A major literary sensation is back with a quietly stunning tour de force about a young woman who falls for a cult escapee.
While The Lake shows ...
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reviews
May 20, 2011
Mariel
rated it: 
It has been years since a new Banana Yoshimoto has been in my hands- 2006! Yeah, so I became a fan in 2004 and read all of her translated works in a couple of months. Back to back like snug little bookends. I was so happy reading her books and living in those pages. I feel the most at ease with the world and myself in that world when I'm completely into books. The best are those that I'm so into that I forget to talk to anyone at all. If I can keep going I never have to look down and remember I'
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Feb 15, 2012
Justin
rated it: 
It’s hard to summarize this novella-length story without giving too much away. In fact, I’d recommend against reading the marketing copy, since it spoils the one and only surprise in the book. It’s best described as a stilted and intensely awkward meet-cute, I guess. Introspective young woman notices odd neighbor, and almost despite herself, begins to reach out to him and draw him out of his shell. They begin a fragile romance as she gets closer to the truth of his ethereal weirdness, and both o
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May 11, 2011
oriana
rated it:
(review #9 for CCLaP!)
DO NOT READ THE BACK COVER OF THIS BOOK.
I didn't, luckily, so I was able to experience it as written, as a slow build, a soft, sad, slight mystery, with all the hidden things left hidden, or at least obscured, until they were meant to be revealed. I can't believe Melville House wasn't smart enough to realize that you can't give away the big twist in huge blue letters right there at the top of the blurb. What a massive disservice to Banana.
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DO NOT READ THE BACK COVER OF THIS BOOK.
I didn't, luckily, so I was able to experience it as written, as a slow build, a soft, sad, slight mystery, with all the hidden things left hidden, or at least obscured, until they were meant to be revealed. I can't believe Melville House wasn't smart enough to realize that you can't give away the big twist in huge blue letters right there at the top of the blurb. What a massive disservice to Banana.
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Jan 11, 2012
Mark
rated it:
Banana Yoshimoto is big in Japan. Her mostly modern fables of love and loss - of which The Lake is her twelfth - have acquired a cult following, and sold upwards of six million copies.
Those familiar with Yoshimoto's previous work will presumably be unsurprised by her latest offering. 'The Lake' is a slim, fragile story revolving around the relationship between two young Japanese students, Chihiro and Nakajima.
Chihiro has recently lost her mother: the first line of the novel reads: ' More...
Those familiar with Yoshimoto's previous work will presumably be unsurprised by her latest offering. 'The Lake' is a slim, fragile story revolving around the relationship between two young Japanese students, Chihiro and Nakajima.
Chihiro has recently lost her mother: the first line of the novel reads: ' More...
Dec 30, 2011
K.
rated it:
Banana Yoshimoto is not for everyone.
Entering the world of the Lake, you must give up all preconcepts of what plot is, of how stories must unfold as a series of discrete and mappable events.
Instead, with Chihiro, you find yourself experiencing a story that unfolds as a series of thoughts and sensations, ruminations on herself and her family, that, like unfolding an intricately wrapped present, leave you hungering to find kernels of truth inside.
Like many othe More...
Entering the world of the Lake, you must give up all preconcepts of what plot is, of how stories must unfold as a series of discrete and mappable events.
Instead, with Chihiro, you find yourself experiencing a story that unfolds as a series of thoughts and sensations, ruminations on herself and her family, that, like unfolding an intricately wrapped present, leave you hungering to find kernels of truth inside.
Like many othe More...
Nov 13, 2011
Emily
rated it:
Moving, deeply complex and emotional. I have no idea how I found this book or why I chose to read it--probably had something to do with the fact that his name is Banana. No big deal.
This novel reminds me of the days I used to spend exploring the creek in the back of my neighbor's yard. Looking back, the water might not have been the clearest, and in places it was utterly stagnant and still. But at the same time, I was both haunted and drawn by its mystical nature. That's the best way, in my More...
This novel reminds me of the days I used to spend exploring the creek in the back of my neighbor's yard. Looking back, the water might not have been the clearest, and in places it was utterly stagnant and still. But at the same time, I was both haunted and drawn by its mystical nature. That's the best way, in my More...
Oct 13, 2011
Jools
rated it:
In The Lake, Chihiro and Nakajima, both of whom are damaged people, meet by chance as they can see each other from their respective balconies. Chihiro is trying to cope with the loss of her mother, by remembering who her mother was as the majority of people would. Nakajima’s problems are more complex and as the story unfolds and their relationship deepens, both reader and Chihiro find out the truth of what happened to him.
Some people have called this an off-beat love story, but I don More...
Some people have called this an off-beat love story, but I don More...
Sep 20, 2011
Lakis
rated it: 
“Say it simple, stupid”; this could definitely be the message that the author is trying to convey to the reader; or rather to the other writers. If there’s a canon in Yoshimoto’s writing that’s simplicity. She just tells a story and she tells it briefly and beautifully; her words flow like a quiet spring stream. With the exception of Amrita all her books are small in size, but full of meaning. By using a few words and characters that have much in common, book after book, she seems to be writing
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Jul 31, 2011
Winna
rated it:
This is the first time I've rated her work with 2 stars. I'm not sure what it is that I find lacking, exactly, and maybe that's just me.. because I find this one flat. It doesn't really move forward until the last chapter, and I know Yoshimoto's style is not exactly what you call fast-paced.. but I find this one boring.
I don't particularly care about Chihiro, the main character. I find her selfish and annoying, with her constant complaining and how she feels about her family. I like Ma More...
I don't particularly care about Chihiro, the main character. I find her selfish and annoying, with her constant complaining and how she feels about her family. I like Ma More...
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Jul 22, 2011
Timothy
rated it:
I actually thought I'd already written about this, but it seems to have fallen off my shelves.
Yoshimoto is one of my eight or ten favorite living novelists. Among her gifts are absolutely perfect emotional pitch; the ability to create characters who manage to suggest much more than they reveal, without the reader's losing patience with them; and a deep respect for mystery and the fact that we so rarely in our lives fully understand anything.
Dislocated girl meets dislocated b More...
Yoshimoto is one of my eight or ten favorite living novelists. Among her gifts are absolutely perfect emotional pitch; the ability to create characters who manage to suggest much more than they reveal, without the reader's losing patience with them; and a deep respect for mystery and the fact that we so rarely in our lives fully understand anything.
Dislocated girl meets dislocated b More...
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Jul 21, 2011
edward j
rated it:
This isn't necessarily a bad book, so the two star rating is more to the effect that it's derivative and has been done better, even done better by Japanese writers. Oh, too, before I forget, don't read the synopsis before you finish the book or the whole book is kind of--not ruined--lessened.
It's the story of a girl who's a bit unusual, a bit of an outsider, who meets another unique soul--who is deeply damaged by an unspeakable past--by a sort of coincidence, and what follows is the s More...
It's the story of a girl who's a bit unusual, a bit of an outsider, who meets another unique soul--who is deeply damaged by an unspeakable past--by a sort of coincidence, and what follows is the s More...
Jul 15, 2011
I know that I have read a book by Banana Yoshimoto before, but I can't remember what it was. When I picked up The Lake her sparse prose and almost brutal forwardness were familiar. The Lake begins in bed, with the narrator and her unusual boyfriend Nakajima. The book chronicles the strange closeness that develops between these two characters as they reveal their pasts to one another and try to leave them behind for a future together.
I find the pacing of the dialogue strange in most More...
I find the pacing of the dialogue strange in most More...
Jul 03, 2011
Chad
rated it: 
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
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Jun 12, 2011
TC
rated it:
I noticed this book on Netgalley with a note that a portion of the proceeds will go towards Japan Disaster Relief, so if nothing else it caught my eye for that. I like fiction set in Japan and China but in the past have read mostly historical rather than contemporary fiction.
I was glad when I finished the book and went online to get all the details to do this review that I hadn't re-read the blurb as it gives away one of the key points of the plot and would have been a real spoiler i More...
I was glad when I finished the book and went online to get all the details to do this review that I hadn't re-read the blurb as it gives away one of the key points of the plot and would have been a real spoiler i More...
Jul 29, 2011
George
rated it:
It seems sometimes that the more simple and direct an author's writing is, the more I struggle to get into a book. My chief problem with Yoshimoto is that she combines a deceptively simple form of writing -- short sentences, basic construction, etc. -- with analogies and metaphors that aren't always that intuitive. So, I find myself skimming along quickly and then suddenly having to read the same paragraph over a few times because I'm pretty sure I'm missing something. Yet, for some reason, I wa
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Jul 09, 2011
Donna
rated it:
If you're already interested in this one, read as little as possible about it. Several of the descriptions and reviews include major spoilers, things I wish I hadn't known going in.
I don't often enjoy this type of book. It's got fairly basic prose, a dreamy feel, and a tightly focused viewpoint. There's a definite story here, but it's more about thoughts and feelings and perspective and relationships. I was never exactly comfortable with the main character, but she had an interesting More...
I don't often enjoy this type of book. It's got fairly basic prose, a dreamy feel, and a tightly focused viewpoint. There's a definite story here, but it's more about thoughts and feelings and perspective and relationships. I was never exactly comfortable with the main character, but she had an interesting More...
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Feb 20, 2012
The Brunette Bibliophile
rated it: 
http://thebrunettebibliophile.blogspot.c...
It was this blurb on The Millions about Yoshimoto's The Lake being shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize that prompted me to pick it up:
"The Lake by Banana Yoshimoto: She’s big in Japan, inspiring a cult following and selling upwards of six million novels, but Banana Yoshimoto will always polarise opinion. Critics may be tempted to call her Murakami-lite, given her fondness for the same kind of broad subjects as her heavy More...
It was this blurb on The Millions about Yoshimoto's The Lake being shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize that prompted me to pick it up:
"The Lake by Banana Yoshimoto: She’s big in Japan, inspiring a cult following and selling upwards of six million novels, but Banana Yoshimoto will always polarise opinion. Critics may be tempted to call her Murakami-lite, given her fondness for the same kind of broad subjects as her heavy More...
Jan 18, 2012
thegift
rated it:
this book is pretty much consistent with all the yoshimoto i have read, primarily because i enjoyed 'kitchen' so much. that book seemed like a minimalist, stripped down, carnivalesque novel rather similar to a particular american author- whose works always seemed too long, banana is concise. i wonder of course about fidelity of translation, i do not know if this should be considered ya, but considering it took only one reading versus murakami's 1q84 six, i think i like it more. i am not swayed b
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Feb 18, 2012
Rebeccahowden
rated it:
If you like Japanese literature, and particularly the vaguely magic-realist style of writers like Haruki Murakami and Kazuo Ishiguro, you’ll love Banana Yoshimoto. The Lake is dark and mysterious and the prose is just beautiful, sneaking up on you with jolting lovely imagery.
A young woman grieving for her mother moves to Tokyo to start a new life as a graphic artist. She spends her days looking out the window, and, like the ultimate romantic teenage fantasy, starts a hesitant relations More...
A young woman grieving for her mother moves to Tokyo to start a new life as a graphic artist. She spends her days looking out the window, and, like the ultimate romantic teenage fantasy, starts a hesitant relations More...
Oct 28, 2011
Erin
rated it:
I've read five or six of Yoshimoto's novels, and this one falls in the middle. It wasn't as good as Kitchen (which remains, by far, my favorite) but not as weak as Goodbye, Tsugumi. This is a quick read, and the style, ending, and pace made it feel more like a short story.
I like how Yoshimoto slowly exposes the character of Nakajima. I read on Good Reads that his big secret is revealed on the back cover, but I read this on my Kindle so I didn't have that problem. I think knowing his More...
I like how Yoshimoto slowly exposes the character of Nakajima. I read on Good Reads that his big secret is revealed on the back cover, but I read this on my Kindle so I didn't have that problem. I think knowing his More...
Sep 24, 2011
Baley
rated it:
>>Original post:http://thereadersbookblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/lake-banana-yoshimoto-translated-by.html
Oh B, you've done it again! Banana Yoshimoto is such a compelling author that I chose to read The Lake without knowing anything about the book. I now believe that Yoshimoto's real gift is in relaying a story by putting the plot into emotional sequences rather than words.
Here's what I mean. The Lake is told as a story about a young woman, Chihiro, and a young man, N More...
Oh B, you've done it again! Banana Yoshimoto is such a compelling author that I chose to read The Lake without knowing anything about the book. I now believe that Yoshimoto's real gift is in relaying a story by putting the plot into emotional sequences rather than words.
Here's what I mean. The Lake is told as a story about a young woman, Chihiro, and a young man, N More...
Dec 28, 2011
Mark
rated it:
What is it with Japan and their writers these past few years? I read Murakami's IQ84 first and then I read this book and I swear it's almost the same book all over again.
I mean what is with cults and books that just drag on and on and on and on and now that I finally finished [thank God], if you asked me what this book was about I don't think I could tell you actually.
Is it about love? possibly if you call love having to endure an almost hopelessly boring individual come out More...
I mean what is with cults and books that just drag on and on and on and on and now that I finally finished [thank God], if you asked me what this book was about I don't think I could tell you actually.
Is it about love? possibly if you call love having to endure an almost hopelessly boring individual come out More...
Apr 14, 2011
Diane
rated it:
I've read some excellent reviews for books written by Banana Yoshimoto, so I wanted to experience this author for myself. It was a different experience, but not an unpleasant one.
Chihiro is a 30-something Japanese woman whose mother had recently died. Chihiro's father was a Tokyo businessman, and son of rich, prominent parents. The kind of parents who would not have approved of a marriage between the two. Chihiro sees her mothers death in some ways as a blessing, but then she has not More...
Chihiro is a 30-something Japanese woman whose mother had recently died. Chihiro's father was a Tokyo businessman, and son of rich, prominent parents. The kind of parents who would not have approved of a marriage between the two. Chihiro sees her mothers death in some ways as a blessing, but then she has not More...
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Jan 31, 2012
Olduvai
rated it:
Chihiro, a painter of murals, tells the story of The Lake. Her late mother was the owner and ‘mama-san’ of a club and her father is of some prominence in their small rural town. The book opens with her mother’s hospitalisation and death, which leaves Chihiro feeling lost and distanced and eventually she moves to Tokyo, where she meets Nakajima, who lives in the building diagonally across. She finds herself attracted to him.
There’s a tenacity in him that’s beyond all that. The intensity More...
There’s a tenacity in him that’s beyond all that. The intensity More...
Nov 12, 2011
Emily
rated it:
“Most people are constantly perpetrating little acts of violence on others, even when they don’t mean to. You almost never do that, Chihiro.”
What a beautiful book! This was one of my train reads last weekend and it touched me on a really personal level. It’s a love story, but it’s not the kind of love story that makes me squirm uncomfortably. It’s about two broken people – one more broken, one less – accepting their love for each other, and learning to trust that love. Which is maybe More...
What a beautiful book! This was one of my train reads last weekend and it touched me on a really personal level. It’s a love story, but it’s not the kind of love story that makes me squirm uncomfortably. It’s about two broken people – one more broken, one less – accepting their love for each other, and learning to trust that love. Which is maybe More...
Jul 02, 2011
Kara
rated it:
Goodreads Summary:
A major literary sensation is back with a quietly stunning tour de force about a young woman who falls for a cult escapee.
While The Lake shows off many of the features that have made Banana Yoshimoto famous—a cast of vivid and quirky characters, simple yet nuanced prose, a tight plot with an upbeat pace—it’s also one of the most darkly mysterious books she’s ever written.
It tells the tale of a young woman who moves to Tokyo after the death of her More...
A major literary sensation is back with a quietly stunning tour de force about a young woman who falls for a cult escapee.
While The Lake shows off many of the features that have made Banana Yoshimoto famous—a cast of vivid and quirky characters, simple yet nuanced prose, a tight plot with an upbeat pace—it’s also one of the most darkly mysterious books she’s ever written.
It tells the tale of a young woman who moves to Tokyo after the death of her More...
Oct 09, 2011
Hope
rated it:
I am ashamed to say that this is my first book by Asian author, let me rephrase that. First book that was translated from Japanese to English. I have read books by Asian writers but they were written in English. I have always wanted to widen my reading experiences, to read more authors that do not write in English. When I saw this book on NerGalley, I put in a request for review right away.
This was a short book, only hundred and ninety pages, it took me two lunch breaks t More...
This was a short book, only hundred and ninety pages, it took me two lunch breaks t More...
Aug 16, 2011
Ashley
rated it:
I love Banana Yoshimoto's voice. I realize that her books are told from the point of view of her main characters, but I feel like in stepping into a story being told be an old friend every time I pick up one if her books. I realize that sounds a bit sappy, but I can't think of a better way to describe it. There aren't any life or death/save the world issues in The Lake. It is a simple story about two shy people meeting and figuring out how to love. Yoshimoto uses unexplainable event a lot in her
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Jul 12, 2011
Seana
rated it:
I hadn't read Banana Yoshimoto before, so I don't know how representative this new book is of her work. I think I'd assumed she was a bit of a lightweight, maybe a Japanese version of the better sort of Chicklit. But I think that's really because her books are short and easy to read. The mangled hero of this 'romance' is certainly not of the American type of flawed and damaged hero.
Our protagonist's situation is that she has recently lost her mother, and in this odd transitional zone, More...
Our protagonist's situation is that she has recently lost her mother, and in this odd transitional zone, More...
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Jul 07, 2011
Melody
rated it:
In this novel, Yoshimoto delves into the relationship between a mural painter and a student. Before your mind wanders anywhere else, let me assure you that the relationship between these two protagonists didn't fall into the 'forbidden' category. In fact I want to share with you that the encounter and the relationship between Chihiro and Nakajima is one of the most unique and 'strange' among all the books I read thus far.
30-year-old Chihiro paints murals and she has been living with More...
30-year-old Chihiro paints murals and she has been living with More...
