At the end of the book, I was left wondering who was the title beast? Alexander or Blanche? It was only in the days after as I continued to ponder that question that I stumbled across the original French title—as a novice student of French, I was struck by its gendered nature: Une Bête Au… Continue reading A Beast in Paradise
Category: Reviews
An I-Novel
As the name suggests, An I-Novel is a semi-autobiographical novel told in the confessional manner that characterizes the Japanese literature genre of the same name. Given the author and protagonist Minae’s fascination with the Meiji period of Japan’s history, it is only fitting that the book’s title would harken back to that era. Reminiscent of… Continue reading An I-Novel
A Man
Have you ever wished to switch lives with someone? This is the question at the center of A Man by Japanese literary writer and philosopher Keiichiro Hirano. Told from the perspective of Akira Kido, a divorce attorney with his own struggling marriage, A Man investigates the spiral of lies that is uncovered when a former… Continue reading A Man
The Memory Police
How does the loss of semantic memory affect our identities, our understanding of the world, and even our ability to live? This is the question at the center of Yoko Ogawa’s The Memory Police, originally published in Japan in 1994 and translated into English in 2019. This ethereal sci-fi exploration of memory follows an unnamed… Continue reading The Memory Police
The Heart
Under the craft of a skilled writer, even the most straightforward story idea can breathe poetry. Such is the case in de Kerangal’s The Heart, originally published in French under the title Réparer les vivants (literally translated as “mend the living”). From the first line, Simon Limbres is introduced, or at least his heart is,… Continue reading The Heart