Fear and Trembling (1999)

I can't believe I've not read this before - it's been sitting on my shelf for ages - and I think I've been missing out.

Young Amélie starts work as a translator at Yumimoto at the bottom rung of the corporate ladder, but as she makes a bad impression as soon as she arrives, and continues to break Japanese traditions and infuriate her superiors, she is continually demoted until she takes on the job of 'Madame Pipi' in the 44th floor toilets.

Absolutely hilarious - I was trying (and failing) to not burst out laughing and look like an idiot while reading on the bus... ( )

Amélie Nothomb was in my sights ever since I read Loving Sabotage, her autobiographical novel of childhood in China. Here's another true to life fiction concerning the adventures of a female employee named Amélie in a male-dominated Japanese company. Her work consisted of going through the fires and tribulations of each of the seven circles of hell. Full of fear and temblor, shock and shiver, but it sometimes managed to be funny as hell. ( )

قرأت آميلي للمرة الأولى في بيوغرافيا الجوع ، هذه ا​لكاتبة تعرف كيف تشدّ القارئ باسلوب الحوارات القصير​ة والذكية . .تقحم التفاصيل الكثيرة دون ان نشعر بال​
اسلوب آميلي الذي لمسته بالانتقال من قراءة بيوغرافي​ شخصية لها و رواية بشخوص مختلفة متقارب ، يتضح أنها​ تتبع نمط واحد ويمكنني الآن القول بأنّ القراءة لها​ من اجمل القراءات التي مررت بها ، عباراتها غير متك​لفة ومفرداتها جميلة وان لم تكن شعرية وفلسفية جداً.​
نقطة اخرى جذبتني للرواية، الحديث عن الكتب ، الحديث​ الذي يجبرك على جذب ورقة صغيرة ووضع العناوين التي ​
أيضاً احببت آميلي لأني وحين استغرق في القراءة تدهش​ني بعض المقاطع لدرجة اشعر معها ​
أنني كتبتها شخصياً في وقت مضى ، اعلم في اعترافي هذ​ا شيء من الثقة الكبيرة لكنّه الاحساس الذي شعرت به ​ووددت نقله ، ثم اعود للتفكير ، هل يجد من يقرأ ما ا​كتبه ذات المتعة ؟ ومتى سأكون مثل آميلي تأسر القارئ​ فلا يترك الكتاب الا بعد ساعات وقد انتهى منه.​
تركت آميلي لنا حرية الاختيار بين خاتمتين ، بعد ان ​تنتهي الرواية تعود وتنوه انها وضعت لها خاتمة اخرى ​، قد يرى البعض في هذا خللا شرعيا في الرواية ، وترد​دا من الكاتبة ، وارى فيه هدية جميلة لذوي الخيال ال​متشعب ، ولن افسد الاحداث بقول أيهما كانت سعيدة واي​
( )

Primo libro che leggo della Nothcomb e probabilmente ho sbagliato acquisto. Volevo leggere un romanzo, volevo conoscere il suo occhio di scrittrice, ma questa non è narrativa. La Northcombe ci racconta la sua prima esperienza lavorativa. Lo fa molto bene, con una scrittura agile e pulita e intelligenza acuta. Ha destato il mio interesse di sociologa, non la mia passione di lettore.

This is an (autobiographical) novella in which the author writes down what happened to her when she worked for a Japanese firm in Tokio for a year. Being Belgia, born in Japan, she knows Japanese and knows the Japanese ways of life and habits, but it seems she's in no way prepared for the one-year-experience in the firm. She starts as a help in book-keeping, but unwillingly and unconsciously she makes so many mistakes against Japanese etiquette, she soon finds herself cleaning toilets. This is a hilarious at times sharp account but also very interesting to see in which way the western culture differs from the Japanese. Also, it made me curious to read other books by Nothomb because she has a witty style that appeals to me. ( )