Scan barcode
A review by naomidanae
N.P. by Banana Yoshimoto
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This book has some... wild perspective on incestual relationships. I get that the message is kind of "we're all broken and flawed, not just the ones who sleep with both their father and their half brother," but I think more could have been done to paint incest as what it is, especially when it came to the father. Sui was abused from a young age, so maybe that should be a more talked about subject in the book.
Kazami didn't really do much for me as a narrator. She felt sort of floating through without doing much other than being swept down the river.
Some quotes:
"There's no better way to get to know a person than having a meal together."
"I can't imagine life without a story."
"After a period of being unable to speak those words, something changed in my head. I came to see the array of colors that lay behind words. When my sister was being nice to me, I perceived a brilliant image of pink light. My mother's words and gestures when she was teaching us English were gold... Living like that utterly convinced me of the extreme limitations of language. I was just a child then, so I had only an intuitive understanding of the degree to which one loses control of words once they are spoken or written. It was then that I first felt a deep curiosity about language, and understood it as a tool that encompasses both a single moment and eternity."
Kazami didn't really do much for me as a narrator. She felt sort of floating through without doing much other than being swept down the river.
Some quotes:
"There's no better way to get to know a person than having a meal together."
"I can't imagine life without a story."
"After a period of being unable to speak those words, something changed in my head. I came to see the array of colors that lay behind words. When my sister was being nice to me, I perceived a brilliant image of pink light. My mother's words and gestures when she was teaching us English were gold... Living like that utterly convinced me of the extreme limitations of language. I was just a child then, so I had only an intuitive understanding of the degree to which one loses control of words once they are spoken or written. It was then that I first felt a deep curiosity about language, and understood it as a tool that encompasses both a single moment and eternity."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Self harm, Suicide, and Death of parent