Scattered All Over the Earth

I loved this book, and I think anyone interested in language in general, and Japanese in particular, would too. Tawada is from Japan, lives in Berlin, and writes books in both German and Japanese (this one was written in Japanese). I loved her take on languages, their influence on identity, and in particular national identity, when the nation in question no longer exists (here, Japan has ceased to exist and is now simply known as the “country of sushi”).

Apparently this is the first book in a trilogy, which I am very happy about - can't wait for the other two books to be written/published!

A few quotes that I found particularly memorable, or just loved enough to take note of:

“No, I'm not a Buddhist. I'm a linguist.” “Is that a religion?” “Not really, but languages can make people happy, and show them what's beyond death.”

“Yes, the idea of getting an extra identity just by learning a new language was exciting. I wasn't ashamed of being an Eskimo, but a whole life with just one identity seemed kind of dull.”

“But most native speakers are too busy to think much about language, and tend to use the same words and phrases all the time, whereas non-natives, who move back and forth between two languages, are always looking for new words and expressions — so who's more likely to have a bigger vocabulary?”

“This word natsukashii seemed to be made of mist, a mist I was wandering through with unsteady steps. In Panska, I might have said something like “memories of the past are so delicious I want to eat them” instead.”

And finally, probably the nerdiest way of saying you want to visit Japan

The premise seemed great, plot was confusing. Abrupt shifts in perspective, little explanation of what imagined to be the most interesting thought exercises presented by the premise. Possibly better read (vs audiobook).

The idea of Japan disappearing is an intriguing response to that nation's demographic crisis, the logical conclusion to the problem of a declining population. But this novel steadfastly refuses to do anything interesting with it. Plot is very much backgrounded in favour of character exploration, but I didn't find any of those characters especially engaging, and didn't really care about any of them. File under missed opportunity.