Hiromi Kawakami's collection is made of very short pieces, each a small portrait of one corner of a single, slightly odd neighbourhood. Residents, neighbours and passing figures appear in brief episodes where the ordinary tilts toward the uncanny, and where a gossipy tone sits beside quiet strangeness. Kawakami writes in a flat, deadpan voice, letting oddities such as odd visitors and unexplained habits pass without comment, so the neighbourhood accumulates like a map of small mysteries.
Fans of Japanese fiction that mixes domestic life with gentle surrealism will enjoy it. It also works for readers who prefer stories they can dip into in a few minutes, one block of the neighbourhood at a time.
Open-ended and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Literary Connoisseur. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2020
- Language
- EN
