plogp
If I had to be stuck reading the fiction of just one country, it would, without a doubt, be Japan. Banana Yoshimoto's short story collection, Lizard was nothing short of adventurous, witty, and insightful. The stories ranged from a mystical encounter on the Tokyo subway, a woman with a lizard tattoo, and a former prostitute getting married.
While it's very difficult to grasp the ability of an author's prose when reading a translated book, Yoshimoto must have worked hand in hand with her translator to achieve the level of description and poetry that she did. The content, however, did not disappoint. It may be argued that the eponymous story, Lizard, was the most masterful - a story about a woman with a Lizard tattoo and her lover, the first story, Newlywed, was my favourite. Newlywed is about an everyday encounter turned extraordinary - a homeless man sits down next to an unhappily married man on the subway and starts a conversation about why this married man deliberately missed his stop.
The general drift of Japanese post modern literature is echoed throughout her stories. There is an unusual lack of plot and even the character development is kept to a minimum, but never in a bad way. The reader gets to echo the story in their mind almost the same way reality would play them out were they real. All this coupled with the Japanese culture about the power of nature, it is no wonder Banana Yoshimoto has reached the level of popularity in Japan that she has.
Speedrunning that third act breakup, but damn if I don't love a dude who's head over heels and a woman who totally despises him.
Are you fucking kidding me? Kept the mayo alive and killed off the only interesting love interest?? Men writing romance subplots should be banned.
Mormon dude doesn't know how to write women and self-insert white dudes eat that shit up. What else is new?
