Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto, 26 Jul 2008
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto was always going to find its way into my life somehow. Im a fan of Haruki Murakami, and after reading a sparkling review of Kitchen, i decided to give it a go.

The author notes in the preface that this is a story that she has always wanted to tell, and the agonising emotions laid down throughout the book are not dissimilar to the outpouring of feeling a band will display in thier first album. and although the story can be at times confusing and impulsive, Yoshimoto throws pure feeling at us with every page.

The main story revolves simply around a boy and a girl falling beautifully for eachother, however around love is a landscape littered with sadness and the death of almost everyone else they ever felt for.
Unmistakably Japanese in style, and unique in the way the words are placed upon the pages, i would recommend Kitchen to anyone who is looking for something truly original to read.

It is tough going at times, but the words flow easliy enough to make sure that the read is satisfying and will leave you looking at things around you through different eyes. A simple but nevertheless decent book.

Wow, 07 Feb 2008
It's one of those rare gems. I have searched high and low and have never found a better read.

Good and promising prose but unemotional, 14 Jan 2008
It is true that Yoshimoto expresses a well structured, easy going and promising prose in this book but I personally found her writing rather cold and lacking in empathy. The result is that this book, which is centered on two very easily moving issues (love and death), is incapable of emotionally involving the reader and leaves nothing to really remember in the long run.

Wonderful, 27 Oct 2007
I came across Banana Yoshimoto quite by accident, and what a happy accident it was. She is a modern Japanese writer who is both accessible to Western readers and yet resolutely Japanese in style and content. Her work is highly rated in Japan, and I can see why. She writes with a lyricism and sparseness that at times resembles poetry, but never shies away from the sometimes grim realities of every day life. The books are always short, novella length, but have so much in them they can stand reading and re-reading. Kitchen is my favourites of her work. The narrator, struggles to come to terms with the death of a close friend and her complex relationship with his son. The story sounds slight, but nothing could be further from the truth.

A simple modern love story, 03 Feb 2007
This is one of the most famous Japanese postmodern novels. The main plot about a modern young woman struggling with grief and trying to find love is very touching and delicately handled really. A female protagonist obsessed with kitchens sounds potentially annoying, but she is actually quite likeable, and it is obvious a lot of Yoshimoto's personal experiences and affections have gone into her character. The plot follows Mikage's attempts to reconstruct her life after it was shattered by the death of the last member of her family.

It is interesting and unique, introducing many daring and ununsual themes, such as obsession, bereavement, motherhood and transsexualism. The novel does not go into much depth in its discussions of these themes, mostly relying on a certain ineffable something to convey its message. The characters' personality deformities are treated as natural and even endearing, and the often bizarre nature of the themes is accepted as an inevitable part of life.

There is nothing really deep about this novel. One feels concern and affection for the fates of the characters, and an interest in the themes of the novel. However, it is very short - I read it in one sitting. I believe there could have been room to discuss in depth some of the interesting issues that Yoshimoto raises here, but I suppose that was neither her intention nor desire. Perhaps she wishes to say that it is pointless worrying about such things, that one should just accept them and carry on with life, because otherwise something wonderful might be missed in the present or just around the corner.

Banana Yoshimoto's Asleep is actually three novellas: "Night and Night's Travelers", "Love Songs" and "Asleep". The death of those close to the narrator is a recurring theme in the stories with sleep being used as a vehicle in which the everyday is denied whilst more important spiritual matters--coming to terms with the death, and life, of loved ones--can be achieved. In "Night and Night's Travelers" the narrator's brother has died and his lover has begun sleepwalking--her night-walks are a communion, a curse and a blessing, and a route through to understanding. In "Love Songs", a woman involved with a man whose wife is in a coma begins to sleep uncontrollably. In "Asleep" the narrator is haunted by an old rival in a love triangle--again, through sleep, and perhaps through dreams or a certain kind of sensibility, a hitherto forbidden or foreclosed communion flourishes. Yoshimoto has a wonderfully light touch and whilst the characterisation in these novellas is slight and the mysticism a little cloying, the optimism is infectious and the sadness beautifully articulated. "Asleep" is well worth staying awake for..

Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto, 26 Jul 2008
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto was always going to find its way into my life somehow. Im a fan of Haruki Murakami, and after reading a sparkling review of Kitchen, i decided to give it a go.

The author notes in the preface that this is a story that she has always wanted to tell, and the agonising emotions laid down throughout the book are not dissimilar to the outpouring of feeling a band will display in thier first album. and although the story can be at times confusing and impulsive, Yoshimoto throws pure feeling at us with every page.

The main story revolves simply around a boy and a girl falling beautifully for eachother, however around love is a landscape littered with sadness and the death of almost everyone else they ever felt for.
Unmistakably Japanese in style, and unique in the way the words are placed upon the pages, i would recommend Kitchen to anyone who is looking for something truly original to read.

It is tough going at times, but the words flow easliy enough to make sure that the read is satisfying and will leave you looking at things around you through different eyes. A simple but nevertheless decent book.

Wow, 07 Feb 2008
It's one of those rare gems. I have searched high and low and have never found a better read.

Good and promising prose but unemotional, 14 Jan 2008
It is true that Yoshimoto expresses a well structured, easy going and promising prose in this book but I personally found her writing rather cold and lacking in empathy. The result is that this book, which is centered on two very easily moving issues (love and death), is incapable of emotionally involving the reader and leaves nothing to really remember in the long run.

Wonderful, 27 Oct 2007
I came across Banana Yoshimoto quite by accident, and what a happy accident it was. She is a modern Japanese writer who is both accessible to Western readers and yet resolutely Japanese in style and content. Her work is highly rated in Japan, and I can see why. She writes with a lyricism and sparseness that at times resembles poetry, but never shies away from the sometimes grim realities of every day life. The books are always short, novella length, but have so much in them they can stand reading and re-reading. Kitchen is my favourites of her work. The narrator, struggles to come to terms with the death of a close friend and her complex relationship with his son. The story sounds slight, but nothing could be further from the truth.

A simple modern love story, 03 Feb 2007
This is one of the most famous Japanese postmodern novels. The main plot about a modern young woman struggling with grief and trying to find love is very touching and delicately handled really. A female protagonist obsessed with kitchens sounds potentially annoying, but she is actually quite likeable, and it is obvious a lot of Yoshimoto's personal experiences and affections have gone into her character. The plot follows Mikage's attempts to reconstruct her life after it was shattered by the death of the last member of her family.

It is interesting and unique, introducing many daring and ununsual themes, such as obsession, bereavement, motherhood and transsexualism. The novel does not go into much depth in its discussions of these themes, mostly relying on a certain ineffable something to convey its message. The characters' personality deformities are treated as natural and even endearing, and the often bizarre nature of the themes is accepted as an inevitable part of life.

There is nothing really deep about this novel. One feels concern and affection for the fates of the characters, and an interest in the themes of the novel. However, it is very short - I read it in one sitting. I believe there could have been room to discuss in depth some of the interesting issues that Yoshimoto raises here, but I suppose that was neither her intention nor desire. Perhaps she wishes to say that it is pointless worrying about such things, that one should just accept them and carry on with life, because otherwise something wonderful might be missed in the present or just around the corner.

Tantalising as ever, 15 Jun 2008
I love Banana Yoshimoto. Her work is delicate, subtle and thought provoking. She talks about young people in modern Japan but in a way which links her firmly in the traditions of Japanese writing. She seems preoccupied with liminal states, the half life between death and life, the hypnotic states of sleep and dreaming and the preoccupation with how a city, and indeed a life can change tempo completely between night and day.

These three novellas, included in this volume look at all these themes and give a brief window on a world of ghosts and memory that is tantalizing and enticing. Her work is quite poetic and reminds me of a stripped down Haruki Murukami in places.

I enjoyed these works, not as much as Kitchen, which is my favourite of her books, but it's still definitely worth reading, although I'd recommend one of her novels if you're new to her work, slight though they are.

Disappointingly over-rated novel, 01 Dec 2007
I came to this book with high hopes, but quickly came down to earth. The three novellas tell vaguely interesting tales,with female characters exhibiting various degrees of depression, alienation and sleep disorder symptoms - but to me, it quickly became rather dirge-like, insubstantial and unsatisfying. The air of pseudo-mysticism became irritating and the quality of the prose was not good enough to lift the book into any kind of relevance - you may have guessed - I wasn't keen on it! Not bad, but certainly not brilliant.

lullaby of love, 13 Jul 2006
The three novellas within Asleep cast an eerie penumbra around the times of shadow depicted in each. With a subtlety and economy that lulls the reader, the book is repeatedly in danger of enveloping you in the same emotional lethargy the characters find themselves in. I got a sense that each character had an incomplete sense of self that was never resolved by each story's supposed redemption; that each heroine (and the invariably failed female characters juxtaposed against her) spun the strand of meaning for her world around the male core within each tale. The conclusions grant little in the way of autonomy to the female leads, but instead find them escaping from an addiction, an addiction to the soothing blanket of depression, into a dawn illuminated by a reaffirmation of devotion. I read a latent cultural misogyny into all this that makes the book eerie in an entirely unexpected way.

Good to reflect on, 12 Mar 2003
I first discovered Banana Yoshimoto when I received this book as a gift from a friend – and I have to say that friend has certainly gone up in my estimations! Like most of Banana Yoshimotos books there is a certain dream like quality about them and although on the surface they seem to be stories about not very much dig a little deeper and you will see how deep they really go; they make a very good reflective read.

Without seeming to the author explores various aspects of human character and you can get as much out of the book as you want to put in. This particular book is nice as the three separate stories means you can pick it up and put it down quite easily however once you have read the whole book the stories fuse together to give you a larger picture.

Stepping out of the ordinary., 31 Jan 2002
Against the background of the routine, everyday life of Japanese youth Yoshimoto's writing delves into the depths of consciousness from such a unique angle and from such a refreshing viewpoint that it made this collection of novellas strangely spellbinding.
Sleep is her main theme and runs throughout the three individual stories. The sense of loss and loneliness is prevalent, as is Yoshimoto's preoccupation with the night and by association the not quite so real world. Ghosts, psychics, sleepwalkers and suicide victims all feature in this book as part of dreams or chance encounters.
The narrative appears disjointed at first, time shifts about in no clear chronological order, it is only at the end when all the pieces fit into place. The main character in each story narrates a time in their life when they, or in the case of the first story, a cousin, started slipping away, started stepping out of normal life and just slept, all the time. This 'fading away' of the characters and the reasons for their deterioration is gradually unfolded as the traumatic, tragic event that changed the lives of these once typical young people is told. By weaving the threads of surreal ideas into the fabricate of a normal context Yoshimoto produces an extremely readable and interesting book.

Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto, 26 Jul 2008
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto was always going to find its way into my life somehow. Im a fan of Haruki Murakami, and after reading a sparkling review of Kitchen, i decided to give it a go.

The author notes in the preface that this is a story that she has always wanted to tell, and the agonising emotions laid down throughout the book are not dissimilar to the outpouring of feeling a band will display in thier first album. and although the story can be at times confusing and impulsive, Yoshimoto throws pure feeling at us with every page.

The main story revolves simply around a boy and a girl falling beautifully for eachother, however around love is a landscape littered with sadness and the death of almost everyone else they ever felt for.
Unmistakably Japanese in style, and unique in the way the words are placed upon the pages, i would recommend Kitchen to anyone who is looking for something truly original to read.

It is tough going at times, but the words flow easliy enough to make sure that the read is satisfying and will leave you looking at things around you through different eyes. A simple but nevertheless decent book.

Wow, 07 Feb 2008
It's one of those rare gems. I have searched high and low and have never found a better read.

Good and promising prose but unemotional, 14 Jan 2008
It is true that Yoshimoto expresses a well structured, easy going and promising prose in this book but I personally found her writing rather cold and lacking in empathy. The result is that this book, which is centered on two very easily moving issues (love and death), is incapable of emotionally involving the reader and leaves nothing to really remember in the long run.

Wonderful, 27 Oct 2007
I came across Banana Yoshimoto quite by accident, and what a happy accident it was. She is a modern Japanese writer who is both accessible to Western readers and yet resolutely Japanese in style and content. Her work is highly rated in Japan, and I can see why. She writes with a lyricism and sparseness that at times resembles poetry, but never shies away from the sometimes grim realities of every day life. The books are always short, novella length, but have so much in them they can stand reading and re-reading. Kitchen is my favourites of her work. The narrator, struggles to come to terms with the death of a close friend and her complex relationship with his son. The story sounds slight, but nothing could be further from the truth.

A simple modern love story, 03 Feb 2007
This is one of the most famous Japanese postmodern novels. The main plot about a modern young woman struggling with grief and trying to find love is very touching and delicately handled really. A female protagonist obsessed with kitchens sounds potentially annoying, but she is actually quite likeable, and it is obvious a lot of Yoshimoto's personal experiences and affections have gone into her character. The plot follows Mikage's attempts to reconstruct her life after it was shattered by the death of the last member of her family.

It is interesting and unique, introducing many daring and ununsual themes, such as obsession, bereavement, motherhood and transsexualism. The novel does not go into much depth in its discussions of these themes, mostly relying on a certain ineffable something to convey its message. The characters' personality deformities are treated as natural and even endearing, and the often bizarre nature of the themes is accepted as an inevitable part of life.

There is nothing really deep about this novel. One feels concern and affection for the fates of the characters, and an interest in the themes of the novel. However, it is very short - I read it in one sitting. I believe there could have been room to discuss in depth some of the interesting issues that Yoshimoto raises here, but I suppose that was neither her intention nor desire. Perhaps she wishes to say that it is pointless worrying about such things, that one should just accept them and carry on with life, because otherwise something wonderful might be missed in the present or just around the corner.

Tantalising as ever, 15 Jun 2008
I love Banana Yoshimoto. Her work is delicate, subtle and thought provoking. She talks about young people in modern Japan but in a way which links her firmly in the traditions of Japanese writing. She seems preoccupied with liminal states, the half life between death and life, the hypnotic states of sleep and dreaming and the preoccupation with how a city, and indeed a life can change tempo completely between night and day.

These three novellas, included in this volume look at all these themes and give a brief window on a world of ghosts and memory that is tantalizing and enticing. Her work is quite poetic and reminds me of a stripped down Haruki Murukami in places.

I enjoyed these works, not as much as Kitchen, which is my favourite of her books, but it's still definitely worth reading, although I'd recommend one of her novels if you're new to her work, slight though they are.

Disappointingly over-rated novel, 01 Dec 2007
I came to this book with high hopes, but quickly came down to earth. The three novellas tell vaguely interesting tales,with female characters exhibiting various degrees of depression, alienation and sleep disorder symptoms - but to me, it quickly became rather dirge-like, insubstantial and unsatisfying. The air of pseudo-mysticism became irritating and the quality of the prose was not good enough to lift the book into any kind of relevance - you may have guessed - I wasn't keen on it! Not bad, but certainly not brilliant.

lullaby of love, 13 Jul 2006
The three novellas within Asleep cast an eerie penumbra around the times of shadow depicted in each. With a subtlety and economy that lulls the reader, the book is repeatedly in danger of enveloping you in the same emotional lethargy the characters find themselves in. I got a sense that each character had an incomplete sense of self that was never resolved by each story's supposed redemption; that each heroine (and the invariably failed female characters juxtaposed against her) spun the strand of meaning for her world around the male core within each tale. The conclusions grant little in the way of autonomy to the female leads, but instead find them escaping from an addiction, an addiction to the soothing blanket of depression, into a dawn illuminated by a reaffirmation of devotion. I read a latent cultural misogyny into all this that makes the book eerie in an entirely unexpected way.

Good to reflect on, 12 Mar 2003
I first discovered Banana Yoshimoto when I received this book as a gift from a friend – and I have to say that friend has certainly gone up in my estimations! Like most of Banana Yoshimotos books there is a certain dream like quality about them and although on the surface they seem to be stories about not very much dig a little deeper and you will see how deep they really go; they make a very good reflective read.

Without seeming to the author explores various aspects of human character and you can get as much out of the book as you want to put in. This particular book is nice as the three separate stories means you can pick it up and put it down quite easily however once you have read the whole book the stories fuse together to give you a larger picture.

Stepping out of the ordinary., 31 Jan 2002
Against the background of the routine, everyday life of Japanese youth Yoshimoto's writing delves into the depths of consciousness from such a unique angle and from such a refreshing viewpoint that it made this collection of novellas strangely spellbinding.
Sleep is her main theme and runs throughout the three individual stories. The sense of loss and loneliness is prevalent, as is Yoshimoto's preoccupation with the night and by association the not quite so real world. Ghosts, psychics, sleepwalkers and suicide victims all feature in this book as part of dreams or chance encounters.
The narrative appears disjointed at first, time shifts about in no clear chronological order, it is only at the end when all the pieces fit into place. The main character in each story narrates a time in their life when they, or in the case of the first story, a cousin, started slipping away, started stepping out of normal life and just slept, all the time. This 'fading away' of the characters and the reasons for their deterioration is gradually unfolded as the traumatic, tragic event that changed the lives of these once typical young people is told. By weaving the threads of surreal ideas into the fabricate of a normal context Yoshimoto produces an extremely readable and interesting book.

I loved it once, now I'm not so sure..., 09 Aug 2005
When I first read this book two years ago, I loved it, and went and bought three more by Yoshimoto, most of which I have enjoyed. However, surprised by some reviews that suggest her prose is too simple, and her characters or stories under-developed, I re-read Lizard this week.

I'm not too sure, now. These stories are a very quick and easy read, and indeed they do keep me reading. There are lovely touches that make me smile. But on this reading I did feel that there was a lack of substance, that some of the stories were a bit shallow, and didn't really explore anything much.

I like my stories to be simple, and I don't need much plot to be kept entertained. Character is more important to me than action. Even so, I didn't feel quite satisfied by my second reading.

Since my first read, I have read a lot of Haruki Murakami, and my interest in Japanese writers has grown. I find Murakami a true master of character and story, and even simply of human emotion. Perhaps it's that Yoshimoto doesn't compare favourably, or perhaps I have been swayed by negative reviews. I do hope not. Perhaps I have just changed in my response to her work over the last two years...

Delicate and bubbly, 16 Jun 2004
Like Banana's other stuff, these stories are ideal if you feel like something light but have high standards with regards to the fiction you read - they are so easy to read and short and as light as meringue, her style is modern and informal and deceptively simple, she sticks to the point and never gets bogged down in big tirades or descriptive passages, but they still truly satisfy and reach the parts that most 'easy' reads cannot. They make you think about human nature and take you out of yourself and best of all the characters, even when they have difficulties, have this sort of joy that sometimes bubbles up to the surface, triggered off by a small pleasure like enjoying a cup of tea or a conversation or something beautiful, and so they are happy stories to read and put a spring in your step. She's a bit like the literary equivalent of Macy Gray!

Lovely Japanese, 30 Jun 2003
I've read a few of Banana's books and have enjoyed all of them. I love the simplicity of her language, the stories undulate in intensity and yet deal with everyday, sometimes banal things. I especially liked Helix, the way they talked to each other, the severity of what they witnessed and the beauty that they found within it. Her Japan isn't all gadgets, skyscrapers and crowded subways, but about characters who inhabit this world and who seem separate from it, yet integral to it. I love her and her books and have made my friends read them. Highly recommended.

Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto, 26 Jul 2008
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto was always going to find its way into my life somehow. Im a fan of Haruki Murakami, and after reading a sparkling review of Kitchen, i decided to give it a go.

The author notes in the preface that this is a story that she has always wanted to tell, and the agonising emotions laid down throughout the book are not dissimilar to the outpouring of feeling a band will display in thier first album. and although the story can be at times confusing and impulsive, Yoshimoto throws pure feeling at us with every page.

The main story revolves simply around a boy and a girl falling beautifully for eachother, however around love is a landscape littered with sadness and the death of almost everyone else they ever felt for.
Unmistakably Japanese in style, and unique in the way the words are placed upon the pages, i would recommend Kitchen to anyone who is looking for something truly original to read.

It is tough going at times, but the words flow easliy enough to make sure that the read is satisfying and will leave you looking at things around you through different eyes. A simple but nevertheless decent book.

Wow, 07 Feb 2008
It's one of those rare gems. I have searched high and low and have never found a better read.

Good and promising prose but unemotional, 14 Jan 2008
It is true that Yoshimoto expresses a well structured, easy going and promising prose in this book but I personally found her writing rather cold and lacking in empathy. The result is that this book, which is centered on two very easily moving issues (love and death), is incapable of emotionally involving the reader and leaves nothing to really remember in the long run.

Wonderful, 27 Oct 2007
I came across Banana Yoshimoto quite by accident, and what a happy accident it was. She is a modern Japanese writer who is both accessible to Western readers and yet resolutely Japanese in style and content. Her work is highly rated in Japan, and I can see why. She writes with a lyricism and sparseness that at times resembles poetry, but never shies away from the sometimes grim realities of every day life. The books are always short, novella length, but have so much in them they can stand reading and re-reading. Kitchen is my favourites of her work. The narrator, struggles to come to terms with the death of a close friend and her complex relationship with his son. The story sounds slight, but nothing could be further from the truth.

A simple modern love story, 03 Feb 2007
This is one of the most famous Japanese postmodern novels. The main plot about a modern young woman struggling with grief and trying to find love is very touching and delicately handled really. A female protagonist obsessed with kitchens sounds potentially annoying, but she is actually quite likeable, and it is obvious a lot of Yoshimoto's personal experiences and affections have gone into her character. The plot follows Mikage's attempts to reconstruct her life after it was shattered by the death of the last member of her family.

It is interesting and unique, introducing many daring and ununsual themes, such as obsession, bereavement, motherhood and transsexualism. The novel does not go into much depth in its discussions of these themes, mostly relying on a certain ineffable something to convey its message. The characters' personality deformities are treated as natural and even endearing, and the often bizarre nature of the themes is accepted as an inevitable part of life.

There is nothing really deep about this novel. One feels concern and affection for the fates of the characters, and an interest in the themes of the novel. However, it is very short - I read it in one sitting. I believe there could have been room to discuss in depth some of the interesting issues that Yoshimoto raises here, but I suppose that was neither her intention nor desire. Perhaps she wishes to say that it is pointless worrying about such things, that one should just accept them and carry on with life, because otherwise something wonderful might be missed in the present or just around the corner.

Tantalising as ever, 15 Jun 2008
I love Banana Yoshimoto. Her work is delicate, subtle and thought provoking. She talks about young people in modern Japan but in a way which links her firmly in the traditions of Japanese writing. She seems preoccupied with liminal states, the half life between death and life, the hypnotic states of sleep and dreaming and the preoccupation with how a city, and indeed a life can change tempo completely between night and day.

These three novellas, included in this volume look at all these themes and give a brief window on a world of ghosts and memory that is tantalizing and enticing. Her work is quite poetic and reminds me of a stripped down Haruki Murukami in places.

I enjoyed these works, not as much as Kitchen, which is my favourite of her books, but it's still definitely worth reading, although I'd recommend one of her novels if you're new to her work, slight though they are.

Disappointingly over-rated novel, 01 Dec 2007
I came to this book with high hopes, but quickly came down to earth. The three novellas tell vaguely interesting tales,with female characters exhibiting various degrees of depression, alienation and sleep disorder symptoms - but to me, it quickly became rather dirge-like, insubstantial and unsatisfying. The air of pseudo-mysticism became irritating and the quality of the prose was not good enough to lift the book into any kind of relevance - you may have guessed - I wasn't keen on it! Not bad, but certainly not brilliant.

lullaby of love, 13 Jul 2006
The three novellas within Asleep cast an eerie penumbra around the times of shadow depicted in each. With a subtlety and economy that lulls the reader, the book is repeatedly in danger of enveloping you in the same emotional lethargy the characters find themselves in. I got a sense that each character had an incomplete sense of self that was never resolved by each story's supposed redemption; that each heroine (and the invariably failed female characters juxtaposed against her) spun the strand of meaning for her world around the male core within each tale. The conclusions grant little in the way of autonomy to the female leads, but instead find them escaping from an addiction, an addiction to the soothing blanket of depression, into a dawn illuminated by a reaffirmation of devotion. I read a latent cultural misogyny into all this that makes the book eerie in an entirely unexpected way.

Good to reflect on, 12 Mar 2003
I first discovered Banana Yoshimoto when I received this book as a gift from a friend – and I have to say that friend has certainly gone up in my estimations! Like most of Banana Yoshimotos books there is a certain dream like quality about them and although on the surface they seem to be stories about not very much dig a little deeper and you will see how deep they really go; they make a very good reflective read.

Without seeming to the author explores various aspects of human character and you can get as much out of the book as you want to put in. This particular book is nice as the three separate stories means you can pick it up and put it down quite easily however once you have read the whole book the stories fuse together to give you a larger picture.

Stepping out of the ordinary., 31 Jan 2002
Against the background of the routine, everyday life of Japanese youth Yoshimoto's writing delves into the depths of consciousness from such a unique angle and from such a refreshing viewpoint that it made this collection of novellas strangely spellbinding.
Sleep is her main theme and runs throughout the three individual stories. The sense of loss and loneliness is prevalent, as is Yoshimoto's preoccupation with the night and by association the not quite so real world. Ghosts, psychics, sleepwalkers and suicide victims all feature in this book as part of dreams or chance encounters.
The narrative appears disjointed at first, time shifts about in no clear chronological order, it is only at the end when all the pieces fit into place. The main character in each story narrates a time in their life when they, or in the case of the first story, a cousin, started slipping away, started stepping out of normal life and just slept, all the time. This 'fading away' of the characters and the reasons for their deterioration is gradually unfolded as the traumatic, tragic event that changed the lives of these once typical young people is told. By weaving the threads of surreal ideas into the fabricate of a normal context Yoshimoto produces an extremely readable and interesting book.

I loved it once, now I'm not so sure..., 09 Aug 2005
When I first read this book two years ago, I loved it, and went and bought three more by Yoshimoto, most of which I have enjoyed. However, surprised by some reviews that suggest her prose is too simple, and her characters or stories under-developed, I re-read Lizard this week.

I'm not too sure, now. These stories are a very quick and easy read, and indeed they do keep me reading. There are lovely touches that make me smile. But on this reading I did feel that there was a lack of substance, that some of the stories were a bit shallow, and didn't really explore anything much.

I like my stories to be simple, and I don't need much plot to be kept entertained. Character is more important to me than action. Even so, I didn't feel quite satisfied by my second reading.

Since my first read, I have read a lot of Haruki Murakami, and my interest in Japanese writers has grown. I find Murakami a true master of character and story, and even simply of human emotion. Perhaps it's that Yoshimoto doesn't compare favourably, or perhaps I have been swayed by negative reviews. I do hope not. Perhaps I have just changed in my response to her work over the last two years...

Delicate and bubbly, 16 Jun 2004
Like Banana's other stuff, these stories are ideal if you feel like something light but have high standards with regards to the fiction you read - they are so easy to read and short and as light as meringue, her style is modern and informal and deceptively simple, she sticks to the point and never gets bogged down in big tirades or descriptive passages, but they still truly satisfy and reach the parts that most 'easy' reads cannot. They make you think about human nature and take you out of yourself and best of all the characters, even when they have difficulties, have this sort of joy that sometimes bubbles up to the surface, triggered off by a small pleasure like enjoying a cup of tea or a conversation or something beautiful, and so they are happy stories to read and put a spring in your step. She's a bit like the literary equivalent of Macy Gray!

Lovely Japanese, 30 Jun 2003
I've read a few of Banana's books and have enjoyed all of them. I love the simplicity of her language, the stories undulate in intensity and yet deal with everyday, sometimes banal things. I especially liked Helix, the way they talked to each other, the severity of what they witnessed and the beauty that they found within it. Her Japan isn't all gadgets, skyscrapers and crowded subways, but about characters who inhabit this world and who seem separate from it, yet integral to it. I love her and her books and have made my friends read them. Highly recommended.

I loved it once, now I'm not so sure..., 09 Aug 2005
When I first read this book two years ago, I loved it, and went and bought three more by Yoshimoto, most of which I have enjoyed. However, surprised by some reviews that suggest her prose is too simple, and her characters or stories under-developed, I re-read Lizard this week.

I'm not too sure, now. These stories are a very quick and easy read, and indeed they do keep me reading. There are lovely touches that make me smile. But on this reading I did feel that there was a lack of substance, that some of the stories were a bit shallow, and didn't really explore anything much.

I like my stories to be simple, and I don't need much plot to be kept entertained. Character is more important to me than action. Even so, I didn't feel quite satisfied by my second reading.

Since my first read, I have read a lot of Haruki Murakami, and my interest in Japanese writers has grown. I find Murakami a true master of character and story, and even simply of human emotion. Perhaps it's that Yoshimoto doesn't compare favourably, or perhaps I have been swayed by negative reviews. I do hope not. Perhaps I have just changed in my response to her work over the last two years...

Delicate and bubbly, 16 Jun 2004
Like Banana's other stuff, these stories are ideal if you feel like something light but have high standards with regards to the fiction you read - they are so easy to read and short and as light as meringue, her style is modern and informal and deceptively simple, she sticks to the point and never gets bogged down in big tirades or descriptive passages, but they still truly satisfy and reach the parts that most 'easy' reads cannot. They make you think about human nature and take you out of yourself and best of all the characters, even when they have difficulties, have this sort of joy that sometimes bubbles up to the surface, triggered off by a small pleasure like enjoying a cup of tea or a conversation or something beautiful, and so they are happy stories to read and put a spring in your step. She's a bit like the literary equivalent of Macy Gray!

Lovely Japanese, 30 Jun 2003
I've read a few of Banana's books and have enjoyed all of them. I love the simplicity of her language, the stories undulate in intensity and yet deal with everyday, sometimes banal things. I especially liked Helix, the way they talked to each other, the severity of what they witnessed and the beauty that they found within it. Her Japan isn't all gadgets, skyscrapers and crowded subways, but about characters who inhabit this world and who seem separate from it, yet integral to it. I love her and her books and have made my friends read them. Highly recommended.

"Blood ties seemed unrelated to how we were living," Sakumi, the young narrator of Amrita, begins portentously. The "we" of the family comprises a strange blend--Sakumi's mother, twice married (widowed and divorced); a telepathic younger brother; a cousin; and her mother's childhood friend. Grief over the tragic death of Mayu, Sakumi's flamboyant younger sister, binds them together. But this family tragedy is not the only obstacle to happiness and wholeness for Sakumi, who loses her memory in a fall. Her troubles lead to awareness, though, as memories gradually return, leading Sakumi to discover her own identity and move towards acceptance of her sister's death.

Banana Yoshimoto's first novel, Kitchen (1991), traversed the territory of love and loss. Its fabulous success in Japan and the U.S. had to do with her distinct sensibility, a contemporary voice arising from a tradition-conscious culture. Amrita also ventures through the minefield of familial loss, but with a style less driven by the bizarre interface of tradition and pop culture.

Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto, 26 Jul 2008
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto was always going to find its way into my life somehow. Im a fan of Haruki Murakami, and after reading a sparkling review of Kitchen, i decided to give it a go.

The author notes in the preface that this is a story that she has always wanted to tell, and the agonising emotions laid down throughout the book are not dissimilar to the outpouring of feeling a band will display in thier first album. and although the story can be at times confusing and impulsive, Yoshimoto throws pure feeling at us with every page.

The main story revolves simply around a boy and a girl falling beautifully for eachother, however around love is a landscape littered with sadness and the death of almost everyone else they ever felt for.
Unmistakably Japanese in style, and unique in the way the words are placed upon the pages, i would recommend Kitchen to anyone who is looking for something truly original to read.

It is tough going at times, but the words flow easliy enough to make sure that the read is satisfying and will leave you looking at things around you through different eyes. A simple but nevertheless decent book.

Wow, 07 Feb 2008
It's one of those rare gems. I have searched high and low and have never found a better read.

Good and promising prose but unemotional, 14 Jan 2008
It is true that Yoshimoto expresses a well structured, easy going and promising prose in this book but I personally found her writing rather cold and lacking in empathy. The result is that this book, which is centered on two very easily moving issues (love and death), is incapable of emotionally involving the reader and leaves nothing to really remember in the long run.

Wonderful, 27 Oct 2007
I came across Banana Yoshimoto quite by accident, and what a happy accident it was. She is a modern Japanese writer who is both accessible to Western readers and yet resolutely Japanese in style and content. Her work is highly rated in Japan, and I can see why. She writes with a lyricism and sparseness that at times resembles poetry, but never shies away from the sometimes grim realities of every day life. The books are always short, novella length, but have so much in them they can stand reading and re-reading. Kitchen is my favourites of her work. The narrator, struggles to come to terms with the death of a close friend and her complex relationship with his son. The story sounds slight, but nothing could be further from the truth.

A simple modern love story, 03 Feb 2007
This is one of the most famous Japanese postmodern novels. The main plot about a modern young woman struggling with grief and trying to find love is very touching and delicately handled really. A female protagonist obsessed with kitchens sounds potentially annoying, but she is actually quite likeable, and it is obvious a lot of Yoshimoto's personal experiences and affections have gone into her character. The plot follows Mikage's attempts to reconstruct her life after it was shattered by the death of the last member of her family.

It is interesting and unique, introducing many daring and ununsual themes, such as obsession, bereavement, motherhood and transsexualism. The novel does not go into much depth in its discussions of these themes, mostly relying on a certain ineffable something to convey its message. The characters' personality deformities are treated as natural and even endearing, and the often bizarre nature of the themes is accepted as an inevitable part of life.

There is nothing really deep about this novel. One feels concern and affection for the fates of the characters, and an interest in the themes of the novel. However, it is very short - I read it in one sitting. I believe there could have been room to discuss in depth some of the interesting issues that Yoshimoto raises here, but I suppose that was neither her intention nor desire. Perhaps she wishes to say that it is pointless worrying about such things, that one should just accept them and carry on with life, because otherwise something wonderful might be missed in the present or just around the corner.

Tantalising as ever, 15 Jun 2008
I love Banana Yoshimoto. Her work is delicate, subtle and thought provoking. She talks about young people in modern Japan but in a way which links her firmly in the traditions of Japanese writing. She seems preoccupied with liminal states, the half life between death and life, the hypnotic states of sleep and dreaming and the preoccupation with how a city, and indeed a life can change tempo completely between night and day.

These three novellas, included in this volume look at all these themes and give a brief window on a world of ghosts and memory that is tantalizing and enticing. Her work is quite poetic and reminds me of a stripped down Haruki Murukami in places.

I enjoyed these works, not as much as Kitchen, which is my favourite of her books, but it's still definitely worth reading, although I'd recommend one of her novels if you're new to her work, slight though they are.

Disappointingly over-rated novel, 01 Dec 2007
I came to this book with high hopes, but quickly came down to earth. The three novellas tell vaguely interesting tales,with female characters exhibiting various degrees of depression, alienation and sleep disorder symptoms - but to me, it quickly became rather dirge-like, insubstantial and unsatisfying. The air of pseudo-mysticism became irritating and the quality of the prose was not good enough to lift the book into any kind of relevance - you may have guessed - I wasn't keen on it! Not bad, but certainly not brilliant.

lullaby of love, 13 Jul 2006
The three novellas within Asleep cast an eerie penumbra around the times of shadow depicted in each. With a subtlety and economy that lulls the reader, the book is repeatedly in danger of enveloping you in the same emotional lethargy the characters find themselves in. I got a sense that each character had an incomplete sense of self that was never resolved by each story's supposed redemption; that each heroine (and the invariably failed female characters juxtaposed against her) spun the strand of meaning for her world around the male core within each tale. The conclusions grant little in the way of autonomy to the female leads, but instead find them escaping from an addiction, an addiction to the soothing blanket of depression, into a dawn illuminated by a reaffirmation of devotion. I read a latent cultural misogyny into all this that makes the book eerie in an entirely unexpected way.

Good to reflect on, 12 Mar 2003
I first discovered Banana Yoshimoto when I received this book as a gift from a friend – and I have to say that friend has certainly gone up in my estimations! Like most of Banana Yoshimotos books there is a certain dream like quality about them and although on the surface they seem to be stories about not very much dig a little deeper and you will see how deep they really go; they make a very good reflective read.

Without seeming to the author explores various aspects of human character and you can get as much out of the book as you want to put in. This particular book is nice as the three separate stories means you can pick it up and put it down quite easily however once you have read the whole book the stories fuse together to give you a larger picture.

Stepping out of the ordinary., 31 Jan 2002
Against the background of the routine, everyday life of Japanese youth Yoshimoto's writing delves into the depths of consciousness from such a unique angle and from such a refreshing viewpoint that it made this collection of novellas strangely spellbinding.
Sleep is her main theme and runs throughout the three individual stories. The sense of loss and loneliness is prevalent, as is Yoshimoto's preoccupation with the night and by association the not quite so real world. Ghosts, psychics, sleepwalkers and suicide victims all feature in this book as part of dreams or chance encounters.
The narrative appears disjointed at first, time shifts about in no clear chronological order, it is only at the end when all the pieces fit into place. The main character in each story narrates a time in their life when they, or in the case of the first story, a cousin, started slipping away, started stepping out of normal life and just slept, all the time. This 'fading away' of the characters and the reasons for their deterioration is gradually unfolded as the traumatic, tragic event that changed the lives of these once typical young people is told. By weaving the threads of surreal ideas into the fabricate of a normal context Yoshimoto produces an extremely readable and interesting book.

I loved it once, now I'm not so sure..., 09 Aug 2005
When I first read this book two years ago, I loved it, and went and bought three more by Yoshimoto, most of which I have enjoyed. However, surprised by some reviews that suggest her prose is too simple, and her characters or stories under-developed, I re-read Lizard this week.

I'm not too sure, now. These stories are a very quick and easy read, and indeed they do keep me reading. There are lovely touches that make me smile. But on this reading I did feel that there was a lack of substance, that some of the stories were a bit shallow, and didn't really explore anything much.

I like my stories to be simple, and I don't need much plot to be kept entertained. Character is more important to me than action. Even so, I didn't feel quite satisfied by my second reading.

Since my first read, I have read a lot of Haruki Murakami, and my interest in Japanese writers has grown. I find Murakami a true master of character and story, and even simply of human emotion. Perhaps it's that Yoshimoto doesn't compare favourably, or perhaps I have been swayed by negative reviews. I do hope not. Perhaps I have just changed in my response to her work over the last two years...

Delicate and bubbly, 16 Jun 2004
Like Banana's other stuff, these stories are ideal if you feel like something light but have high standards with regards to the fiction you read - they are so easy to read and short and as light as meringue, her style is modern and informal and deceptively simple, she sticks to the point and never gets bogged down in big tirades or descriptive passages, but they still truly satisfy and reach the parts that most 'easy' reads cannot. They make you think about human nature and take you out of yourself and best of all the characters, even when they have difficulties, have this sort of joy that sometimes bubbles up to the surface, triggered off by a small pleasure like enjoying a cup of tea or a conversation or something beautiful, and so they are happy stories to read and put a spring in your step. She's a bit like the literary equivalent of Macy Gray!

Lovely Japanese, 30 Jun 2003
I've read a few of Banana's books and have enjoyed all of them. I love the simplicity of her language, the stories undulate in intensity and yet deal with everyday, sometimes banal things. I especially liked Helix, the way they talked to each other, the severity of what they witnessed and the beauty that they found within it. Her Japan isn't all gadgets, skyscrapers and crowded subways, but about characters who inhabit this world and who seem separate from it, yet integral to it. I love her and her books and have made my friends read them. Highly recommended.

I loved it once, now I'm not so sure..., 09 Aug 2005
When I first read this book two years ago, I loved it, and went and bought three more by Yoshimoto, most of which I have enjoyed. However, surprised by some reviews that suggest her prose is too simple, and her characters or stories under-developed, I re-read Lizard this week.

I'm not too sure, now. These stories are a very quick and easy read, and indeed they do keep me reading. There are lovely touches that make me smile. But on this reading I did feel that there was a lack of substance, that some of the stories were a bit shallow, and didn't really explore anything much.

I like my stories to be simple, and I don't need much plot to be kept entertained. Character is more important to me than action. Even so, I didn't feel quite satisfied by my second reading.

Since my first read, I have read a lot of Haruki Murakami, and my interest in Japanese writers has grown. I find Murakami a true master of character and story, and even simply of human emotion. Perhaps it's that Yoshimoto doesn't compare favourably, or perhaps I have been swayed by negative reviews. I do hope not. Perhaps I have just changed in my response to her work over the last two years...

Delicate and bubbly, 16 Jun 2004
Like Banana's other stuff, these stories are ideal if you feel like something light but have high standards with regards to the fiction you read - they are so easy to read and short and as light as meringue, her style is modern and informal and deceptively simple, she sticks to the point and never gets bogged down in big tirades or descriptive passages, but they still truly satisfy and reach the parts that most 'easy' reads cannot. They make you think about human nature and take you out of yourself and best of all the characters, even when they have difficulties, have this sort of joy that sometimes bubbles up to the surface, triggered off by a small pleasure like enjoying a cup of tea or a conversation or something beautiful, and so they are happy stories to read and put a spring in your step. She's a bit like the literary equivalent of Macy Gray!

Lovely Japanese, 30 Jun 2003
I've read a few of Banana's books and have enjoyed all of them. I love the simplicity of her language, the stories undulate in intensity and yet deal with everyday, sometimes banal things. I especially liked Helix, the way they talked to each other, the severity of what they witnessed and the beauty that they found within it. Her Japan isn't all gadgets, skyscrapers and crowded subways, but about characters who inhabit this world and who seem separate from it, yet integral to it. I love her and her books and have made my friends read them. Highly recommended.

Cute, like cotton candy, but ethnocentric and shallow, 13 Apr 2007
Banana tries very hard to seem deep, but in her attempts, she reveals a great deal of ethnocentrism. On Saipan, it is only the spirits of Japanese peopel whom the main character, Sakumi, can sense -- not the overwhelming tragedy of the many native Chomorros who were displaced and/or slaughtered whilst Japan and the US waged a war of race and power on Chomorro land. Sakumi is elitest, rich, priviledged, educated, skilled, and yet she doesn't DO anything, she just whines about how life isn't the best thing ever, oh, boo hoo, my druggie sister who I never even spent time with killed herself.

Sure, the story has its moments -- Yoshio is an adorable character, and the "mysticism" can seem sort of cool, but it never develops its "epiphanies" or expands horizons.

It's disappointing, really.

Beautiful, absorbing read, 17 Sep 2006
I bought this book to re-read as it had remained in my mind for a few years since I first read it. That doesn't often happen.

It somehow manages to be calming, almost hypnotic yet unsettling at the same time and the story pulls you in and trips you up as you follow it through. The story could appear overly complex but it follows the process of grief which is a long and complex process. It's a remarkably fresh and different book and didn't disappoint in the slightest on a second read.

Magical Japan Life, 18 Jan 2003
A magic and mysterious atmosphere in the crowded Japan of these days, where a girl is tryin' to keep going after a bad accident, having herself drawn by the tide of lives, not struggling, there's no need to fight, she just need to keep the pace an amaze herself with any incredible surprise!

beautiful and poetic but a little slow, 28 Nov 2001
A charming and haunting story of a young woman with a scrambled memory as a result of an accident. This novel combines eastern mysticism, contemporary Japanese culture and family values as the main protagonist deals with the problems in her life. Mystical, poetic and beautifully written, but it is painfully slow at times and often too mysterious for its own good. Nonetheless this is an enjoyable read, you'll miss the characters long after you've read the last page.

Charming but infuriating, 14 Oct 2001
This novel does 'get inside the mind of modern Japan' as it says it does in the opening blurb. However, what this mind offers leaves the reader wanting less of its madness, mysticism & shallowness. The narrator has a lively interesting mind that keeps the story going. Though I really doubt she'd continue the relationship with that pratt of an ex-boyfriend of her dead sisters. And as for that moaning mystic minnie meg who sees ghosts everywhere - well, even I knew she could do with a new stylist.
Overall, I wouldn't rule out reading another of her books - they are certainly interesting & different, a bit mad infact. But not good enough to get anything more than 3. Possibly 2 stars.

Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto, 26 Jul 2008
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto was always going to find its way into my life somehow. Im a fan of Haruki Murakami, and after reading a sparkling review of Kitchen, i decided to give it a go.

The author notes in the preface that this is a story that she has always wanted to tell, and the agonising emotions laid down throughout the book are not dissimilar to the outpouring of feeling a band will display in thier first album. and although the story can be at times confusing and impulsive, Yoshimoto throws pure feeling at us with every page.

The main story revolves simply around a boy and a girl falling beautifully for eachother, however around love is a landscape littered with sadness and the death of almost everyone else they ever felt for.
Unmistakably Japanese in style, and unique in the way the words are placed upon the pages, i would recommend Kitchen to anyone who is looking for something truly original to read.

It is tough going at times, but the words flow easliy enough to make sure that the read is satisfying and will leave you looking at things around you through different eyes. A simple but nevertheless decent book.

Wow, 07 Feb 2008
It's one of those rare gems. I have searched high and low and have never found a better read.

Good and promising prose but unemotional, 14 Jan 2008
It is true that Yoshimoto expresses a well structured, easy going and promising prose in this book but I personally found her writing rather cold and lacking in empathy. The result is that this book, which is centered on two very easily moving issues (love and death), is incapable of emotionally involving the reader and leaves nothing to really remember in the long run.

Wonderful, 27 Oct 2007
I came across Banana Yoshimoto quite by accident, and what a happy accident it was. She is a modern Japanese writer who is both accessible to Western readers and yet resolutely Japanese in style and content. Her work is highly rated in Japan, and I can see why. She writes with a lyricism and sparseness that at times resembles poetry, but never shies away from the sometimes grim realities of every day life. The books are always short, novella length, but have so much in them they can stand reading and re-reading. Kitchen is my favourites of her work. The narrator, struggles to come to terms with the death of a close friend and her complex relationship with his son. The story sounds slight, but nothing could be further from the truth.

A simple modern love story, 03 Feb 2007
This is one of the most famous Japanese postmodern novels. The main plot about a modern young woman struggling with grief and trying to find love is very touching and delicately handled really. A female protagonist obsessed with kitchens sounds potentially annoying, but she is actually quite likeable, and it is obvious a lot of Yoshimoto's personal experiences and affections have gone into her character. The plot follows Mikage's attempts to reconstruct her life after it was shattered by the death of the last member of her family.

It is interesting and unique, introducing many daring and ununsual themes, such as obsession, bereavement, motherhood and transsexualism. The novel does not go into much depth in its discussions of these themes, mostly relying on a certain ineffable something to convey its message. The characters' personality deformities are treated as natural and even endearing, and the often bizarre nature of the themes is accepted as an inevitable part of life.

There is nothing really deep about this novel. One feels concern and affection for the fates of the characters, and an interest in the themes of the novel. However, it is very short - I read it in one sitting. I believe there could have been room to discuss in depth some of the interesting issues that Yoshimoto raises here, but I suppose that was neither her intention nor desire. Perhaps she wishes to say that it is pointless worrying about such things, that one should just accept them and carry on with life, because otherwise something wonderful might be missed in the present or just around the corner.

Tantalising as ever, 15 Jun 2008
I love Banana Yoshimoto. Her work is delicate, subtle and thought provoking. She talks about young people in modern Japan but in a way which links her firmly in the traditions of Japanese writing. She seems preoccupied with liminal states, the half life between death and life, the hypnotic states of sleep and dreaming and the preoccupation with how a city, and indeed a life can change tempo completely between night and day.

These three novellas, included in this volume look at all these themes and give a brief window on a world of ghosts and memory that is tantalizing and enticing. Her work is quite poetic and reminds me of a stripped down Haruki Murukami in places.

I enjoyed these works, not as much as Kitchen, which is my favourite of her books, but it's still definitely worth reading, although I'd recommend one of her novels if you're new to her work, slight though they are.

Disappointingly over-rated novel, 01 Dec 2007
I came to this book with high hopes, but quickly came down to earth. The three novellas tell vaguely interesting tales,with female characters exhibiting various degrees of depression, alienation and sleep disorder symptoms - but to me, it quickly became rather dirge-like, insubstantial and unsatisfying. The air of pseudo-mysticism became irritating and the quality of the prose was not good enough to lift the book into any kind of relevance - you may have guessed - I wasn't keen on it! Not bad, but certainly not brilliant.

lullaby of love, 13 Jul 2006
The three novellas within Asleep cast an eerie penumbra around the times of shadow depicted in each. With a subtlety and economy that lulls the reader, the book is repeatedly in danger of enveloping you in the same emotional lethargy the characters find themselves in. I got a sense that each character had an incomplete sense of self that was never resolved by each story's supposed redemption; that each heroine (and the invariably failed female characters juxtaposed against her) spun the strand of meaning for her world around the male core within each tale. The conclusions grant little in the way of autonomy to the female leads, but instead find them escaping from an addiction, an addiction to the soothing blanket of depression, into a dawn illuminated by a reaffirmation of devotion. I read a latent cultural misogyny into all this that makes the book eerie in an entirely unexpected way.

Good to reflect on, 12 Mar 2003
I first discovered Banana Yoshimoto when I received this book as a gift from a friend – and I have to say that friend has certainly gone up in my estimations! Like most of Banana Yoshimotos books there is a certain dream like quality about them and although on the surface they seem to be stories about not very much dig a little deeper and you will see how deep they really go; they make a very good reflective read.

Without seeming to the author explores various aspects of human character and you can get as much out of the book as you want to put in. This particular book is nice as the three separate stories means you can pick it up and put it down quite easily however once you have read the whole book the stories fuse together to give you a larger picture.

Stepping out of the ordinary., 31 Jan 2002
Against the background of the routine, everyday life of Japanese youth Yoshimoto's writing delves into the depths of consciousness from such a unique angle and from such a refreshing viewpoint that it made this collection of novellas strangely spellbinding.
Sleep is her main theme and runs throughout the three individual stories. The sense of loss and loneliness is prevalent, as is Yoshimoto's preoccupation with the night and by association the not quite so real world. Ghosts, psychics, sleepwalkers and suicide victims all feature in this book as part of dreams or chance encounters.
The narrative appears disjointed at first, time shifts about in no clear chronological order, it is only at the end when all the pieces fit into place. The main character in each story narrates a time in their life when they, or in the case of the first story, a cousin, started slipping away, started stepping out of normal life and just slept, all the time. This 'fading away' of the characters and the reasons for their deterioration is gradually unfolded as the traumatic, tragic event that changed the lives of these once typical young people is told. By weaving the threads of surreal ideas into the fabricate of a normal context Yoshimoto produces an extremely readable and interesting book.

I loved it once, now I'm not so sure..., 09 Aug 2005
When I first read this book two years ago, I loved it, and went and bought three more by Yoshimoto, most of which I have enjoyed. However, surprised by some reviews that suggest her prose is too simple, and her characters or stories under-developed, I re-read Lizard this week.

I'm not too sure, now. These stories are a very quick and easy read, and indeed they do keep me reading. There are lovely touches that make me smile. But on this reading I did feel that there was a lack of substance, that some of the stories were a bit shallow, and didn't really explore anything much.

I like my stories to be simple, and I don't need much plot to be kept entertained. Character is more important to me than action. Even so, I didn't feel quite satisfied by my second reading.

Since my first read, I have read a lot of Haruki Murakami, and my interest in Japanese writers has grown. I find Murakami a true master of character and story, and even simply of human emotion. Perhaps it's that Yoshimoto doesn't compare favourably, or perhaps I have been swayed by negative reviews. I do hope not. Perhaps I have just changed in my response to her work over the last two years...

Delicate and bubbly, 16 Jun 2004
Like Banana's other stuff, these stories are ideal if you feel like something light but have high standards with regards to the fiction you read - they are so easy to read and short and as light as meringue, her style is modern and informal and deceptively simple, she sticks to the point and never gets bogged down in big tirades or descriptive passages, but they still truly satisfy and reach the parts that most 'easy' reads cannot. They make you think about human nature and take you out of yourself and best of all the characters, even when they have difficulties, have this sort of joy that sometimes bubbles up to the surface, triggered off by a small pleasure like enjoying a cup of tea or a conversation or something beautiful, and so they are happy stories to read and put a spring in your step. She's a bit like the literary equivalent of Macy Gray!

Lovely Japanese, 30 Jun 2003
I've read a few of Banana's books and have enjoyed all of them. I love the simplicity of her language, the stories undulate in intensity and yet deal with everyday, sometimes banal things. I especially liked Helix, the way they talked to each other, the severity of what they witnessed and the beauty that they found within it. Her Japan isn't all gadgets, skyscrapers and crowded subways, but about characters who inhabit this world and who seem separate from it, yet integral to it. I love her and her books and have made my friends read them. Highly recommended.

I loved it once, now I'm not so sure..., 09 Aug 2005
When I first read this book two years ago, I loved it, and went and bought three more by Yoshimoto, most of which I have enjoyed. However, surprised by some reviews that suggest her prose is too simple, and her characters or stories under-developed, I re-read Lizard this week.

I'm not too sure, now. These stories are a very quick and easy read, and indeed they do keep me reading. There are lovely touches that make me smile. But on this reading I did feel that there was a lack of substance, that some of the stories were a bit shallow, and didn't really explore anything much.

I like my stories to be simple, and I don't need much plot to be kept entertained. Character is more important to me than action. Even so, I didn't feel quite satisfied by my second reading.

Since my first read, I have read a lot of Haruki Murakami, and my interest in Japanese writers has grown. I find Murakami a true master of character and story, and even simply of human emotion. Perhaps it's that Yoshimoto doesn't compare favourably, or perhaps I have been swayed by negative reviews. I do hope not. Perhaps I have just changed in my response to her work over the last two years...

Delicate and bubbly, 16 Jun 2004
Like Banana's other stuff, these stories are ideal if you feel like something light but have high standards with regards to the fiction you read - they are so easy to read and short and as light as meringue, her style is modern and informal and deceptively simple, she sticks to the point and never gets bogged down in big tirades or descriptive passages, but they still truly satisfy and reach the parts that most 'easy' reads cannot. They make you think about human nature and take you out of yourself and best of all the characters, even when they have difficulties, have this sort of joy that sometimes bubbles up to the surface, triggered off by a small pleasure like enjoying a cup of tea or a conversation or something beautiful, and so they are happy stories to read and put a spring in your step. She's a bit like the literary equivalent of Macy Gray!

Lovely Japanese, 30 Jun 2003
I've read a few of Banana's books and have enjoyed all of them. I love the simplicity of her language, the stories undulate in intensity and yet deal with everyday, sometimes banal things. I especially liked Helix, the way they talked to each other, the severity of what they witnessed and the beauty that they found within it. Her Japan isn't all gadgets, skyscrapers and crowded subways, but about characters who inhabit this world and who seem separate from it, yet integral to it. I love her and her books and have made my friends read them. Highly recommended.

Cute, like cotton candy, but ethnocentric and shallow, 13 Apr 2007
Banana tries very hard to seem deep, but in her attempts, she reveals a great deal of ethnocentrism. On Saipan, it is only the spirits of Japanese peopel whom the main character, Sakumi, can sense -- not the overwhelming tragedy of the many native Chomorros who were displaced and/or slaughtered whilst Japan and the US waged a war of race and power on Chomorro land. Sakumi is elitest, rich, priviledged, educated, skilled, and yet she doesn't DO anything, she just whines about how life isn't the best thing ever, oh, boo hoo, my druggie sister who I never even spent time with killed herself.

Sure, the story has its moments -- Yoshio is an adorable character, and the "mysticism" can seem sort of cool, but it never develops its "epiphanies" or expands horizons.

It's disappointing, really.

Beautiful, absorbing read, 17 Sep 2006
I bought this book to re-read as it had remained in my mind for a few years since I first read it. That doesn't often happen.

It somehow manages to be calming, almost hypnotic yet unsettling at the same time and the story pulls you in and trips you up as you follow it through. The story could appear overly complex but it follows the process of grief which is a long and complex process. It's a remarkably fresh and different book and didn't disappoint in the slightest on a second read.

Magical Japan Life, 18 Jan 2003
A magic and mysterious atmosphere in the crowded Japan of these days, where a girl is tryin' to keep going after a bad accident, having herself drawn by the tide of lives, not struggling, there's no need to fight, she just need to keep the pace an amaze herself with any incredible surprise!

beautiful and poetic but a little slow, 28 Nov 2001
A charming and haunting story of a young woman with a scrambled memory as a result of an accident. This novel combines eastern mysticism, contemporary Japanese culture and family values as the main protagonist deals with the problems in her life. Mystical, poetic and beautifully written, but it is painfully slow at times and often too mysterious for its own good. Nonetheless this is an enjoyable read, you'll miss the characters long after you've read the last page.

Charming but infuriating, 14 Oct 2001
This novel does 'get inside the mind of modern Japan' as it says it does in the opening blurb. However, what this mind offers leaves the reader wanting less of its madness, mysticism & shallowness. The narrator has a lively interesting mind that keeps the story going. Though I really doubt she'd continue the relationship with that pratt of an ex-boyfriend of her dead sisters. And as for that moaning mystic minnie meg who sees ghosts everywhere - well, even I knew she could do with a new stylist.
Overall, I wouldn't rule out reading another of her books - they are certainly interesting & different, a bit mad infact. But not good enough to get anything more than 3. Possibly 2 stars.

A good read., 17 Feb 2008
This was a Christmas present from a friend as I'd heard about this author and was interested in trying her books. I don't know if this is a good one to have started with or not but it's a lovely story.

It's about 3 girls - Tsugumi, Maria and Yoko. Tsugumi and Yoko are sisters and Maria their cousin (she is the narrator). It's about their lives, their family and growing up along with all the problems that brings. Whilst simple in style, it is an enjoyable read. Perhaps a little too slow for me in that I remained detached from the characters, always feeling like an outsider.

I'd like to read her other work, in time. I don't feel I could rush out and read something else by her right now. This book will stay in my memory as a lovely little tale.


This is what I called 'new fiction'., 04 Feb 2007
I am a big fan of Banana Yoshimoto because I love the way she turns a simple, typical and mundane event into something fastinating and moving.
Even you know nothing about Japan or Japanese people and culture you can still enjoy her books easily because they are all about human's emotions and thoughts.
I have read 5 of her books so far and I have another one waiting on the shelf.

Beautifully written, 06 Sep 2004
Great prose, delightful storyline. Well crafted and a beautiful ending. Looking forward to reading other Banana Yoshimoto novels.

Simple, delicate and hearfelt., 21 Jan 2004
We may not see it all the time, but in Goodbye Tsugumi, Banana Yoshimoto is there to show us that there is beauty in the simplest things and truth in life's most brutal moments. Using delicate and heartfelt prose she has taken what is actually a rather simplistic story and made every sentence flow and every page surprise with the beauty of the smallest everyday thing. From leftover cakes to forgotten mailboxes, everything can mean more when looked at a certain way.

A moving book that is matched only by Kitchen, 24 Feb 2003
Together with Kitchen, Goodbye Tsugumi shows Banana Yoshimoto's clear ability to make the mundane glorious and the supernatural and unbelievably unlikely commonplace and plausible.

It is strange how such ordinary events as descibed in this book can be so enthralling, and Yoshimoto creates precise pictures of moods like no other author I have read can.

The paradoxical concept of an amazingly frail but boisterous and arrogant girl is put across to the reader so that you adopt Maria, the main character's opinions on her - it is a love-hate relationship that is only resolved towards the end of the book.

It is impossible to describe what makes this book so intense to read and so enjoyable, but perhaps it is the unpredictability of the plot or Yoshimoto's trademark lucid descriptions. It could even be down to something as frivolous as the 'special' typeface and wide line spacing which make the book so pleasurable and easy to read, even to a sceptic such as myself.

This book should be read in as few sittings as possible.

Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto, 26 Jul 2008
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto was always going to find its way into my life somehow. Im a fan of Haruki Murakami, and after reading a sparkling review of Kitchen, i decided to give it a go.

The author notes in the preface that this is a story that she has always wanted to tell, and the agonising emotions laid down throughout the book are not dissimilar to the outpouring of feeling a band will display in thier first album. and although the story can be at times confusing and impulsive, Yoshimoto throws pure feeling at us with every page.

The main story revolves simply around a boy and a girl falling beautifully for eachother, however around love is a landscape littered with sadness and the death of almost everyone else they ever felt for.
Unmistakably Japanese in style, and unique in the way the words are placed upon the pages, i would recommend Kitchen to anyone who is looking for something truly original to read.

It is tough going at times, but the words flow easliy enough to make sure that the read is satisfying and will leave you looking at things around you through different eyes. A simple but nevertheless decent book.

Wow, 07 Feb 2008
It's one of those rare gems. I have searched high and low and have never found a better read.

Good and promising prose but unemotional, 14 Jan 2008
It is true that Yoshimoto expresses a well structured, easy going and promising prose in this book but I personally found her writing rather cold and lacking in empathy. The result is that this book, which is centered on two very easily moving issues (love and death), is incapable of emotionally involving the reader and leaves nothing to really remember in the long run.

Wonderful, 27 Oct 2007
I came across Banana Yoshimoto quite by accident, and what a happy accident it was. She is a modern Japanese writer who is both accessible to Western readers and yet resolutely Japanese in style and content. Her work is highly rated in Japan, and I can see why. She writes with a lyricism and sparseness that at times resembles poetry, but never shies away from the sometimes grim realities of every day life. The books are always short, novella length, but have so much in them they can stand reading and re-reading. Kitchen is my favourites of her work. The narrator, struggles to come to terms with the death of a close friend and her complex relationship with his son. The story sounds slight, but nothing could be further from the truth.

A simple modern love story, 03 Feb 2007
This is one of the most famous Japanese postmodern novels. The main plot about a modern young woman struggling with grief and trying to find love is very touching and delicately handled really. A female protagonist obsessed with kitchens sounds potentially annoying, but she is actually quite likeable, and it is obvious a lot of Yoshimoto's personal experiences and affections have gone into her character. The plot follows Mikage's attempts to reconstruct her life after it was shattered by the death of the last member of her family.

It is interesting and unique, introducing many daring and ununsual themes, such as obsession, bereavement, motherhood and transsexualism. The novel does not go into much depth in its discussions of these themes, mostly relying on a certain ineffable something to convey its message. The characters' personality deformities are treated as natural and even endearing, and the often bizarre nature of the themes is accepted as an inevitable part of life.

There is nothing really deep about this novel. One feels concern and affection for the fates of the characters, and an interest in the themes of the novel. However, it is very short - I read it in one sitting. I believe there could have been room to discuss in depth some of the interesting issues that Yoshimoto raises here, but I suppose that was neither her intention nor desire. Perhaps she wishes to say that it is pointless worrying about such things, that one should just accept them and carry on with life, because otherwise something wonderful might be missed in the present or just around the corner.

Tantalising as ever, 15 Jun 2008
I love Banana Yoshimoto. Her work is delicate, subtle and thought provoking. She talks about young people in modern Japan but in a way which links her firmly in the traditions of Japanese writing. She seems preoccupied with liminal states, the half life between death and life, the hypnotic states of sleep and dreaming and the preoccupation with how a city, and indeed a life can change tempo completely between night and day.

These three novellas, included in this volume look at all these themes and give a brief window on a world of ghosts and memory that is tantalizing and enticing. Her work is quite poetic and reminds me of a stripped down Haruki Murukami in places.

I enjoyed these works, not as much as Kitchen, which is my favourite of her books, but it's still definitely worth reading, although I'd recommend one of her novels if you're new to her work, slight though they are.

Disappointingly over-rated novel, 01 Dec 2007
I came to this book with high hopes, but quickly came down to earth. The three novellas tell vaguely interesting tales,with female characters exhibiting various degrees of depression, alienation and sleep disorder symptoms - but to me, it quickly became rather dirge-like, insubstantial and unsatisfying. The air of pseudo-mysticism became irritating and the quality of the prose was not good enough to lift the book into any kind of relevance - you may have guessed - I wasn't keen on it! Not bad, but certainly not brilliant.

lullaby of love, 13 Jul 2006
The three novellas within Asleep cast an eerie penumbra around the times of shadow depicted in each. With a subtlety and economy that lulls the reader, the book is repeatedly in danger of enveloping you in the same emotional lethargy the characters find themselves in. I got a sense that each character had an incomplete sense of self that was never resolved by each story's supposed redemption; that each heroine (and the invariably failed female characters juxtaposed against her) spun the strand of meaning for her world around the male core within each tale. The conclusions grant little in the way of autonomy to the female leads, but instead find them escaping from an addiction, an addiction to the soothing blanket of depression, into a dawn illuminated by a reaffirmation of devotion. I read a latent cultural misogyny into all this that makes the book eerie in an entirely unexpected way.

Good to reflect on, 12 Mar 2003
I first discovered Banana Yoshimoto when I received this book as a gift from a friend – and I have to say that friend has certainly gone up in my estimations! Like most of Banana Yoshimotos books there is a certain dream like quality about them and although on the surface they seem to be stories about not very much dig a little deeper and you will see how deep they really go; they make a very good reflective read.

Without seeming to the author explores various aspects of human character and you can get as much out of the book as you want to put in. This particular book is nice as the three separate stories means you can pick it up and put it down quite easily however once you have read the whole book the stories fuse together to give you a larger picture.

Stepping out of the ordinary., 31 Jan 2002
Against the background of the routine, everyday life of Japanese youth Yoshimoto's writing delves into the depths of consciousness from such a unique angle and from such a refreshing viewpoint that it made this collection of novellas strangely spellbinding.
Sleep is her main theme and runs throughout the three individual stories. The sense of loss and loneliness is prevalent, as is Yoshimoto's preoccupation with the night and by association the not quite so real world. Ghosts, psychics, sleepwalkers and suicide victims all feature in this book as part of dreams or chance encounters.
The narrative appears disjointed at first, time shifts about in no clear chronological order, it is only at the end when all the pieces fit into place. The main character in each story narrates a time in their life when they, or in the case of the first story, a cousin, started slipping away, started stepping out of normal life and just slept, all the time. This 'fading away' of the characters and the reasons for their deterioration is gradually unfolded as the traumatic, tragic event that changed the lives of these once typical young people is told. By weaving the threads of surreal ideas into the fabricate of a normal context Yoshimoto produces an extremely readable and interesting book.

I loved it once, now I'm not so sure..., 09 Aug 2005
When I first read this book two years ago, I loved it, and went and bought three more by Yoshimoto, most of which I have enjoyed. However, surprised by some reviews that suggest her prose is too simple, and her characters or stories under-developed, I re-read Lizard this week.

I'm not too sure, now. These stories are a very quick and easy read, and indeed they do keep me reading. There are lovely touches that make me smile. But on this reading I did feel that there was a lack of substance, that some of the stories were a bit shallow, and didn't really explore anything much.

I like my stories to be simple, and I don't need much plot to be kept entertained. Character is more important to me than action. Even so, I didn't feel quite satisfied by my second reading.

Since my first read, I have read a lot of Haruki Murakami, and my interest in Japanese writers has grown. I find Murakami a true master of character and story, and even simply of human emotion. Perhaps it's that Yoshimoto doesn't compare favourably, or perhaps I have been swayed by negative reviews. I do hope not. Perhaps I have just changed in my response to her work over the last two years...

Delicate and bubbly, 16 Jun 2004
Like Banana's other stuff, these stories are ideal if you feel like something light but have high standards with regards to the fiction you read - they are so easy to read and short and as light as meringue, her style is modern and informal and deceptively simple, she sticks to the point and never gets bogged down in big tirades or descriptive passages, but they still truly satisfy and reach the parts that most 'easy' reads cannot. They make you think about human nature and take you out of yourself and best of all the characters, even when they have difficulties, have this sort of joy that sometimes bubbles up to the surface, triggered off by a small pleasure like enjoying a cup of tea or a conversation or something beautiful, and so they are happy stories to read and put a spring in your step. She's a bit like the literary equivalent of Macy Gray!

Lovely Japanese, 30 Jun 2003
I've read a few of Banana's books and have enjoyed all of them. I love the simplicity of her language, the stories undulate in intensity and yet deal with everyday, sometimes banal things. I especially liked Helix, the way they talked to each other, the severity of what they witnessed and the beauty that they found within it. Her Japan isn't all gadgets, skyscrapers and crowded subways, but about characters who inhabit this world and who seem separate from it, yet integral to it. I love her and her books and have made my friends read them. Highly recommended.

I loved it once, now I'm not so sure..., 09 Aug 2005
When I first read this book two years ago, I loved it, and went and bought three more by Yoshimoto, most of which I have enjoyed. However, surprised by some reviews that suggest her prose is too simple, and her characters or stories under-developed, I re-read Lizard this week.

I'm not too sure, now. These stories are a very quick and easy read, and indeed they do keep me reading. There are lovely touches that make me smile. But on this reading I did feel that there was a lack of substance, that some of the stories were a bit shallow, and didn't really explore anything much.

I like my stories to be simple, and I don't need much plot to be kept entertained. Character is more important to me than action. Even so, I didn't feel quite satisfied by my second reading.

Since my first read, I have read a lot of Haruki Murakami, and my interest in Japanese writers has grown. I find Murakami a true master of character and story, and even simply of human emotion. Perhaps it's that Yoshimoto doesn't compare favourably, or perhaps I have been swayed by negative reviews. I do hope not. Perhaps I have just changed in my response to her work over the last two years...

Delicate and bubbly, 16 Jun 2004
Like Banana's other stuff, these stories are ideal if you feel like something light but have high standards with regards to the fiction you read - they are so easy to read and short and as light as meringue, her style is modern and informal and deceptively simple, she sticks to the point and never gets bogged down in big tirades or descriptive passages, but they still truly satisfy and reach the parts that most 'easy' reads cannot. They make you think about human nature and take you out of yourself and best of all the characters, even when they have difficulties, have this sort of joy that sometimes bubbles up to the surface, triggered off by a small pleasure like enjoying a cup of tea or a conversation or something beautiful, and so they are happy stories to read and put a spring in your step. She's a bit like the literary equivalent of Macy Gray!

Lovely Japanese, 30 Jun 2003
I've read a few of Banana's books and have enjoyed all of them. I love the simplicity of her language, the stories undulate in intensity and yet deal with everyday, sometimes banal things. I especially liked Helix, the way they talked to each other, the severity of what they witnessed and the beauty that they found within it. Her Japan isn't all gadgets, skyscrapers and crowded subways, but about characters who inhabit this world and who seem separate from it, yet integral to it. I love her and her books and have made my friends read them. Highly recommended.

Cute, like cotton candy, but ethnocentric and shallow, 13 Apr 2007
Banana tries very hard to seem deep, but in her attempts, she reveals a great deal of ethnocentrism. On Saipan, it is only the spirits of Japanese peopel whom the main character, Sakumi, can sense -- not the overwhelming tragedy of the many native Chomorros who were displaced and/or slaughtered whilst Japan and the US waged a war of race and power on Chomorro land. Sakumi is elitest, rich, priviledged, educated, skilled, and yet she doesn't DO anything, she just whines about how life isn't the best thing ever, oh, boo hoo, my druggie sister who I never even spent time with killed herself.

Sure, the story has its moments -- Yoshio is an adorable character, and the "mysticism" can seem sort of cool, but it never develops its "epiphanies" or expands horizons.

It's disappointing, really.

Beautiful, absorbing read, 17 Sep 2006
I bought this book to re-read as it had remained in my mind for a few years since I first read it. That doesn't often happen.

It somehow manages to be calming, almost hypnotic yet unsettling at the same time and the story pulls you in and trips you up as you follow it through. The story could appear overly complex but it follows the process of grief which is a long and complex process. It's a remarkably fresh and different book and didn't disappoint in the slightest on a second read.

Magical Japan Life, 18 Jan 2003
A magic and mysterious atmosphere in the crowded Japan of these days, where a girl is tryin' to keep going after a bad accident, having herself drawn by the tide of lives, not struggling, there's no need to fight, she just need to keep the pace an amaze herself with any incredible surprise!

beautiful and poetic but a little slow, 28 Nov 2001
A charming and haunting story of a young woman with a scrambled memory as a result of an accident. This novel combines eastern mysticism, contemporary Japanese culture and family values as the main protagonist deals with the problems in her life. Mystical, poetic and beautifully written, but it is painfully slow at times and often too mysterious for its own good. Nonetheless this is an enjoyable read,