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What Members Thought
2018 - I remember buying Kitchen better than I remembered reading. It was my first year in Korea and my first trip to a Kyobo bookstore. I can picture the store, with its high ceilings and big crowds in my head as I type this. But when I joined Goodreads and rated it, I didn’t recall liking the story at all. Since then I’ve been to Japan, eaten a lot more Japanese food and read considerably more Japanese and Asian novels (I think perhaps Kitchen was my first). Perhaps all of that made this book
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This is a wonderful and surprising book -- a wonderful introduction to Japanese literature. My complete review is on my blog, Col Reads, at http://colreads.blogspot.com/2010/06/...
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This is my first introduction to Banana Yoshimoto, but I will definitely seek out more by this author. While I enjoyed the title story, "Kitchen," I adored the second, shorter story, "Moonlight Shadow." Both deal with the role of family, the place of grief, and the brilliance of short, ordinary moments. Like Murakami, Yoshimoto is not going to appeal to every reader. Both of these uber-famous Japanese writers manage to take ordinary bits of daily life and infuse them with longing and mystery tha
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Jul 11, 2022
Bucket
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
culture,
communication,
world-lit,
love,
1001-read-all-editions,
women,
reviewed,
literary,
friendship,
food
These two novellas were beautiful to read, and light-hearted, even with the tragedies they discuss. They are both about love, about recovery, about clinging to what matters, and finding new hope and new life.
Kitchen has some lovely characterization, and description - of food, of the apartment where Yuichi lives, and of Mikage's midnight journey to see him.
Moonlight Shadow is a little bit magical, in a melancholy way, and a beautiful story about surviving and coping with loss. ...more
Kitchen has some lovely characterization, and description - of food, of the apartment where Yuichi lives, and of Mikage's midnight journey to see him.
Moonlight Shadow is a little bit magical, in a melancholy way, and a beautiful story about surviving and coping with loss. ...more
Both novellas are good, but I particularly liked. Moonlight Shadow. I fell in love with the characters immediately. The POV and writing style is a great match for the blend of stream of consciousness, magical realism, modern psychology, and dream-like states.
Not for me. None of the characters were relatable for me. I read the first 30 pages and skimmed the rest.
Aug 01, 2010
Ines
marked it as to-read
Aug 09, 2010
Mary Beth
marked it as to-read
Nov 12, 2010
Cindy AL
marked it as to-read
May 18, 2011
Meghan
marked it as to-read
Nov 12, 2013
Celeste
marked it as to-read
Dec 21, 2013
mr. x
marked it as to-read
Sep 19, 2015
Katy
marked it as to-read
