Kitchen

by Banana Yoshimoto, Megan Backus (Translator), Noguchi Rika

Banana Yoshimoto's novels have made her a sensation in Japan and all over the world, and Kitchen, the dazzling English-language debut that is still her best-loved book, is an enchantingly original and deeply affecting book about mothers, love, tragedy, and the power of the kitchen and home in the lives of a pair of free-spirited young women in contemporary Japan. Mikage, the heroine of Kitchen, is an orphan raised by her grandmother, who has passed away. Grieving, she is taken in by her friend Yoichi and his mother (who was once his father), Eriko. As the three of them form an improvised family that soon weathers its own tragic losses, Yoshimoto spins a lovely, evocative tale that recalls early Marguerite Duras. Kitchen and its companion story, "Moonlight Shadow," are elegant tales whose seeming simplicity is the ruse of a writer whose voice echoes in the mind and the soul.

Genres: Fiction, Japan, Japanese Literature, Short Stories, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Asia

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 30, 1988

About the author

Banana Yoshimoto (よしもと ばなな or 吉本 ばなな) is the pen name of Mahoko Yoshimoto (吉本 真秀子), a Japanese contemporary writer. She writes her name in hiragana. (See also 吉本芭娜娜 (Chinese).)

Along with having a famous father, poet Takaaki Yoshimoto, Banana's sister, Haruno Yoiko, is a well-known cartoonist in Japan. Growing up in a liberal family, she learned the value of independence from a young age.

She graduated from Nihon University's Art College, majoring in Literature. During that time, she took the pseudonym "Banana" after her love of banana flowers, a name she recognizes as both "cute" and "purposefully androgynous."

Despite her success, Yoshimoto remains a down-to-earth and obscure figure. Whenever she appears in public she eschews make-up and dresses simply. She keeps her personal life guarded, and reveals little about her certified Rolfing practitioner, Hiroyoshi Tahata and son (born in 2003). Instead, she talks about her writing. Each day she takes half an hour to write at her computer, and she says, "I tend to feel guilty because I write these stories almost for fun."

Reviews

[dari ★]

prevod, ako to može da se uopšte nazove tako, na srpski je blago rečeno očajan i uništio mi je utisak čitanja knjige ali sve u svemu jedna jako ljudska i tužna priča s tim da je prvi deo knjige fantastičan dok je drugi deo malo šta god ali svakako 👍👍

[Olivera]

još jedna od onih knjiga za koje znam 10+ godina i tek je sada stigla na red

nije sad ništa spektakularno, ali ima odredjenu atmosferu koja je tako topla uprkos činjenici da ponajviše govori o gubitku i usamljenosti

podsetila me je malo na Almodovara

[Ksenija]

"The place I like the best in this world is the kitchen. No matter where it is, no matter what kind, if it's a kitchen, if it's a place where they make food, it's fine with me."

Već sa ovim prvim rečima sam znala da me je Banana Yoshimoto uvukla u svoj svet i da ćemo se savršeno razumeti.
Sanjive slike kuhinja, skriveni prizori koje primećuje usamljena junakinja Mikage, prelepo prikazan unutrašnji svet, bez preterivanja... Sve ovo mi je pokazalo da sam se upoznala sa neverovatno veštim piscem.

"In my grandmother's room, which hadn't changed since I was little, we would tell each other silly gossip, talk about TV stars or what had happened that day; we talked about whatever."

"Maybe all I had been hoping for was a bed in which to be able to stop thinking, just for a little while, about what happened before and what would happen in the future. I was too sad to be able to sleep in the same bed with anyone; that would only make the sadness worse. But here was a kitchen, some plants, someone sleeping in the next room, perfect quiet... this was the best."

Rekla bih da je odluka da napokon pročitam Kuhinju došla u pravom trenutku za mene, kao lek za duboku ranu, iako prethodno nisam bila preterano upoznata sa radnjom. Mada bi se ovde moglo reći da radnje preterano i nema. Ovo je meditativna priča o gubitku i pronalaženju oslonca u sred neizmerne tuge.

"People aren't overcome by situations or outside forces; defeat invades from within, I thought. I had lost my last ounce of strength. Before my eyes something was coming to an end, something I didn't want to end, but for which I lacked the energy to suffer, much less fight. There was only a leaden hopelessness in me."

Prilog ovoj usamljenosti je naravno nada - da postoji put izvan izgubljenosti i mraka.

"But if a person hasn't ever experienced true despair, she grows old never knowing how to evaluate where she is in life; never understanding what joy really is. I'm grateful for it."

sledi mali spoiler

Mikage taj tračak nade pronalazi u neobičnoj porodici Tanabe koju čine Yuichi i njegova majka Eriko. Kada je prime u svoj dom nakon što je ostala potpuno sama, počinje da se stvara nova, pronađena porodica u kojoj Mikage nalazi utehu i koja joj daje snagu da se pronađe. Iz ove povezanosti se vremenom kroz razumevanje i prihvatanje (i malo pomoći metafizičkog), iz prijateljstva tiho razvija ljubav.

"A moment before, my heart had seemed to stop. Now that feeling voiced itself in my mind: If Yuichi is with me, I need nothing else. It flashed for only an instant, but it left me extremely confused, dazzled as I was by the light given off by his eyes."

Iako pomalo zameram banalnost nekih delova romantične priče u drugoj polovini, to nije umanjilo istančanost pisanja i svih emocija kroz koje me je Banana maestralno provela u ovoj knjizi, kojoj sam sigurna da ću se vraćati.

Nakon Kuhinje tu je i Moonlight Shadow, kratka priča koja takođe govori o gubitku i preplavljujućoj usamljenosti.

"Sleeping at night was what I feared most. No - worse than that was the shock of awakening. I dreaded the deep gloom that would fall when I remembered he was gone."

Veština kojom Banana prenosi atmosferu je tako istančana - svaki dah koji se vidi na hladnom prolećnom vazuhu, nijansa svetlosti na nebu, blizina meseca, zvuk reke, sve je gotovo osetno. Ovo je prelepo oslikana borba ponovnog izbijanja na površinu.

"Yet at all costs I had to keep my hands and body and mind moving. Doing that, I hoped, albeit listlessly, would somehow, someday, lead to a breakthrough. There was no guarantee, but I would try to endure, no matter what, until it. came.
(...) But it was different this time. Without prospect in sight, day after day went by, like losing one's mind but by bit. I would repeat to myself, like a prayer: It's all right, it's all right, the day will come when you pull out of this."

"That "something" shone in the gloom with the strength of the sun itself; at a great speed, I was coming through. In a downpour of blessings, I prayed, as though it were a hymn: Let me become stronger."

[jekareads]

Mislim da ovaj roman zasluzuje i vecu ocenu od trojke, ali na mene je ostavio takav utisak.
Japanska knjizevnost me uvek fascinira i opcinjena sam njihovim stilom. Roman je prozet tugom, samocom, potragom za ljubavlju, ali samo na pocetku. Kasnije se pretapa u toplotu kuhinje, osecanja, razumevanja i ljubavi. Spisateljica ga pise jako iskreno, otvarajuci dusu.
Ono sto mi se nije dopalo u ovom delu je sto sam u nekim momentima osetila nedorecenost. Ocekivala sam vise sadrzaja, vise objasnjenja, vise zara.
Na kraju samog romana, ceka vas prica koja mu je preteca. Budi potpuno isti osecaj i nadahnuce.
Ostavicu ga da ga procitam jos jednom kada ga malo zaboravim, imam utisak da ce mi vise znaciti kasnije; za slucaj da je mozda do mene jer ga nisam u potpunosti dozivela.
Ako volite Murakamija, obavezno procitajte Kuhinju. Meni je narocito prijalo posle Murakamija jer Josimoto Banana ima mnogo razdraganiji stil i moze vas malo trgnuti. :)

[Strasna Mera]

Ravna linija.
Sveden izraz.
Emocija, nula.
Više mi se dopala priča koja je išla uz ovu novelu od nje.
Čitala sam je pre 5 dana i jedva sam se setila da sam nju čitala prošle nedelje.
Zašto je ova knjiga popularna?

[Ana]

2.5

Uh, izgleda da mi je sa japanskim piscima uvek hit or miss situacija 😬 Jako mi je teško bilo ovo da ocenim, pročitala sam jako brzo, vuklo me da čitam dalje i jako mi se dopada atmosfera, što je nešto što mi se po pravilu sviđa kod japanskih autora. Nekoliko delova koji su o depresiji i tugovanju i guranju kroz iste su jako lepo napisani i očigledno doživljeni lično po opisu istih.

Sem toga, ovo je toliko loše na toliko nivoa. Jako neuverljivi likovi, čudan stil i dijalozi na mnogim mestima, neupečatljive i pomalo dosadne naratorke (posebno u drugoj priči), jako upitan prikaz trans žena (kapiram da je verovatno revolucionaran za to vreme, ali deluje kao da osoba nije pričala sa trans ženom nikad u životu, a upušta se u ovakvo pisanje takve jedne osobe i još je čini centrom prve priče). Kao i u Norveškoj šumi Murakamijevoj npr., bilo mi je jako teško da se povežem s likovima, posebno u drugoj priči. Ne znam, sve u svemu pomalo bizarno i vrlo slabo

[Jersamlenja]

"Da. Ali, ako neko nikad nije osetio pravi očaj, ostariće a neće umeti da proceni dokle je u životu stigao i nikad neće razumeti pravu radost. Zbog toga sam zahvalna.

Kosa joj je zašuštala po ramenima. Ima mnogo dana kada ti je muka zbog svih gadnih stvari koje su ti se dogodile, kada je staza ispred tebe tako strma, da ne smeš da spustiš pogled. Iz toga čak ni ljubav ne može da te izbavi. A ipak, umotana u zapadni sumrak, ona je bila tu, zalivala biljke vitkim, otmenim rukama, usred svetlosti tako meke da je, u bistroj vodi koju je sipala mogla duga da se napravi."

[Ines Vasiljević]

,,Iskreno se nadam da će uz tebe zauvek ostati deo mene, devojčice-devojke.
Hvala ti što si mi mahnuo na odlasku."