Reviews

The Makioka Sisters by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki

jolie3467's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-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

4.0

ch_rks's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

lexcellent's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

industrial_revolution_enjoyer's review against another edition

4.0

как братья Карамазовы, только сестры Макиока

schmidtellie's review against another edition

4.0

It only took me 5 months to finish this book… i really liked it once I read 150 pages

frizzbee's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

gnomeo's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

I enjoy a book that is a family saga and whilst others have compared this to Jane Austen, I would more closely align it with Elizabeth Jane Howard.  It is set in Japan between the Great War and WW11 and whilst there is reference to war in Europe coming, it is far from a central theme. It is much more about the change in fortune of the Makioka family. The older daughter and husband are much more aligned to aristocrat values of an earlier generation and trying to maintain them as the ‘main house’ and as the book examines the characters of the younger sisters you find the values of the previous generation diminishes. So the ‘wayward’ youngest sister, Koisan, is in total juxtaposition of the standards of the oldest sister. There is an underlying tension throughout the book as you are swept into the concerns of the family to marry the 3rd sister off well. This tension continues to almost the last page. Very slow pace but, beautifully written. Gives an insight into the Japanese culture in the 1930s. Would definitely read another book by Tanizaki

mayhap's review against another edition

4.0

The obvious high-concept pitch for this book to an English-speaking audience is "the Jane Austen of pre-WWII Japan". It's not completely accurate–the similarities are evident from the beginning, but divergences swiftly accumulate–but by then you're hooked, which is the point of a high-concept pitch. That's how it worked for me, at any rate.

The ending is ambiguous, to say the least. Not only is the reader carefully shielded from any but the most oblique hints about what

Spoiler

Yukiko thinks about her husband (the anti-Mr. Darcy if there ever was one), but the whole future course of the war is basically still hanging over Japan, the Makioka sisters included

. Perhaps this reticence is the literary equivalent of Tanizaki's [b:In Praise of Shadows|34473|In Praise of Shadows|Junichiro Tanizaki|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223649004s/34473.jpg|1692361].

steffidercroc's review against another edition

4.0

das buch beschreibt eine traditionelle, reiche familie aus osaka, die extrem viel wert auf reputation legt. die zwei jüngeren schwestern sollen verheiratet werden - nichts ist wichtiger als das. außer vielleicht was der, die und der andere von der familie denkt.
diese verkrampften unglücklich machenden traditionen haben mich echt geärgert, wieso legt man sich selbst solche steine in den weg?!? trotzdem mochte ich das buch, weil ich's einfach interessant fand wie krass privilegiert und trotzdem unglücklich diese japanische familie in den 30er jahren lebt.

am bezeichnendsten war vielleicht der letzte satz im buch. es geht ständig darum wie anmutig, elegant und anspruchsvoll die frauen sind, aber am ende heißt es dann nur noch: yukiko stieg in den zug und hatte die ganze zeit durchfall. tschüüüss, danke fürs lesen!

sal_3's review against another edition

emotional funny informative sad slow-paced

3.75