Reviews

Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami

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cow_png's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

holy fuckinf shit i love this book. i honestly think everyone should read this book, this is incredible. i have nothing bad to say, this was an amazing experience and i am like in shock with how much i am in love with this book. i had no clue what i was getting into with this book and my god, it has exceeded every exception .

Content Warnings

zoebird81's review against another edition

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3.0

Mieko Kawakami’s BREASTS AND EGGS is undoubtedly a great piece of literature that explores contemporary issues surrounding womanhood. The subject matter is specific, offering rich introspection into the various questions, obstacles, and decisions that women are faced with.

I hate to add to the noise here, but I do agree that part one is astronomically more rich, emotional, and impactful than part two. It is unsurprising to me that part one was initially published separately as its own body of work; I only wish that part two had gone go greater lengths to connect with its predecessor. Where part one is a taut, contained, tear-jerking & heart-pounding exploration of three women’s lives and how their unique problems intersect and clash, part two is simply a dialectic. It is a straightforward, clear-cut examination wherein the protagonist Natsuko interacts with a myriad of women all of whom are facing a dilemma specific to their gender and sex, and each scene is comprised of the subsequent debate that ensues surrounding the respective topic.

There are still moments of profound emotion, specifically involving Natsuko's aversion to sex in accordance with her budding romance with Aizawa. But still, I could not help but want more out if Maikiko and Midoriko, whose story arcs felt abandoned. Is the sudden loss of their narrative indicative of the arbitrarity of their earlier strife?

Japanese literature seems to often be misunderstood or even criticized for its bluntness. The translation seems to give way to lack of nuance and directness and that feels unnatural. This is the very thing that draws me to the genre— but why?

Because characters never lie, here. Not to themselves, and not to you. Kawakami possesses the brilliant skill of writing characters who are in such vivid dialogue with their own truth. How much pain could be avoided if all of us could look in the mirror and admit what it is we truly want?