This book collects three novellas: The Diving Pool, Pregnancy Diary and Dormitory. In the first, a girl in love with a boy who is diving practices secret cruelty toward a younger foster child. In the second, a woman keeps a diary of her sister's pregnancy and slips something questionable into her food. In the third, a narrator remembers her cousin and a one-legged landlord. Yōko Ogawa writes in cool, quiet prose and lets small details turn disturbing.
Readers who like Japanese fiction with a faint horror and psychological suspense will find it unsettling. It is a good introduction to Ogawa's style.
Deep, inward-looking, open-ended and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Wisdom Collector. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1988
- Language
- EN
