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A review by gregtcohen
Things Remembered and Things Forgotten by Kyōko Nakajima
3.0
The subjects of shared and generational trauma - as well as of the almost illusory thin line between waking, dreaming and having passed - have fascinated me really since I read Murakami. So when I picked this up in the bookshop and saw it tackled exactly those themes, I couldn't leave without it.
The ten stories are charming in the gentle way that you may be used to from reading Japanese fiction. Characters are generally treated with a lot of sympathy despite their flaws, houses, towns, places and food are described in ways reminiscent of Murakami, and there's plenty within the stories about Japanese tradition to learn (the annual Obon festival was my favourite takeaway).
However, there's not too much subtlety in the way that the author deals with the overarching themes; it often feels like being bashed on the head with a blunt tool, rather than being drawn in with something a little more clever and incisive, which to me leaves the stories feeling a little flat and samey across the collection.
In short, I appreciate these stories for what they can tell me about Japan and being Japanese, and less for what they can say about the human condition or any particularly engaging plotlines.
The ten stories are charming in the gentle way that you may be used to from reading Japanese fiction. Characters are generally treated with a lot of sympathy despite their flaws, houses, towns, places and food are described in ways reminiscent of Murakami, and there's plenty within the stories about Japanese tradition to learn (the annual Obon festival was my favourite takeaway).
However, there's not too much subtlety in the way that the author deals with the overarching themes; it often feels like being bashed on the head with a blunt tool, rather than being drawn in with something a little more clever and incisive, which to me leaves the stories feeling a little flat and samey across the collection.
In short, I appreciate these stories for what they can tell me about Japan and being Japanese, and less for what they can say about the human condition or any particularly engaging plotlines.