A review by thewindupreaderchronicle
Hardboiled & Hard Luck by Banana Yoshimoto

emotional hopeful reflective sad

4.0

 

[hardboiled & hard luck - banana yashimoto] 

 

stars: ⭑⭑⭑⭑ 

 

“but before long, i realized that she saw things differently. or rather, some part of me realized it, and i kept pretending i hadn’t noticed. i felt horrible about what i had done. she was still there inside me now, just as she always was: a life put on hold, a memory i didn’t know how to handle.” 

 

it’s about love, loss, memory. ‘hardboiled and hard luck’ is a book made by two separate stories that walk you through the process of accepting the death of a loved one. 

 

in the first one, ‘hardboiled’, yoshimoto writes about a woman that is on a hike when suddenly surreal things start to happen. the story follows in a hotel, where  those surreal things happen and where the story fully develops and we get to know what had happened to that woman. lately i’ve been really into human stories, about how we, as persons, deal with different life situations. the author not only does this with an exquisite writing style, but also with a refined use of magical realism elements. 

 

the second story, ‘hard luck’, evolves around a woman whose sister (whom she adored) suddenly was left in a coma. in such a difficult situation, a beautiful love story blossoms with the brother of her sister’s fiancée. i love how yoshimoto writes, that’s a fact, and this story, even it touches common topics with the first one, has a completely different vibe. 

 

it’s really nice to get two different beautifully written in one book. in such a small amount of pages, banana yoshimoto is able to write a book that combines, i quote the edition i read, “delicate prose with unconventional characters”. 

 

m. 🌸