As touching as it is heart-wrenching, Kawakami’s second novel, Heaven, illustrates the horrors of childhood, bullying, and our fleeting attempts to love ourselves and the families that neglect us.
Kawakami toys with many facets in this relatively short novel, especially those that trouble us during our formative years, like bullying and home life. She does not shy away from the subtle desperation for love that we all possess, the unending awareness of our personal flaws, or our willingness to believe that our life and existence is worthless. Even at an age as tender as fourteen years old, Kawakami grasps that humans are miserable, selfish beings that seek out comfort through others.
The author highlights these traits through the two main characters of Heaven, Eyes and Kojima, who are outcasted by their class. The former is our narrator, a boy suffering a lazy eye and being subject to increasingly violent and cruel bullying, whilst the latter is a seemingly starving and poor girl who is left out and resented by her classmates. Through handwritten notes and tepid meet-ups, the two outcasts form a feeble bond that always feels like it is on the fringe of breaking apart.
This novel is a case study in one-sided friendships, narcissism, and how we can find solace in the worst of people. Both Eyes and Kojima have their logic, but it is clear that both are troubled and flawed. Eyes is full of self-hatred and, as many growing boys do, begins to develop a parasocial love and perversion for Kojima; yet, the girl he quietly craves the attention and affection of spends a good deal of their friendship pointing out his inadequacies, being incredibly self-interested, and constantly trying to conform Eyes to her point of view. There’s a clear imbalance and lack of depth to their relationship, even if neither character wants to acknowledge it.
It makes it hard to sympathise with both, despite their struggles, and I think that is a great quality of this novel. As a reader, we feel so apart from Eyes and Kojima, primarily because we never learn much about their past or future, just the in-the-moment tormenting and uncertainty they share. Eyes is a backward weirdo, and Kojima is a narcissistic controller, but both are just tender fourteen-year-olds that have little understanding of what friendships, love, and fairness should be. Their flaws stem from the abuse and isolation they endure, causing them to poison their own relationship as shy lovebirds, and that is seemingly more tragic than anything their bullies and troubled families put them through.
For me, Heaven strikes a perfect blend of everything. The length and complexity makes it perfect for a one-day read, and the content inside will leave you feeling vacant, disturbed, and underwhelmed — all in a questionably good way. The more you think on a character, the more you simultaneously humanise and dislike them, yet struggle to hold them accountable given that they are almost all exclusively children.
Heaven is a surprisingly brutal story about youth, friendship, and unrequited love. It manages to leave a much deeper impression than you initially expect, which is easily its best quality upon finishing it. I highly recommend you give it a read, as I rate it higher than Kawakami’s more recognised Breasts and Eggs.
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