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Manazuru

by Hiromi Kawakami, Elisabeth Suetsugu (Traduction)

3.33 · Rating Details · 381 Ratings · 51 Reviews

Twelve years have passed since Kei’s husband, Rei, disappeared and she was left alone with her three-year-old daughter. Her new relationship with a married man—the antithesis of Rei—has brought her life to a numbing stasis, and her relationships with her mother and daughter have spilled into routine, day after day. Kei begins making repeated trips to the seaside town of Ma ...more

Paperback, 230 pages

Published 2009 by Philippe Picquier (first published October 2006)

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Lists with This Book

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Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 1,029)

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Jan 21, 2016 Liviu rated it it was amazing

Shelves: genre-fantasy, mainstream, t_n_bks_2007_earlier, read_2016

Haunting, surreal, emotional and while somewhat vague and never directly confirmed, an outline of what happened 12 years previously can be glimpsed from Kei's mental and physical wanderings throughout the novel (which starts as mentioned 12 years later from the traumatic days of September when Kei's husband Rei disappears but develops across a period of close to 2 years) and the juxtaposition with real world and its pillars (officials, relatives, media etc)

An awesome novel though quite difficult ...more

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May 06, 2015 Vonia rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: psychological-thriller, mystery, ghosts-gothic-spiritual, grief-death, marriage, japanese, loneliness, seaside-stories, picturesque-prose, mind-fuck, vague-endings

Kawakami writes with quite elegiac prose, painting not only a picturesque setting, but an entire world with a tangible emotion. The said "emotion" in this novel is difficult to define, but it is something including an isolated loneliness but also a desperation, as well as a supernatural, unsettling fearful aspect. This was a unique quality in this novel, not quite like a ghost story, but more than a psychological thriller. Definitely an uncomfortable aura that engenders apprehension.

However, I ...more

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Sep 11, 2012 Hoàng Hạnh rated it it was amazing

Shelves: japanese-literature, all-time-favorites

Manazuru... where she remembers. Her husband, her daughter, her youth.
Or does she forget?

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Feb 22, 2015 David Hebblethwaite rated it really liked it · review of another edition

We first meet Kawakami’s narrator, Kei, on a visit to the seaside town of Manazuru; it’s a quiet place, with its own rhythm of life – two hours from Tokyo, but it could just as well be a world away. Something keeps drawing Kei back here: it may have to do with the disappearance of her husband Rei twelve years earlier; maybe Kei could find out, if only she could grasp what seems to be hovering on the fringes of her memory.

Manazuru is a disconcerting combination of the precise and the hazy. Its st We first meet Kawakami’s narrator, Kei, on a visit to the seaside town of Manazuru; it’s a quiet place, with its own rhythm of life – two hours from Tokyo, but it could just as well be a world away. Something keeps drawing Kei back here: it may have to do with the disappearance of her husband Rei twelve years earlier; maybe Kei could find out, if only she could grasp what seems to be hovering on the fringes of her memory.

Manazuru is a disconcerting combination of the precise and the hazy. Its structure is fragmented, sliding easily between past and present, between reality, memory and fantasy (Kei is followed by a woman-figure who may be some sort of spirit – or even a version of Kei herself – but often seems as real as any of the protagonist’s human interlocutors). But, even as those categories start to blur, the emotional detail remains pin-sharp and striking (a delicate balance achieved by Michael Emmerich in his translation).

Here, for example, is Kei describing how her mother felt about Rei:

She never tried to look at him, at Rei, the man I was married to, except through a sort of fish-eye lens. I don’t mean she saw him from a prejudiced perspective. She was unwilling to regard him as a man with a form. She preferred to peer through her lens at his distorted, bulging toes, or at his ballooning head. Nothing else. She didn’t dislike him enough to look away. She didn’t hate him enough to stare. She chose to keep him indistinct. (p. 46)

Images of bodily form and perception of others recur throughout Manazuru. Kei tells how she always used to feel the edges of her body blurring, until she started her affair with Seiji, a married man (“I don’t blur with Seiji. My shape is always the same, contained,” p. 71); Kei’s relationship with Seiji is constricting and distant in some ways, but it fulfils a need. Kei may have felt close to Rei when they were together; but, reading his diary now, she realises that there was a side of him she didn’t know; looking at old photographs of herself and Rei, their relationship suddenly starts to seem real to Kei, as though it somehow wasn’t previously. Kei comments that her daughter Momo can hurt her more deeply than others can (“she presses, unconcerned, into the softest places,” p. 30) because, knowing that Momo came from her body, Kei is unable to erect her emotional defences. But it doesn’t necessarily work both ways, as Kei finds that the teenage Momo can be distant and inscrutable. So the novel continues, with these nuanced, shifting patterns of emotion.

Kei’s perception of reality is fluid as well: for example, she has a vivid memory of following Rei and seeing him meet another woman – but apparently it’s a false one. In the end, Manazuru is a portrait of a woman lost between the elusive past and the seemingly unreachable future – and whether or she finds her way is open to interpretation. ...more

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Aug 05, 2014 Winna rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mellow-books, general-fiction

If there's one thing I can suggest before reading this book: read this when you feel like it - if you're ridden by melancholy, sadness, or would like to just lie down and read about something profound.

I was feeling that way the night before, and started this book with so much expectations, especially because I loved The Briefcase so much. After the first chapter, I was struck by the thought that this book might exceed The Briefcase, that every sentence was so thoughtful I wished to highlight the ...more

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Jun 10, 2013 Gerry O'Malley rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Fans of "chick-lit"

Review of Manazuru

This is the first novel that I have read by Hiromi Kawakami and I’m not sure that I’m in any hurry to read another one. Kawakami can certainly turn a phrase and draw the reader into the world that her characters inhabit (in this case modern Tokyo). Our heroine, Kei, is a single mother whose husband disappeared 7 or 8 years ago, leaving a 3-year-old daughter and no explanation. Kei’s life is decidedly unsettled since her husband abandoned the family – she whiles away her days in Review of Manazuru

This is the first novel that I have read by Hiromi Kawakami and I’m not sure that I’m in any hurry to read another one. Kawakami can certainly turn a phrase and draw the reader into the world that her characters inhabit (in this case modern Tokyo). Our heroine, Kei, is a single mother whose husband disappeared 7 or 8 years ago, leaving a 3-year-old daughter and no explanation. Kei’s life is decidedly unsettled since her husband abandoned the family – she whiles away her days in a hazy funk punctuated by arguments with her daughter, conversations with ghosts and erotic sexual encounters with her lover, a married man.

Kei is unexplainably drawn to visit a seaside village named “Manazuru” (a real peninsula in Kanagawa with the distinctive shape of a crane with both wings open in flight) in hopes of finding…something. Answers about what happened to her missing husband? Some idea of whether or not her love affair should continue? A sense of direction or purpose in her life? Your guess is as good as mine. I honestly have no idea why the character was compelled to re-visit this tiny seaside village where nothing much happens except hallucinatory re-enactments of events that may or may not have actually happened. Similarly I have no idea why the characters do what they do when they are back home in Tokyo. There is definitely action happening – its just not clear why any of it is happening.

The characters seem to have some direction and sense of purpose and there seems to be some momentum and action-reaction between the characters, Kei and her lover Seiji in particular, but for the most part, the reader is left to wonder what the hell it all means? I think this is an example of Japanese “chick-lit”; essentially a novel written primarily for a female reader. We certainly get a great deal of exposition of what the main character thinks and feels, but none of it seems terribly important. I found myself reading a page or two and then suddenly realizing that I had no idea what it was I just read and I’d have to go back and re-read the pages again. Frustrating.

Kawakami makes some interesting and thoughtful observations on love and loneliness and memory, but they are few and far between. I’m afraid that I just didn’t really care very much about Kei or Seiji or Momo (the daughter) or the most intriguing character in the book – the missing husband. On the whole, the book was just really boring and didn’t affect me one way or the other. It was awarded the 2010 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature, whatever that is. I guess the competition wasn’t too tough that year.
...more

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Apr 07, 2013 Ernest Trice rated it it was amazing

I was walking through the library the other day when I happened upon this book while looking for Franz Kafka. I remembered seeing her name mentioned on a list of interesting Japanese authors, so I picked up the book and sat down to read a few pages.
I could tell from the beginning that this book was good, I mean really good. I read it in one sitting, at the library! Without describing too much of the plot or the author, I'd like to say that her writing feels similar to Banana Yoshimoto and Har ...more

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May 09, 2016 Barbara rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: o-my-library, l-japan

Beim Lesen dieses Romans bin ich oft gestolpert. Weniger über die einfachen Sätze als über die Anordnung des Inhalts, den sie transportieren - und zwar nicht bei den traumartigen, zwischenweltlichen Szenen auf Manazuru, sondern diejenigen in Keis Alltag. Viele der Gefühle und Handlungen konnte ich nicht nachvollziehen, wirkten willkürlich im Text (warum war die "Geisterfrau" so oft genervt?), die Personen blieben so vage, dass ich keine Beziehung zu ihnen aufbauen konnte. So habe ich diese (Nich ...more

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Feb 24, 2015 Tonymess rated it it was ok

In 2013 I reviewed “the briefcase” by Kawakami, which was later to be called “Strange Weather in Tokyo” and was longlisted for the 2014 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, under the latter title, it had also been shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2013. That work was a female narrator, first person, exploring loneliness, love and emptiness.

“Manazuru” is six years older than “the briefcase” however the themes are very similar. We have a first person female narrator, who is a single mo ...more

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Aug 12, 2014 Semnebune rated it it was amazing

E destul de dificil să scrii pozitiv despre Manazuru, mai ales după ce citești alți autori japonezi contemporani. Dacă Haruki Murakami sau Kobo Abe pot fără probleme să fie incluși în zona champions league a literaturii, nu același lucru se poate spune și despre Hiromi Kawakami.

Manazuru ne vorbește despre o femeie de 45 de ani care locuiește împreună cu mama și cu fiica sa, Momo. Toată povestea este o pendulare între trecut și prezent, între banalul cotidian și imaginar. Trecerea de la o dimensi ...more

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Nov 24, 2015 Isa-janis rated it liked it · review of another edition

Tiene fragmentos que me han encantado y fragmentos que me han parecido muy artificiales. Todo el rollo paranoico de la protagonista me parece muy "pegote", como si la autora buscara crear algo raro solo porqué sí. Los sentimientos me han parecido algo exagerados.
Hay escenas preciosas que llegan muy adentro. Pero eso no salva lo malo.

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Mar 12, 2016 George Christie rated it really liked it

Admit I didn't so much as read this book as swallow it--loved it from the get-go and couldn't stop. it was a little out there, and the difficulty in figuring out real from unreal was disconcerting, but that was part of the appeal.

I particularly liked the interplay among the three generations of women--maybe a bit forced at times, but felt genuine--and how to translate a culturally rich social interaction can be tricky, so I find it best to assume some of the forcing comes from trying to express ...more

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Oct 12, 2014 Annett rated it liked it · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 12, 2015 Clau added it

Shelves: abandoned

I loved The Briefcase, by this author. Well, Manazuru starts from an irrational premise and I think I am at fault here: I cannot build anything on an irrational premise. That premise is the disappearance of her beloved husband, who one beautiful morning..well, disappears, abandoning her and their little girl. I have sought to read this book precisely because I was looking for female authors dealing with the hardships encountered by single mothers, but I could not go on. I may have a limited mind I loved The Briefcase, by this author. Well, Manazuru starts from an irrational premise and I think I am at fault here: I cannot build anything on an irrational premise. That premise is the disappearance of her beloved husband, who one beautiful morning..well, disappears, abandoning her and their little girl. I have sought to read this book precisely because I was looking for female authors dealing with the hardships encountered by single mothers, but I could not go on. I may have a limited mind, but if your beloved one disappeared without a trace or a note, wouldn't you first go to hospitals and to the police, in case something terrible has happened to him? No trace of that in the book. The man simply vanishes, and his loving wife is left in tears, but the author makes no suggestion of her ever making an effort to find him. What if he got drunk and fell into a drain?...just saying. OK, maybe her resort to the authorities and subsequent inquiries are not shown as being too "prosaic" (although we never know if he was murdered, left her for another woman, had a car accident etc.), let's assume she did go to the police and no one was able to tell her anything. But the man also worked in that city. She could have gone to his place of work. And, if I remember corectly, his father also lived nearby. They didn't keep in touch, but in this case, he could have been of some help...

OK, so let me repeat myself once more: she is not shown as going to the police, to his workplace, to his father. She takes this disappearance for granted and "suffers" for 12 years, when some fugitive impressions lead her to a seaside town, causing the reader to believe that he may have made arrangements to depart from Manazuru by sea. I still cannot feel for anyone involved, though. Possibly because I have a little girl, too, and I cannot buy into the whole concept of "having feelings" for a father who, distressed by his new status, as I think was the case here, abandons his little girl like that out of the blue and never inquires about her again or helps her in any way, for that matter. It is a premise that, for me, is irrational, I could not take this disappearance for granted and assume that that was the starting point of a novel..But the style was interesting, as always with Hiromi. Maybe some day I will be able to finish it, who knows.. ...more

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Jan 15, 2015 Carola rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned, japanese-literature, read-in-dutch, 3-stars, 2015

I just did not care about anything in this book. The story was one that doesn't really interest me in the first place, to be quite honest - a husband who disappears one day, a mother left behind with her child, trying to figure out the reason her husband left - but if done well it will even touch my cold cold heart. No, I am just kidding about that cold heart; while I am not the most sensitive person, it's not difficult for me to relate to or at least feel sympathy for characters in books. So im ...more

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Feb 21, 2016 M rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: translations-asia, fiction-publ-2000-onward, translated-from-japanese

Public library copy

Rei is a woman whose husband disappeared without a trace several years ago. Rei has tried to make a life for herself and her daughter, Momo, who was a young child when the man disappeared. Rei and Momo, now a somewhat sullen teenager, live with Rei's mother. The novel is in the first person singular with Rei as the narrator. It is not clear if Rei is relating memories, dreams, or hallucinations.

Rei is continually drawn to the seaside town Manazuru where she thinks she will exp ...more

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Feb 20, 2014 Simona rated it liked it · review of another edition

Rating: 3.5/5

Mi-a plăcut descrierea acestei cărţi şi, întrucât este scrisă de un autor japonez, m-am decis să o citesc. Pentru cei care au citit/au văzut filmul The curious case of Benjamin Button pot să îi anunţ că această carte include anumite elemente asemănătoare.

Povestea îl are în prim plan pe Taura, un bărbat îm vârsta de 48 de ani, care, în urma unui accident ajunge la spital. Elementele fantastice se fac prezente încă de la început, Taura trezindu-se ca dintr-un vis cu o premoniţie de zi Rating: 3.5/5

Mi-a plăcut descrierea acestei cărţi şi, întrucât este scrisă de un autor japonez, m-am decis să o citesc. Pentru cei care au citit/au văzut filmul The curious case of Benjamin Button pot să îi anunţ că această carte include anumite elemente asemănătoare.

Povestea îl are în prim plan pe Taura, un bărbat îm vârsta de 48 de ani, care, în urma unui accident ajunge la spital. Elementele fantastice se fac prezente încă de la început, Taura trezindu-se ca dintr-un vis cu o premoniţie de zile mari: un accident care chiar se petrece la scurt timp după ce Taura îl "trăieşte" parcă pe pielea sa.

Datorită numărului mare de accidentaţi, bărbatul este mutat în alt salon alături de o altă femeie. Autorul prezintă emoţiile şi gândurile personajului care este pus într-o situaţie oarecum stânjenitoare. Împărţirea salonului cu o femeie necunoscută îl face pe Taura să aibă tot felul de gânduri referitoare în principal la vârsta colegei de cameră.

După despărţirea lui Taura de Mutsko, femeia necunoscută lui, bărbatul încearcă să îşi continue viaţa chiar dacă de multe ori gândul îi zboară la cea pe care a cunoscut-o doar pentru o seară.
De-a lungul poveştii, Mutsuko îşi face apariţia de mai multe ori în viaţa lui Taura însă aceasta îl surprinde de fiecare dată întrucât...este mult mai tânătă!
Cu toate că Taura are deja o familie, acesta încearcă să se regăsească în tinereţea şi frumuseţea lui Mutsuko.

Am apreciat foarte mult ideea acestei cărţi, fiind un subiect bine abordat de autor însă, din motive personale, a trebuit să scad din notă întrucât am considerat anumite scene nu prea potrivite. Chiar dacă am înţeles că între cei doi este o relaţie strânsă şi fantastică în acelaşi timp, scenele de apropiere ale acestora, mai ales în momentele când Matsuko este mai tânără, mi s-au părut deplasate. Pe cât de interesantă era povestea pe atât de ciudate mi s-a părut momentele când autorul introducea aceste scene.

Nu am înţeles legătura premoniţiei lui Taura cu restul poveştii însă, fiind o carte cu elemente fantastice presupun că acesta era şi scopul autorului.

Finalul este unul oarecum previzibil. Este bine lucrat şi lasă cititorul cu unele întrebări fără de răspuns, întrebări formate încă din primele capitole ale cărţii.

Nu voi da mai multe detalii despre ceea ce se întâmplă însă pot spune că Taichi Yamada oferă ceva diferit de lecturat, o carte ciudată dar interesantă în acelaşi timp, o carte care pune accent pe problema întineririi, a fricii de moarte.

Citate:

"Am mânguiat-o pe păr.
Avea părul negru şi strălucitor, iar fiecare fir în parte părea că palpita de viaţă. Dar oare cum arăta părul meu, în comparaţie cu al ei? Părul meu, despre care în tinereţe se spunea că avea firul tare, îşi pierduse acum vigoarea şi era moale, cu câteva fire albe prin el."

"Am prins frunza uscată cu vârful degetelor, ca să nu-mi scape. În lumina dimineţii, frunza fremăta, răsucindu-se în aer. Nu se poate. Nu se poate să pleci. Cu vârfurile degetelor de la cealaltă mână am mângâiat frunza care se zbătea, ca pentru a-i aduce o consolare. În timp ce o mângâiam, m-au năpădit lacrimile."

...more

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Jan 05, 2014 Natira rated it it was ok · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. 2,5
Rätselhaft. Es fällt mir schwer, mir einen Reim daraus zu machen. Da ich gleich meinen Gedanken zum Inhalt und der "Auflösung" freien Lauf lasse, sollte wirklich jeder, das das Buch noch nicht kennt, NICHT WEITERLESEN.

..........

Die Protagonistin Kei erscheint mir mit Schuld beladen und suizidgefährdet und ich glaube, es hängt mit früheren Ereignissen in Manazuru zusammen. Ich vermutete ca. ab Seite 114 (wenn Kei die Gruppe Männer fantasiert), dass Kei etwas mit Reis Verschwinden zu tun hat. ...more

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Mar 20, 2013 Ramona Alexis rated it liked it

It was a fine, spiritual read. I liked it.

Sotul lui Kei a disparut in urma cu 12 ani, lasand-o pe aceasta singura, cu o multime de intrebari fara raspuns, si cu o fetita de 3 ani, care are mare nevoie de ea si de prezenta ei. Kei isi petrece acesti 12 ani ca mergand prin ceata, numai existenta fiicei sale ajutand-o sa treaca mai usor peste disparitia sotului sau. Nu-si aminteste multe despre disparitia lui Rei, mintea ei blocand cumva acele amintiri. Ii lipseste fiinta lui, si continua sa se int It was a fine, spiritual read. I liked it.

Sotul lui Kei a disparut in urma cu 12 ani, lasand-o pe aceasta singura, cu o multime de intrebari fara raspuns, si cu o fetita de 3 ani, care are mare nevoie de ea si de prezenta ei. Kei isi petrece acesti 12 ani ca mergand prin ceata, numai existenta fiicei sale ajutand-o sa treaca mai usor peste disparitia sotului sau. Nu-si aminteste multe despre disparitia lui Rei, mintea ei blocand cumva acele amintiri. Ii lipseste fiinta lui, si continua sa se intrebe ce s-ar fi putut intampla. A murit? A plecat cu o alta femeie? A decis sa plece departe, sa fuga de responsabilitatile familiale?
Nimic nu pare sa indice adevarul, insa in urma unui impuls de moment, Kei ajunge in Manazuru, o localitate situata chiar langa mare, si cumva, acest loc o transporta in trecut, pe vremea cand Rei era langa ea.
Numai acolo, acompaniata de valurile marii si de solitudinea locului, reuseste sa mediteze la adevaratele motive pentru care Rei a disparut, si ca in sfarsit sa lase aceasta iubire sa plece. Iar facand asta, Kei parca trece prin niste experiente de decorporalizare, insotita de spiritele vazduhului, care ii devin aliati in cautarea tuturor raspunsurilor.

Am citit Manazuru in mult mai mult timp decat ma asteptam, asta din cauza ca m-am lasat purtata de atmosfera cartii si de toate sentimentele pe care povestea lui Kei mi le-a creat. Mi-a placut, a fost o lectura extrem de profunda, chiar spirituala, si desi nu pot spune ca este cea mai alerta carte, m-a tinut cu sufletul la gura, dorind sa aflu si eu, odata cu Kei, misterele din jurul sotului sau.

De multe ori m-am intrebat ce as face daca m-as afla in situatia ei. Avand in grija un copil cand nici macar de propriul corp nu sunt in stare sa am grija, sa ma descurc singura cu toate greutatile, si dupa atatia ani, inca sa fiu mistuita de iubirea pe care i-o port sotului de mult disparut, traind intr-un fel de bucla temporala. Am cazut de acord ca nu e usor, cum insasi Kei demonstreaza, si prin asta se poate spune despre ea ca e o femeie puternica.

Stilul de scriere al lui Hiromi m-a fascinat, la fel si constructia romanului. Atat de simplu si totusi atat de sugestiv! Mi-a adus aminte putin de simbolism(ca tot il studiez la scoala), dar unul adaptat unui roman. Poti gasi atatea simboluri in romanul ei, si atatea semnificatii, atatea sensuri ascunse in spatele unor cifre...
De exemplu, am intalnit de mai multe ori numarul 12(doisprezece ani, doisprezece cocori zburand, douasprezece zmeie, etc. ) iar cautand si afland simbolistica acestui numar, mi s-a parut ca totul are sens si ca numai semnificatiile din spatele acestui numar ar putea rezuma toate incercarile prin care Kei trebuie sa treaca. Kawakami intr-adevar e un geniu, nu degeaba a luat atatea premii importante(Manazuru a fost chiar premiat de Ministerul Educatiei). :D
''Doisprezece reprezinta o eliberare a sufletului si a trupului,viata spirituala, sacrificiu sau incercare si este un principiu masculin in involutie. Astfel nu mai apartii pamantului, trupul iti este spiritualizat, ai devenit asemenea spiritelor care populeaza vazduhul... A douasprezecea cale este numita si Inteligenta Luminii pentru ca ea este imaginea maretiei. Se spune ca de la ea provin viziunile celor ce vad aparitii.'' (dintr-un studiu de simbolistica)

Cei care au citit cartea pot confirma ca are sens, in sfarsit :D, mai ales referitor la cuvantul "aparitii''. :D

Va recomand aceasta carte, daca doriti o lectura mai profunda, care sa va si ''rascoleasca'' putin. :D Sunt curioasa de parerile voastre, daca le impartasim sau daca ne aflam la polul opus. ...more

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Jan 05, 2015 Cathryn rated it liked it

Hmm, I'm still struggling to compile my thoughts about this book. I didn't dislike it, but...

The writing style is lovely, but quite often I found myself a bit bored by the narrative, and I never really warmed to the main character.

I loved Strange Weather in Tokyo, but I guess this one just wasn't for me.

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Apr 26, 2015 Chelsea rated it liked it · review of another edition

This is probably more like a 3.5 stars for me. I read the whole book during the April 25th Dewey's 24-Hour Read-a-Thon, which was awesome! I really did enjoy this book, but the straight-forward style of the prose took me a while to get into and I wanted the ending to be just the tiniest bit more satisfying.

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Nov 09, 2012 Shadan rated it really liked it

This book was translated from Japanese to English so it had some quirkiness to the language, but I enjoyed reading it. The narrator is a woman whose husband mysteriously disappeared 12 years ago, and she now lives with her daughter and mother. She's also having an affair with another man. Relationships within families are focused on, but there is an eeriness to parts of it...
Kei travels to a seaside town called Manazuru from Tokyo, and is followed by ghosts. They lead her to discovering places t ...more

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Feb 02, 2016 jennifer rated it liked it

Shelves: kindle

Indifferent skewing towards positive. Some of the prose/interior thought was very lovely but the plot was pretty uncompelling. The narrator could've napped in her living room most of the time and led us on the same depth of experience. The three generation tension between daughterhood / motherhood was the most novel aspect here for me.

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Aug 02, 2014 Badb rated it really liked it

la literatura japonesa tiene algo especial. sus detalles, su erotismo, sus sonidos y sus olores.
una historia de un amor y una pasión no olvidada que no permite avanzar hasta que se cierra esa puerta.

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Mar 21, 2011 Will E rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary, japanese, asian

Maybe closer to 3.5 if it were possible.

This book definitely won't be for everyone. It has a very unique writing style and a meandering (at times almost non-existent) plot, due to the importance of memory as a theme. But it also pleasantly atmospheric (and I'm not much of a fan of "ghost" stories, so this book had that going against it for me), and when that writing style finally *clicks* the prose is really quite moving. I found that it picked up a bit more from the halfway point to the end, b ...more

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May 06, 2012 Andrea rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: japan

Difficult to read, difficult to abandon. Dreamy,'blurry edges,' her real life with daughter and mother, lover, and visits to manazuru at the sea. Here she interacts with ghosts and with them, visits an alternate reality. Kei is on a journey to find something, her dead husband perhaps, to let him go. Like other Japanese authors I've read lately, the story line meanders as memories do mixed in with real life. Sometimes annoying to a reader like me who usually races through plot lines. Here, I had ...more

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Apr 22, 2015 Jacob Andrewartha rated it it was ok

Engaging to read from start to finish, but it's kind of like y'know a big long stream of consciousness moment with no real depth to really justify it's meandering.

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May 22, 2016 Opheliac rated it it was ok · review of another edition

It bored me to tears. If it featured one more Manazuru visit or another Momo or Rei cheesy description, I would had suffered death by boredom.

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Jun 10, 2012 Erik3003 rated it really liked it

Shelves: jpn, read-2012

A story about a woman who's coming to terms with her daughter who is growing up and becoming independent and the disappearance of her husband, 12 years before. She takes trips to the small coastal town Manazuru. Meanwhile she sees entities she calles 'followers'...

The book is a typical Japanese 'ghost story', not creepy but melancholic. It is very reminiscent of Strangers (Taichi Yamada), Be with you (Takuji Ichikawa) and of course Murakami (disapearing spouse!). Because of the trips to the coas ...more

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Feb 27, 2016 Aurora Shele rated it really liked it

This was a strange read. I kept reading, stopping and getting back to it again and again. I read half of the book in 2 and a half months and the other half in a day. The strange thing about this book is that you have to have the right state of mind and spirit to read it. I've been a bit sad lately so this book become like a friend, always there and sometimes hard to read. But when I decided to get out of this feeling, I decided to finish this book as well. It ended on a happy and optimistic tone ...more

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About Hiromi Kawakami

Kawakami Hiromi (川上弘美 Kawakami Hiromi) born April 1, 1958, is a Japanese writer known for her off-beat fiction.

Born in Tokyo, Kawakami graduated from Ochanomizu Women's College in 1980. She made her debut as "Yamada Hiromi" in NW-SF No. 16, edited by Yamano Koichi and Yamada Kazuko, in 1980 with the story So-shimoku ("Diptera"), and also helped edit some early issues of NW-SF in the 1970s. She re ...more

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