false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170779651m/71458.jpg 71458 27 From Library Journal Winner of many literary prizes in France, Nothomb (Loving Sabotage, Stranger Next Door) presents an utterly charming, humorous tale of East meets West in her newest novel about a young Belgian woman who works for a year in Japan, a country that she has revered and admired since childhood. At the Yumimoto Corporation, a huge export/import business, the chain of command is made very clear to her on a daily basis, and all initiative is snuffed out. After several crucial errors, our heroine's career ends up in the toilet, literally. Nothomb is a terrific writer whose writing style is simple, honest, and elegant. Very highly recommended for all libraries.DLisa Rohrbaugh, East Palestine Memorial P.L., OH Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. From Booklist As if we needed more proof that our globe is shrinking, here is a novel set in Japan, translated from French, written by a Belgian who was born in Kobe and now lives in Paris. Our heroine, Amelie, gets a job in the import-export division of the huge Yumimoto Corporation, the only Westerner in sea of Japanese company men. There are also a very few women, the most prominent among them being the stunning and awe-inspiring Miss Mori, Amelie's immediate superior. Through no fault of her own, but only because no one who is not Japanese can possibly navigate through all the complex rituals and protocols that lie at the heart of Japanese corporate culture, Amelie-san finds herself falling down a rabbit hole of increasingly meaningless tasks--delivering the mail, photocopying an executive's golf club bylaws, finally cleaning the bathrooms. It is Fubuki Mori who presides over this spiral, bent on humiliation even as Amelie begins to understand and even sympathize with her plight as an unmarried Japanese woman trying to hold her own. Mary Ellen Quinn Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. 1167530 book 1999 Stupeur Et Tremblements total:841|5:192|4:326|3:232|2:70|1:21| 841 3121 1119 95 4 3 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Thu Nov 20 07:39:13 -0800 2008 Mon Apr 06 03:41:53 -0700 2009 1
Rule number 1: NEVER take initiative for anything you're not supposed to take initiative for. The heroine finds this out the...more...]]> 5 1 false true Fri Apr 18 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 18 14:21:25 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 18 14:53:42 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Dec 20 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 27 15:08:20 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 27 15:15:52 -0800 2008 more...]]> 1 0 false false Thu Jun 18 16:19:48 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 18 16:26:13 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Aug 24 13:56:00 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 27 12:17:20 -0700 2009
If you are a Nothomb fan, do not read this review : you'll like the book anyway (they always tend to resemble each other). If she gets on your nerves as a rule, she will probably do this t...more...]]> 2 1 false false Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 31 23:39:01 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 04 14:39:50 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Aug 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 28 06:16:05 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 29 00:14:08 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Jan 22 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 22 05:03:21 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 23 06:40:17 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 01 04:27:49 -0700 2008 Wed May 14 07:25:08 -0700 2008 Leuke observaties, af en toe fantastische kronkels maar al bij al een schrijnend beeld van Japan. Een mooi en interessant land om op vakantie te gaan, niet om te werken.]]> 2 0 false false Fri Nov 13 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Oct 22 02:29:46 -0700 2009 Sat Nov 14 16:34:01 -0800 2009
It was not my kind of book - I could not believe that the protagonist was so incredibly ignorant of how to behave in a Japanese work environment. She made much of the fact that...more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Thu Jun 14 12:48:32 -0700 2007 Thu Jun 14 12:50:07 -0700 2007 4 1 false false Sun Apr 27 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 10 12:58:18 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 27 19:59:16 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Mon Dec 15 18:38:33 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 15 18:50:12 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sat Jan 05 13:52:15 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 05 14:20:27 -0800 2008
The story follows a Belgian girl ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Mon Jun 18 11:12:11 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 18 13:36:20 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jun 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 18 09:45:59 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 18 09:46:29 -0700 2009
Although Nothomb is clearly in love with Japan, I found the portrayal of life in a Japanese corporation to be profoundly disturbing. But then, I am an American, and until recently, I worked for a corporation, so maybe it just evoked for me a c...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Apr 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 30 08:44:18 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 17 08:51:35 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Aug 14 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Nov 20 07:52:48 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 20 08:20:42 -0800 2008 1 The reality presented in the book is extremely well described, the author surprises us with every sentence read - she makes us realise the stupidity of many things that surround u...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Aug 18 07:57:43 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 18 07:57:43 -0700 2009 The overwhelming Japanese work ethic may seem extreme to someone from the outside, but the characters Nothomb describes are not caricatures. They all posse...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jun 10 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Apr 22 21:52:01 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 22 21:52:01 -0700 2009 Japan and lived there 5 years before her family moved elsewhere. She
returns to the land she was born and this novel is about her year
working in a Japanese corporation. Anyone who appreciates and finds
humor i...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=71458