Category: Book Reviews
Review: South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami
An excellent display of all of Murakami’s talents, bundled nicely into a much shorter package than that of his hit novel Norwegian Wood. South of the Border, West of the Sun follows Hajime, a flawed but very honest portrayal of a man who has had plenty of luck and success across his life, yet is…
Review: Behind the Prison by Kafū Nagai
A short story about a Japanese man, one who descended from a very well-off lineage, finding himself quite at odds once he returns home to his family’s large estate in Tokyo. Unsure of how to deal with his emotions and thoughts about the current state of Japan, he writes a lengthy letter to his Excellency….
Review: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
You may notice my reoccurring fondness for Japanese fiction, and quirky novels like Convenience Store Woman are exactly why my fondness persists year upon year. Despite being a funny, not-too-serious story about an oddball woman who has dedicated herself to working part-time at a convenience store since she was eighteen, Murata is a surprisingly talented…
Review: Tokyo Express by Seichō Matsumoto
A short, riveting tale of a mystery that involves what seems to be nothing more than a tragic lover’s suicide quickly becomes quite an entrancing step-by-step deduction to the true motive behind two cyanide-filled corpses—a government worker and a waitress—turning up on a secluded beach in Hakata, Japan. Despite not expecting much, I thoroughly enjoyed…
Review: Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami
A tender, strange, and relatively short novella that explores love, age, and weirdness that forms our many life-long relationships. Following the lonesome and somewhat gloomy Tsukiko in her thirties, Strange Weather in Tokyo focuses on her deepening, almost-taboo and socially unacceptable relationship with the elderly Mr Matsumoto—nicknamed ‘Sensei’—who taught her Japanese in high school. In…
Review: A Place in the Woods by Helen Hoover
A very calming recount of a lifestyle that has continued to die out as the years go by. A Place in the Woods tells the true story of Helen and Adrian Hoover as they leave their residence in Chicago to enjoy a life in the wilderness next to Lake Superior, just after the midpoint of…
Review: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Beautiful, sombre, and touching. Often touted as Ishiguro’s most sincere and top-quality release, The Remains of the Day certainly earns that title. The story itself is unassuming, following Stevens, a long-serving butler at Darlington Hall, as he takes a short summer trip in his employer’s Ford. Despite being set in 1956, much of the story…
Review: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
A return to form, that’s one way to put it. Klara and the Sun, as of writing, is Ishiguro’s latest in a strong library of works—but it seems to have prevailed as one of his more memorable novels. Following Klara, an Artificial Friend (AF), the reader is introduced to a dystopian, near-future vision of American…
Review: King Lear by William Shakespeare
King Lear is one of Shakespeare’s most notable and tolerable works. Despite how it seems, I actually say the latter part with good intent; remaining easy for modern audiences to follow, even after centuries of cultural and lingual change. The story of King Lear is one of corruption, loyalty, and good versus evil. After the…
Review: Back Story by David Mitchell
Whilst I’m not one to indulge in the life or pasts of celebrities, it is interesting to learn about the growing pains of a successful, if ever awkward, British comedian. Mitchell’s autobiography is rather simple: it talks of his early life — childhood, school, and the troubles his parents endured — to his first foray…
