Tag Archives: Japanese Lit

A Pale View of Hills-Kazuo Ishiguro

Published: 1982 (Faber and Faber) Summary: A Pale View of Hills is a haunting novel about the lengths at which our subconscious will go to unburden ourselves from the miseries of life. Set in Nagasaki, author Kazuo Ishiguro’s birthplace, the author explores the emotional craters which line the city after the atomic bombing of August 9, 1945. BlurringContinue reading “A Pale View of Hills-Kazuo Ishiguro”

Kitchen/Moonlight Shadow-Banana Yoshimoto

Published: 1988 (MK) Setting: 1980’s Tokyo Summary: Banana Yoshimoto’s first novel, Kitchen, and her novella, Moonlight Shadow, both deal with how lose makes us examine our distance to those we care about. Mikage, the protagonist in Kitchen, lives in a tiny world filled with pots, pans, couches, and plants. What she lacks is genuine connection to others afterContinue reading “Kitchen/Moonlight Shadow-Banana Yoshimoto”