Skip to main content

People from My Neighbourhood by Hiromi Kawakami

 

Pocket size book

A bossy child who lives under a white cloth near a t­ree; a schoolgirl who keeps doll’s brains in a desk drawer; an old man with two shadows, one docile and one rebellious; a diplomat no one has ever seen who goes fishing at an artificial lake no one has ever heard of. These are some of the inhabitants of People From My Neighborhood. In their lives, details of the local and everyday—the lunch menu at a tiny drinking place called the Love, the color and shape of the roof of the tax office—slip into accounts of duels, prophetic dreams, revolutions, and visitations from ghosts and gods. In twenty-six “palm of the hand” stories—fictions small enough to fit in the palm of one’s hand—Hiromi Kawakami creates a universe ruled by mystery and transformation.

***

 Author : Hiromi Kawakami

Published year : 2020

Origin languange : Japanese

Genre : Short Stories, Fiction

Pages : 121

Publisher:  Granta


This is a book that made me fall in love at the first sight because of the cover. The pink shade, cherry blossoms at the front, and house illustration bring back memories of Japan. I always have good memories while in Japan, so this book has drawn me personally. The pocket-size is also one of the main attractions. It is a book we can finish during one to two hours read.  


The short stories collection is about people who live in the author's neighborhood. Each story is intertwined and creates a warm and fuzzy feeling when reading it.


The unnamed protagonist is a girl or a woman who lives in a very diverse culture and background. There, The Love cafe stood which struggle with the menu and the taste. There is a taxi driver who lives in a tenement, a family who came from America and has an American name, and there is also an unconventional story about a man who has two shadows, a day without gravitation, doll brains that kept by a girl.


There are also names repeated several times. Kanae, the protagonist's friend, Kanae's sister, the headmaster of dog school, and many more.


When reading into Kawakami's world, there is no boundary to separate between what is real and surreal. Just like Ten love of Mr. Nishino, the central story is not the protagonist, but what's happened to surround her/him. Sometimes, feel normal neighbor, or sometimes, it's outrageous.


But her forte is the beautiful prose that delivers a funny and warm feeling. She writes about our heart, our myth, and how the earth shifts slowly and clouds our mood. One story that I think is hilarious; Pigeonitis. A disease that suddenly comes to the neighbor and changes the sick person into a pigeon-like, slowly.


Yet, I don't understand some (or many?) her surreal stories. It is very peculiar that escaping my understanding, completely. It's okay though, I think many persons didn't understand also but we can enjoy the prose. 

There are 36 short stories in the book and enough to satisfy our thirst to read the renowned work of Kawakami-san! 

 

 


 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Setting Sun by Osamu Dazai

The Setting Sun  The Setting Sun Author : Osamu Dazai Published in 1947 Original Language : Japanese *** Set in the early postwar years, it probes the destructive effects of war and the transition from a feudal Japan to an industrial society. *** "Such Innocence really charms me, and I wndered if M other might not be one of the last of that kind of lady" Ketika saya secara tidak senga ja membaca No Longer Human   di rak buku Best Seller di sebuah pusat toko buku di Sh ibuya, saya tertar i k dengan judul dan Covernya yang abstra k. Setelah menye lesaikannya, dan mela kukan sedi kit riset, ternyata se tahun sebelum No Longer Human, Osamu Dazai menulis The Setting Sun -yang juga banyak mendapat pujian dan pengakuan secara Internasional. Masih membawa backgroun d sang penulis,Aristocrac y, Osamu Dazai membentuk karakter utama  yang surprisingly wanita berusia 30 tahunan bernama Kazuko. Kazuko tinggal bersama dengan Ibunya setelah mengalam...
Post a Comment
Read more

Inheritance, Seri Terakhir Tetralogi Inheritance cycles

Judul : Inheritance Penulis : Christopher Paolini Tahun : 2011 (Indonesia,2012) Publisher : Gramedia (Indonesia) Di bulan Juni 2012 ini, akhirnya Gramedia menerbitkan seri terakhir yang telah ditunggu selama lebih dari 3 tahun, Inheritance. Inheritance merupakan buku keempat dari tetralogi Inheritance Cycle yang ditulis oleh anak muda berbakat, Christoper Paolini. Tetralogi ini terdiri dari Eragon (2002), Eldest (2005), Brisingr (2008), dan Inheritance (2011,diterbitkan di Indonesia 2012). Jika kita sedikit lupa dengan cerita terakhir bagaimana ending di buku ketiga,Brisingr, pada bab pengantar akan disajikan ringkasan tiga buku yang dapat merefresh ingatan kita sampai dimana perjuangan Eragon dan Naga birunya, Saphira untun menumbangkan Galbatorix. Secara keseluruhan, Inheritance cycle mengisahkan tentang perjuangan remaja yatim piatu bernama Eragon yang ditakdirkan berperan sebagai penunggang naga betina terakhir, Saphira. Sebelum bertemu Saphira, seumur hidup Eragon h...
5 comments
Read more

Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami

Strange Weather in Tokyo Tsukiko, thirty-eight, works in an office and lives alone. One night, she happens to meet one of her former high school teachers, "Sensei," in a local bar. Tsukiko had only ever called him "Sensei" ("Teacher"). He is thirty years her senior, retired, and presumably a widower. Their relationship develops from a perfunctory acknowledgment of each other as they eat and drink alone at the bar, to a hesitant intimacy which tilts awkwardly and poignantly into love. As Tsukiko and Sensei grow to know and love one another, time's passing is marked by Kawakami's gentle hints at the changing seasons: from warm sake to chilled beer, from the buds on the trees to the blooming of the cherry blossoms. Strange Weather in Tokyo is a moving, funny, and immersive tale of modern Japan and old-fashioned romance.  **** Strange Weather in Tokyo Author : Hiromi Kawakami Translator : Allison Markin Powell Published...
Post a Comment
Read more