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Hardboiled & Hard Luck by Banana Yoshimoto
“I felt as if this place I had come to was nowhere. As if I no longer had a home to return to. That road I had been on didn’t lead anywhere, this trip would never end—it seemed to me as if next morning would never arrive.” Banana Yoshimoto is at her whimsical best in…
1990s, 1st pov, 3.5 STARS, Adult, ハードボイルド／ハードラック, Banana Yoshimoto, collection of short stories, Contemporary, DEATH, dreamlike quality, Dreams, existentialism, f/f, favourite authors, female authors, forgiveness, ghosts/spirits, GRIEF, heartbreak/breakups, hotel, illness, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, MAGICAL REALISM, melancholy, MEMORY, navel gazing, no plot just vibes, published in 1999, queer, read in 2023, right person wrong time, sapphic, short stories, SISTERS, SLICE OF LIFE, suicide, surreal, TRANSLATED FICTION, unnamed narrator, uplifting reads -
Amrita by Banana Yoshimoto
Over the last couple of years, I have made slow but steady progress reading my way through Banana Yoshimoto’s oeuvre. Amrita marks the thirteenth work that I have read by her and, as in many ways, it exhibits many textbook Yoshimoto traits: an atypical family unity, an irreverently optimistic tone (regardless of the subject matter),…
1990s, 1st pov, 3 STARS, abuse, Adult, adulthood, amnesia, Amrita, アムリタ, Banana Yoshimoto, celebrities, Contemporary, existentialism, female authors, GRIEF, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, KIDS WITH POWERS, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, MAGICAL REALISM, MEMORY, mumblecore, navel gazing, no plot just vibes, POWERS, published in 1994, read in 2022, ROMANCE, siblings, SLICE OF LIFE, slow pacing, surreal, TRANSLATED FICTION -
Dead-End Memories: Stories by Banana Yoshimoto
“And yet, when I traveled to other cities, I always found that a view without a river was of no interest to me at all. Perhaps that was because the inherent stillness of my nature made me crave the sight of things that moved.” Whenever I am in a reading slump or going through a…
1st pov, 2000s, 3 STARS, Adult, Banana Yoshimoto, collection of short stories, Contemporary, Dead-End Memories, Dead-End Memories: Stories, dreamlike quality, Dreams, female authors, ghosts/spirits, GRIEF, heartbreak/breakups, incest-y, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, loneliness, Longing, melancholy, MEMORY, nature, navel gazing, nostalgic reads, published in 2003, read in 2022, short stories, SLICE OF LIFE, surreal -
N.P. by Banana Yoshimoto
N.P. is textbook Banana Yoshimoto: we have a cheerful, occasionally off-beat, young woman, as our narrator, Daddy Issues, sucide(s), a bizarre love story, and… incest?! I will say that N.P. does seem to attempt to include a mystery subplot (which doesn’t really go anywhere but still…). In this novel a writer published a collection of…
1990s, 1st pov, 3 STARS, Adult, Banana Yoshimoto, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, books about books, books about writers, Contemporary, DEATH, drama, female authors, GRIEF, incest, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, loneliness, Longing, My reviews, N.P., navel gazing, published in 1990, queer undercurrents, read in 2021, reading, SLICE OF LIFE, suicide, surreal, TRANSLATED FICTION, unrequited love -
海のふた [Umi no futa] by Banana Yoshimoto
海のふた (The Sea’s Lid?) is very much a typical Banana Yoshimoto novel. We have the quintessentially Yoshimoto-esque narrator (usually a quiet young woman who is grieving someone or longing for something), a slice-of-life storyline and a small-town setting. This novel takes place during the summer months and Mari has just moved back to her hometown…
1st pov, 2000s, 3.5 STARS, Adult, Banana Yoshimoto, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, coming of age, Contemporary, favourite authors, female authors, female friendships, friendships, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, loneliness, melancholy, My reviews, navel gazing, published in 2004, re-reads, READ IN 2019, reading, sea, SLICE OF LIFE, SMALL TOWN, The Sea’s Lid, TRANSLATED FICTION, Umi No Futa, 海のふた -
Asleep by Banana Yoshimoto
“That feeling of security, that sweetness, that pain, that gentleness. I felt sure that every time I saw the green of the trees in my garden awash in light from the street, I’d be struck by a sudden flicker of remembrance—the tail of that soft melody—and I’d chase along behind it, as if sniffing my…
1980s, 1st pov, 3.5 STARS, Banana Yoshimoto, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, collection of short stories, DEATH, Dreams, f/f side, favourite authors, female authors, GRIEF, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, lgbtq+, love triangle, MAGICAL REALISM, My reviews, nostalgic reads, published in 1989, read in 2021, reading, restrained prose, short stories, summer reads, TRANSLATED FICTION, uplifting reads -
Lizard by Banana Yoshimoto
I have noticed that when I review a novel or novella Yoshimoto I always describe them as being ‘quintessentially’ Yoshimoto. The reason why is that every time I read something by her, I know, without a doubt, that what I am reading is indeed a work of Yoshimoto. Her breezy style and her slice of…
1990s, 3 STARS, affairs, Banana Yoshimoto, bi side characters, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, collection of short stories, Contemporary, favourite authors, female authors, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, lgbtq+ side, Lizard, MAGICAL REALISM, mumblecore, My reviews, published in 1993, read in 2021, reading, restrained prose, short stories, SLICE OF LIFE, surreal, TRANSLATED FICTION, weird -
Moshi Moshi by Banana Yoshimoto
There is something idiosyncratic about Yoshimoto’s novels. Every time I read something of hers I feel almost comforted by how familiar it all is. Her narrators sound very much like the same person: they are young women prone to navel-gazing yet attuned to their environment (especially nature or their hometown). Moshi Moshi follows Yoshie after…
1st pov, 2000s, 2010s, 3 STARS, affairs, age gap, Banana Yoshimoto, Dreams, existentialism, family, fathers & daughters, favourite authors, female authors, food & cooking, GRIEF, incest-y, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, Moshi Moshi, mothers & daughters, mumblecore, navel gazing, problematic romance, published in 2010, READ IN 2019, ROMANCE, SLICE OF LIFE, suicide, tokyo, TRANSLATED FICTION, work culture -
The Lake by Banana Yoshimoto
The Lake is narrated by the quintessential Banana Yoshimoto protagonist. While Yoshimoto’s sparse yet dreamy makes for an easy reading experience this is definitely not one of her ‘strongest’ novels.Chihiro, daughter of an ‘unconventional’ couple, moves to Tokyo in order to pursue a career graphic artist. She’s still grieving her mother’s death and spends most…
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Goodbye Tsugumi by Banana Yoshimoto — book review
“This story you’re reading contains my memories of the final visit I made to the seaside town where I passed my childhood—of my last summer at home.” Goodbye Tsugumi is the quintessence of Yoshimoto. Written in her quietly poetic prose Goodbye Tsugumi is a novel that is light on the plot. Yoshimoto introduces us to…
1980s, 1st pov, 20th century, 3 STARS, Banana Yoshimoto, coming of age, favourite authors, female authors, female friendships, friendships, Goodbye Tsugumi, growing up, illness, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, light reads, LITERARY FICTION, mumblecore, published in 1989, re-reads, read in 2020, read in 2021, read in 2022, read in Italian, tokyo, TRANSLATED FICTION
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