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Description

Rei Hayakawa, a lonely, bulimic freelance writer with a drinking problem, wanders into a convenience store. She's swaddled in her coat and scarf, while her thoughts - of alienation, of hunger, of the need for gin and white wine - drift in via stream-of-consciousness. A trucker named Okabe walks in, deliberately grazes her behind, and at the same time, Rei's cell phone, set on vibrate, goes off over her heart. Rei impulsively gets into Okabe's truck with him - and stays. Suddenly she finds show more herself embarking on a road journey across the wintry landscape of Japan with a complete, and possibly dangerous, stranger. Can the physical relationship that develops between them give Rei what she needs, and can she ever free herself from her self-destructive tendencies? Both parties are wounded, guarded and distant -- can they learn to trust each other? Author Mari Akasaka brings her trademark wordplay and vivid imagery to this compelling story of an unlikely pairing set against the bleak backdrop of Japan's highways. Adapted for the screen in 2003,Vibrator has also been made into a film. show less

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roulette.russe Même espoir dans l'écriture; jeunes écrivaines japonaises.

Member Reviews

5 reviews
I must agree with the one other person that has reviewed this book. I really enjoyed the writing style. Although I'm usually pretty conservative when it comes to reading books with sex scene in it, this is written in a way that wasn't.... offensive or disgusting. It's a short book, a short story but it felt like I was given a quick sneak peak into someone's life and then I was out of there again.
Much better than it sounds; not all about sex at all! (though there is some). I really liked the style in which this was written; credit to both author and translator.
Mad as a box of hammers. And no it's not about that kind of vibrator.
Je ne pourrais trouver les mots pour décrire correctement cette lecture, mais je peux dire au sujet de ce livre: «À LIRE»!!!
Pendant un instant, en lisant le quatrième de couverture, j'ai eu peur que ce soit encore un de ces romans de débauche, à la Ryu Murakami (Bleu Presque Transparent, Les bébés de la consigne automatique...) si en vogue depuis les années 1990 chez les jeunes auteurs japonais, qui ne font que décrire très graphiquement des scènes «choquantes» pour passer (ou non) des messages sur la nouvelle société japonaise.
Mais VIBRATIONS (en japonais, «Vibrator», en katakana) est très différent.
Certes, les scènes de sexualité graphique et le personnage central alcoolique et boulimique pourraient flirter avec show more une certaine vulgarité, mais la traduction habile de Corinne Atlan évite ce piège et capture la sensibilité de se roman dont le thème central selon moi reste l'espoir.
Un road movie/book sensible et dur à la fois sur une jeune femme tourmentée qui découvre SA raison d'être heureuse.
Un bijou!
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Author Information

4 Works 162 Members

Some Editions

Emmerich, Michael (Translator)

Awards and Honors

Common Knowledge

Canonical title
Vibrator
Original publication date
1999

Classifications

Genres
Fiction and Literature, General Fiction
DDC/MDS
895.636Literature & rhetoricLiteratures of other languagesLiteratures of East and Southeast AsiaJapaneseJapanese fiction2000–
LCC
PL845 .K328 .V3513Language and LiteratureLanguages and literatures of Eastern Asia, Africa, OceaniaLanguages of Eastern Asia, Africa, OceaniaJapanese language and literatureJapanese literatureIndividual authors and works
BISAC

Statistics

Members
159
Popularity
207,160
Reviews
4
Rating
(3.14)
Languages
5 — English, French, German, Russian, Spanish
Media
Paper
ISBNs
7