Shopping.

by Gavin Kramer, Hans M. Herzog (Translator)

Book by Kramer, Gavin

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Japan

236 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1999

Reviews

[Magdelanye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the story was fairly predictable, the presentation is fresh and the writing brisk and clever.
The narrator, self-deprecating and self-assured at the same time, never leaves the facts only to his imagination but involves himself in the dramatic transformation of an associate in the Tokoyo branch of an English law firm that provides the bland frame for their existence.
Without resorting to polemics, this book is a clear indictement of the superficial way of life that knows no allegiance to the past and relies on fairy tale visions of possible futures.

[Alanna Fowler · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh my god this book was confusing, I don't think I'm smart enough for it but I could hardly keep my attention to get through it

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kramer's debut is along the same strains as Tanizaki's Naomi (which the author must have read). This one's set in Japan too, but here the main character is an ex-pat, a gaijin, in Tokyo. Meadowlark, a clumsy, unconfident English lawyer, becomes obcessed with a much younger, savvy and streetwise Japanese girl. She uses him, agitating his natural predisposition towards melancholy and madness. A disturbing read, and a great subject for a gaijin-in-Japan book, but it feels immature and, in the end, dissapoints.

[Martha Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a strange story and I don't think I ever really "got" the narrator's character. I had a hard time discerning the tone of the events as they unfolded -- were they tragic or laughable? It was entertaining to learn about aspects of how Western males living and working in Japan prey on young Japanese women and also how many of those young women have an obsession with designer clothes. I wouldn't recommend this book but I'm not sorry I read it.

[Jon-michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was okay but not so great and i didn't have any sense of what was really going on. like it was a fast read but it went in and went right back out