Right from the very first lines this felt wrong. After struggling with the style for almost 15% of the novel, I decided to check the name of the translator and it’s not the same one who did all the other Keigo Higashino novels I have read in English. I understand that it isn’t always possible to work with the same translator but a good translation is supposed to make the reader forget she’s not reading the original work and that is simply not the case […]
Write your own ending
Last year, the estimable yesknopemaybe reviewed this book and found it arduous and almost iredeemable. But her summary of the book left me fairly curious, especially after reading The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino last year, which sounded vaguely similar. Her comparing it to Crime & Punishment didn’t hurt, considering that’s one of my favorite books. So, given what I expected based on her review, I can honestly say that I was pleasantly surprised for nine-tenths of the book. Though I did find […]
“If you remember me, I don’t care if everyone else forgets.”
Kafka on the Shore is a strange book, even by Murakami standards. This is my second reading but sadly I don’t remember what I thought about it the fist time I read it 12 years ago because back then I didn’t take notes or write reviews. All I know is that I thought it was a four-star book. Haruki Murakami has been one of my favorite writers ever since I “discovered” him almost 17 years ago. I read a review of The Elephant Vanishes in […]
The Water Trade
So this book is another audiobook that I borrowed from my library. It’s narrated by a British guy, so everything sounds better. I love love love the way he says the name of the town/district this all occurs in. I just repeat “Robongi” over and over in my head after I’m done listening. SPOILERS AHOY! Lucie Blackman was a young, tall, blonde girl from England. She lived a fairly normal life, and had a sister named Sophie, and a brother (whose name I can’t remember […]
wtaf
Ugh. I wish I didn’t have to write this review. I was so excited to read this book and had heard good things about it, but I just hated it. HATED it. The only reason it’s getting two stars instead of one is because the translator handled the prose magnificently. Too bad the story stunk. Out centers on four women who work the night shift making boxed lunches. Masako is the smart one, Yoshi is the kind one, Kuniko is the selfish one, and Yayoi […]
A Shameful Reminder
Before the war, they had names. Identities. They had neighbors, friends, teachers, classmates. But as soon as Japan rained bombs down on Pearl Harbor, everything about these people was stripped away. Only their ethnicity remained. Japanese. Traitor. Other. Nameless, they were crowded onto trains, clutching their suitcases, trying to convince themselves they’d be home again soon. They were on their best behavior in the camps, trying to convince the guards they were “good Americans.” And they waited. Julie Otsuka’s When the Emperor was Divine follows […]