Kitchen (original 1988; edition 1994)

3.5/5

In Kitchen Mikage, rimasta senza famiglia dopo la morte della nonna, dovrà suprerare questa assenza e le saranno di supporto un coetaneo e la sua particolare madre disposti a accoglierla in casa.
Romanzo giapponese piuttosto diverso da altri autori che ho già avuto modo di leggere, più simile, come immagini e situazioni ai manga: il concreto delle abitudini e degli stili di vita contrapposto alle riflessioni della protagonista.
Kitchen mi è piaciuto, il racconto in coda (Moonlight shadow) un po' meno, troppo buonista soprannaturale.

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In Kitchen Mikage, without any family after the death of her grandmother, will have to face this emotional void and she will be helped by a guy and his particular mother, both willing to have her in their home and family.
This japanes novel is different from the ones of other authors, it's more similar, in images and situations, to a manga: the reality of habits and lifestyles opposed to the reflections of the main character.
I liked Kitchen, the ending story (Moonlight shadow) not quite, to much sentimental paranormal . ( )

Since Yoshimoto is a new writer to me and the book is listed on the 1001-list, I expected a hard-to-read book. But, much to my surprise, it was a very quick and easy read.
That doesn't mean that I dislike the book, that it was not good. On the contrary! I liked it a lot! The main characters, though they are strange and in mourning, are likeable persons. The emotions described are very recognizeable, very real, even though they're just made of paper and ink. Both "Kitchen" stories I preferred over the Moonlight shadow, simply because of the story they told. I'm usually not so very fond of stories with supranatural elements. That is not the main reason though, that I like this story less. Despite it fitted well enough in the book, the event at the end of the book was quite predictable. When I started reading the story, I already knew what would happen and exactly that is why to me it was less powerfull. ( )

I love Kitchen. Read it, everyone. ( )

I've been hearing so much about this book--the author has won a whole bunch of awards, it appears on the [b:1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die|452208|1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die|Peter Boxall|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320483996s/452208.jpg|814053] list (which, while admittedly flawed, I have found to contain a lot of exceptional works)--but I was pretty underwhelmed. I mean, it's a fine book. There's nothing really wrong with the story. It's cute, and I enjoyed it for what it was: a brief, touching story of 3 people who are brought together by their individual losses and grief. The characters were likeable, if a bit bland, and the storyline is fairly interesting. Still, it just didn't do much for me.

This book also pushes one of my major LGBTQ-ally buttons. Eriko, a transsexual woman, is repeatedly referred to in the text as "a man". Not in an adversaries-calling-her-names way either. These are her son and closest friend referring to her. An example:

"There aren't many men who will open a car door for a woman. I think it's really great."
"Eriko raised me that way," he said, laughing. "If I didn't open the door for her, she'd get mad and refuse to get in the car."
"Even though she was a man!" I said, laughing.
"Right, right, even though she was a man."


Um, no. It's made clear in the book that she's not a drag queen, she's not a transvestite. She is not a man. It pissed me off every time I read that.

I also found the dialogue a little wooden, as in the above example. I think the translation left something to be desired.

The edition I read also included a short story, "Moonlight Shadow", which was just as meh if not moreso. Overall, disappointing. ( )

A nice little novella, understated and quietly beautiful in tone. ( )