Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - All the Lovers in the Night

I really enjoy Kawakami's writing style — I find there is something very unique to novels by Japanese authors and how they convey a sense of absolute isolation, of emotional stagnation. Kawakami particularly nails this in Fuyuko's character through her matter-of-fact, almost emotionless narration. In spite of this style, it is easy to understand that Fuyuko is actually going through intense emotional turmoil. She goes through depressive as well as dissociative episodes, and as her past trauma notably resurfaces as soon as she comes close to achieving Mitsutsuka's affection, she is rendered unable to surrender to that connection. The novel is tragic in a sense, yet powerfully liberating in others.

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edgaranjapoe's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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thewoodlandbookshelf's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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robinks's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

My first Kawakami! The story reminded me a bit of Murakami: beautiful descriptions of scenes, interesting philosophical questions, and a protagonist who is very passive. It was refreshing to have a female protagonist though, and I liked the commentary on feminism presented through Fuyuko’s interactions with and about Hijiri.

Spoiler

Fuyuko and Hijiri initially had a bit of a romantic connection, and I would’ve loved to see that fleshed out. I was a little disturbed by the final argument between Fuyuko and Hijiri and how they became friends from that, and the age gap between Fuyuko and Matsutsuka creeped me out. I was also pleased to see Fuyuko’s growth at the end, but it felt rushed, especially with the time skip that we didn’t get to see.

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kyuriiiiiii's review

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challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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risemini's review

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dark emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Content Warnings

tej_reads's review

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dark reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

From the start, I identified with Fuyuko a lot - a homebody, with few physical friends, and predictable existence. And so the realism Kawakami evokes hit hard, it was a very emotional read, you feel right there with Fuyuko; in and through her loneliness, alcoholism and depression. The melancholic tone continues till the end of the work, so it really is not a 'happy' storyline nor is it plot-driven.

Hijiri is a work friend of Fuyuko, and the friendship is one-sided in a way where Hijiri makes most of the effort to connect. Hijiri is interesting and so are most of the conversations between her and Fuyuko, Kawakami uses the characters to tackle the perception of 'middle-age' women in Japanese society, specifically the issues surrounding marriage, careers and motherhood. Kawakami does this brilliantly. However, often Hijiri does monologue where either a page or half a page is dedicated to her speech, to the point where I thought that part about celery was added just to cut through the dialogue. Hijiri is also for all her talk of 'career women' and how women do not need anything in their lives to be complete other than themselves, rather misogynistic. Hijiri judges a female colleague for luring in men and sleeping with different men, in a way I found her to be a more interesting character than Fuyuko but perhaps that's because she spoke more and we heard her opinions.

All the Lovers in the Night is beautiful work showing the fragmentation of Fuyuko Irie's life and the hope that comes with living for yourself.

Book #153 of 2022

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