A review by anya_reading
Goodbye Tsugumi, by Banana Yoshimoto
3.0
I have previously enjoyed two other books by this author, Kitchen and Amrita. I read Kitchen first, and it was one of my favorite books almost instantly because of the way the author writes. Very dreamy, full of memories, and giving off vibes of warmth and tranquility.
Amrita was a little harder to get through than Kitchen and Goodbye Tsugumi, maybe because it had more pages, but I felt that Goodbye Tsugumi was also harder to get through than Kitchen. I started and stopped this book a few times, and it really began to pick up speed towards the end. The letter at the ending was all right, but the final sentences in the book put me off. I'm not sure if the English translation got the way the author wanted to end the book "right" or not, but I can't read the original, so I'm just confused on whether we're supposed to think "Ah, that crazy Tsugumi" or if there was some other meaning the author wanted us to find.
This is a story where a young woman explores her memories with her family over the last summer she is able to spend in the seaside town where she grew up. If you like sentimental stories, you may well enjoy this. Another reviewer said that there was not a lot of character development in this book, and I gave that opinion some thought. The novel is told through the girl Maria's standpoint, and she interacts mostly with her cousin Tsugumi, though there are also vignettes involving her parents and her other cousin, Yoko. All in all, I would agree with the other reviewer's comment about character development. Everyone is more or less a static character in here, unless we count Maria's father, who has finally become able to divorce his first wife and marry his mistress.
Throughout the novel, Maria gets a little older and feels like she is closer to becoming a grown up, but you also get the overwhelming feeling that she is this fully-functional adult presence already, even at the young age of 18-19, and you get the feeling that she probably won't change. There's a very constant, stable feel to her character. Likewise, Maria - the best judge of her cousin Tsugumi's character - tells us that Tsugumi's essential nature is unchangeable. This is true even though she's met a new guy this summer and it feels like a strong love, and the narrator plainly remembers how glowing and radiant her cousin became in love. Even though Tsugumi is sickly and has some hospital scares, her same, immutable character is what tells the narrator that no matter what, she will pull through all right.
In the same way, we feel that the narrator, now living in a hectic city environment with her parents and in a new chapter of her life as well (in college), may be affected by any number of events, but the good thing is that she will never change, either.
Amrita was a little harder to get through than Kitchen and Goodbye Tsugumi, maybe because it had more pages, but I felt that Goodbye Tsugumi was also harder to get through than Kitchen. I started and stopped this book a few times, and it really began to pick up speed towards the end. The letter at the ending was all right, but the final sentences in the book put me off. I'm not sure if the English translation got the way the author wanted to end the book "right" or not, but I can't read the original, so I'm just confused on whether we're supposed to think "Ah, that crazy Tsugumi" or if there was some other meaning the author wanted us to find.
This is a story where a young woman explores her memories with her family over the last summer she is able to spend in the seaside town where she grew up. If you like sentimental stories, you may well enjoy this. Another reviewer said that there was not a lot of character development in this book, and I gave that opinion some thought. The novel is told through the girl Maria's standpoint, and she interacts mostly with her cousin Tsugumi, though there are also vignettes involving her parents and her other cousin, Yoko. All in all, I would agree with the other reviewer's comment about character development. Everyone is more or less a static character in here, unless we count Maria's father, who has finally become able to divorce his first wife and marry his mistress.
Throughout the novel, Maria gets a little older and feels like she is closer to becoming a grown up, but you also get the overwhelming feeling that she is this fully-functional adult presence already, even at the young age of 18-19, and you get the feeling that she probably won't change. There's a very constant, stable feel to her character. Likewise, Maria - the best judge of her cousin Tsugumi's character - tells us that Tsugumi's essential nature is unchangeable. This is true even though she's met a new guy this summer and it feels like a strong love, and the narrator plainly remembers how glowing and radiant her cousin became in love. Even though Tsugumi is sickly and has some hospital scares, her same, immutable character is what tells the narrator that no matter what, she will pull through all right.
In the same way, we feel that the narrator, now living in a hectic city environment with her parents and in a new chapter of her life as well (in college), may be affected by any number of events, but the good thing is that she will never change, either.