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A review by chris_chester
Scattered All Over the Earth by Yōko Tawada
2.0
The nation of Japan has disappeared from the world entirely, leaving the main character Hiruko adrift in Scandinavia, searching for others who speak her mother tongue and finding some unusual friends along the way.
It's a fascinating premise, but I feel like it's ultimately squandered by a plot that winds up going nowhere. It's possible that something was lost in the translation, but when you consider that the veracity and nature of language is one of the core things the novel seeks to explore, that really doesn't carry much water as an excuse.
The book is also lightly transphobic, but again, not sure if that's just a translation issue or what is going on there.
It's a fascinating premise, but I feel like it's ultimately squandered by a plot that winds up going nowhere. It's possible that something was lost in the translation, but when you consider that the veracity and nature of language is one of the core things the novel seeks to explore, that really doesn't carry much water as an excuse.
The book is also lightly transphobic, but again, not sure if that's just a translation issue or what is going on there.