Ratings10
Average rating3.6
"A beautiful translation . . . Yoshimoto deploys a magically Japanese light touch to emotionally and existentially tough subject matter: domestic disarray, loneliness, identity issues, lovesickness . . . [a] nimble narrative." ―ELLE In Moshi Moshi, Yoshie’s much–loved musician father has died in a suicide pact with an unknown woman. It is only when Yoshie and her mother move to Shimokitazawa, a traditional Tokyo neighborhood of narrow streets, quirky shops, and friendly residents that they can finally start to put their painful past behind them. However, despite their attempts to move forward, Yoshie is haunted by nightmares in which her father is looking for the phone he left behind on the day he died, or on which she is trying—unsuccessfully—to call him. Is her dead father trying to communicate a message to her through these dreams? With the lightness of touch and surreal detachment that are the hallmarks of her writing, Banana Yoshimoto turns a potential tragedy into a poignant coming–of–age ghost story and a life–affirming homage to the healing powers of community, food, and family.
Reviews with the most likes.
This book was a perfect fit for my quiet mood when I started reading it (yesterday), but today I wasn't feeling it; I had to force myself to finish. LOTS of skimming is the only way I made it through. The best parts throughout were the food descriptions.
This book had a wonderful quality of pulling me into a trance. Banana Yoshimoto's writing is like a soft ephemeral melody. It has the Japanese attention to details, and cherishes the mundane. Little encounters, good food, the comfort in rituals. There's not a lot of plot, a daughter and her mother grieve for a recently passed father. They move to a new part of town, and try in their own ways to reinvent themselves. This is also a love story about Shimokitazawa, the neighborhood in Tokyo they move to. By exploring the local shops and restaurants, by establishing new patterns, they learn about each other, and slowly heal.
That was what a town was made of.I could sense the daily movements and patterns of people i hadn't even known about few years ago coming in and out of this town like breath. I wasn't alone. There were other people, people I didn't know, coming in and out of this town, too, the same way, and all of that was how a town was made.
Featured Prompt
2,853 booksWhen you think back on every book you've ever read, what are some of your favorites? These can be from any time of your life – books that resonated with you as a kid, ones that shaped your personal...