dengan jenis kelamin lain dan satu cowok yang memilih untuk cross-dress karena mereka berduka ditinggal wanita yang dicintai , wow sekali~ Sering kan saya lihat di anime-anime gitu pemilik bar transvestite (Gintama dan banyak lagi saya lupa) dan cowok-cowok yang suka cross-dress tapi mereka bukan gay (Kurogahime, Moyashimon).

Pokoknya harus baca~

Pemilihan kata-kata yang bagus, ceritanya mengalir begitu indah. Lucu, sedih, dan haru bercampur tanpa harus membuat saya begitu sedih karena novel ini berputar mengelilingi satu kata: kematian. Bagaimana karakter utama melepaskan dirinya dari kesedihan karena ditinggal mati oleh orang-orang yang dicintai mereka: nenek, mama (sebenarnya papa), pacar dan saudara. Bagaimana mereka mendapat pencerahan untuk melanjutkan hidup mereka yang terasa berhenti karena terkadang kematian orang yang dicinta membuat dunia itu berhenti. Namun, bumi berputar tanpa menunggu ijin dari manusia.

Saya berterima kasih juga untuk penerjemah karena saya membaca ini tanpa harus memikirkan kalimat aslinya bagaimana, yang karena saya juga gak ngerti bahasa Jepang :v
(less)

like · see review

Jan 11, 2013 bakanekonomama rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: jepang, 日本文学

Orang Jepang memiliki peribahasa yang sangat saya suka: Ichigo ichie yang ditulis dengan kanji 「一期一会」. Jika diartikan secara bebas ke dalam bahasa Indonesia, artinya adalah "dalam satu kali kesempatan, hanya ada satu kali pertemuan". Bisa juga diartikan sebagai "kesempatan yang hanya datang sekali seumur hidup" ataupun "pertemuan yang hanya sekali seumur hidup".

Pertemuan. Kesempatan.

Berapa banyak pertemuan yang kita alami dalam sehari? Bertemu dengan orang baru, situasi baru, tempat baru, dan la...more

1 like · like · see review

Nov 27, 2012 kat rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to kat by: it was on William's shelf

Shelves: read-in-2012

Uh... hmm.

There are things I liked about these two stories. She has some good turns of phrase and a very spare-but-evocative style that reminds me of Murakami.

But. The trans character(s?). Ye gods.

Eriko. I think every mention of her made me cringe. Pretty sure Yoshimoto doesn't actually know the difference between a trans woman, a drag queen and a gay man. And also, hey, what do I know, but also pretty sure that most trans women don't "decide to become a woman" after their wife dies and they rea...more

like · see review

Sep 17, 2012 fuzzgig rated it 4 of 5 stars

By Mike on October 6, 2005 6:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Late one evening last weekend, I wandered though my house looking for something short and interesting to read. I found my brother's copy of Kitchen on my shelves. I read it in one sitting, which was only about three hours; it's that short.

It has been a while since I read something that inspired me. Kitchen did that to me. It is a beautiful piece. It has quirky characters. The action is sparse, realistic, yet still interesting. It has...more

like · see review

Aug 05, 2012 Francesco Camagna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: romanzo

Questo è il primo romanzo che ha scritto Banana Yhosimoto.

E' un romanzo sulla solitudine giovanile. Le cucine nuovissime e luccicanti o vecchie e vissute, che riempiono i sogni della protagonista Mikage, rimasta sola al mondo dopo la morte della nonna, rappresentano il calore di una famiglia sempre desiderata. Ma la grande trovata di Banana è che la famiglia si possa, non solo scegliere, ma inventare. Così il padre del giovane amico della protagonista, Yuichi, può diventare o rivelarsi madre e M...more

1 like · like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Indonesians Who L...: * Kitchen (Romance Month)	23	61	May 20, 2013 09:42pm
Kitchen tune - Momoko Kikuchi	4	44	Mar 21, 2013 02:42am
Books: Passports ...: Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto #BP2W (Japan)	1	5	Jan 13, 2013 08:16am
Around the World ...: December - discussion of Kitchen	4	14	Dec 22, 2012 07:51pm

combine
Other Editions (50)

More editions...

Genres

Cultural > Japan

221 users

Asian Literature > Japanese Literature

205 users

Contemporary

64 users

Short Stories

58 users

Literature

43 users

Novels

43 users

Cultural > Asia

32 users

Literature > Asian Literature

31 users

Book Club

22 users

Romance

19 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Banana Yoshimoto

Banana Yoshimoto (よしもとばなな ) (born July 24, 1964[1], in Tokyo) is the pen name of Mahoko Yoshimoto (吉本真秀子 Yoshimoto Mahoko), a Japanese contemporary writer. She writes her name in hiragana.

Yoshimoto, daughter of Takaaki Yoshimoto, was born in Tokyo on July 24, 1964. Along with having a famous father, poet Takaaki Yoshimoto, Banana's sister, Haruno Yoiko, is a well-known cartoonist in Japan. Growi...more

More about Banana Yoshimoto...

Books by Banana Yoshimoto

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Kitchen

1 trivia question

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Kitchen

“Truly happy memories always live on, shining. Over time, one by one, they come back to life.” — 89 people liked it

“People aren't overcome by situations or outside forces. Defeat comes from within.” — 87 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Kitchen
avg rating	preview: Kitchen Goodreads rating: 3.80 (13395 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50144.Kitchen?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327904393l/50144.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50144.Kitchen?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto[/url]

Kitchen

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website