pick4.5 Stars • No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai follows Yozo Oba, a young man alienated from society, masking his despair with a clownish persona. Through his notebooks, we see his troubled childhood, failed relationships, addiction, and suicide attempts, reflecting his profound sense of being "inhuman." Set in early 20th-century Japan, the novel explores isolation, identity, and societal pressures, culminating in Yozo‘s tragic self-destruction.
I love these chap books. So much temptation...
https://www.strangers.press/product-page/kanata-full-set
#Japan #InTranslation #StrangersPress
bailedHey, did you know that Mike Brink is really, really smart? His traumatic brain injury makes him a puzzle savant and really, really smart.
Don‘t worry. If you haven‘t picked up that Mike is brilliant by the first chapter, the next hour and a half makes sure to inform you at least 15 more times.
When we got to the point of repeating almost an entire conversation is when I decided to bail.
pick4 Stars • A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro follows Etsuko, a Japanese widow in England, reflecting on her past in post-war Nagasaki after her daughter Keiko‘s suicide. Through unreliable memories, she recalls her friendship with Sachiko and her troubled daughter Mariko, mirroring her own struggles with motherhood and loss. The novel explores trauma, guilt, and cultural displacement in a subtle, fragmented narrative.
pickThis has Before The Coffee Gets Cold vibes, and I was finding it mildly enjoyable, and then the third of the three chapters came along and hit me in the feels.
I just stumbled across the tagged story collection while at the library. What great blurbs! Have you read this @barbarabb Seems up your alley, I think that it might appeal to you too @sarahbarnes
so-soPensive and atmospheric, Kawabata‘s last novel, left unfinished when he died. We never hear from the young woman brought to an asylum by her mother and fiancé in an attempt to cure her “body blindness,” her inability to see her lover in times of excitement. Communication through the pealing of bells. Father‘s life lost in a riding accident on a cliff. All very dramatic, almost Gothic. Trauma, memory, couples, bodies, guilt. Trans. 2017
