Record of a Night Too Brief by Hiromi Kawakami. Translated by Lucy North.

Title: Record of a Night Too Brief
Author: Hiromi Kawakami
Translated from the Japanese by Lucy North
Publisher: Pushkin Press
ISBN: 978-1782272717
Genre: Literary Fiction, Novella, Short Stories, Japanese Novellas
Pages: 156
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5 Stars

“Record of a Night Too Brief” is a weird book and that I say in a good way. It took me some time to wind my head around it, but it proved to be a very satisfying read, nonetheless. This book is a collection of three fantastical short stories and on the surface, while they all seem to be rather easy and direct, they are anything but that.

In the first titular story, there are dream sequences (reminded me a lot of Murakami when that happened), talking animals, shrinking girls, mathematics, and a night-sky that you should only experience while reading this story.

The second one titled, “Missing” is about a sister mourning for her missing brother, while her entire family is rejoicing the fact of his would-be-wife entering the household. This is my favourite story in the book and you will know why when you read it.

The last story is called “A Snake Stepped On” where a woman accidentally steps on a snake, the snake is transformed to a girl and follows her home, thus living with the woman and her family.

You might think it to be super strange but like I said before, while these stories are strange, they are entertaining and profound to a large extent. These stories are about three women, trying to make their way in this world, surrounded by strange circumstances. In this way then, all these stories are sure inter-linked.

The writing cannot be bracketed in any genre. It is refreshing, haunting and almost new (Like I said, it did remind me of Murakami to some extent). I’ve read Kawakami’s books earlier and I must say that this happens to be her best, according to me. She has truly evolved as a writer in this one.

Lucy North has translated this book to perfection, because I didn’t feel anything lacking in it. If you want to start with contemporary Japanese literature and understand its people and way of life, I would most certainly urge you to read this collection.

Let’s No One Get Hurt by Jon Pineda

Title: Let’s No One Get Hurt
Author: Jon Pineda
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 978-0374185244
Genre: Literary Fiction
Pages: 256
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4  Stars

Sometimes I really wish some books did not have to be this violent – physically, emotionally or mentally. But I also think sometimes we need to show that violence for what the world is and art does imitate life after all. “Let’s No One Get Hurt” is so redemptive and yet somehow seemed so dark as it progressed. The writing is raw, visceral and yet so tender in so many places that you can almost sense the attachment between the young girl and the three men she lives with. We after all make our own home, where we find it.

Fifteen-year-old Pearl lives in an abandoned boathouse with her father – a disgraced college professor and two other men, deep in the American South. All four live on the margins and make do with what they can. There is a sense of weird kind of family but each of them looks after the other and are slowly but surely making sense of the world as days go by.

Enter: Mason Boyd who is also known as “Main Boy” and whose father has purchased the property Pearl and her family are squatting, putting him in a position of power between the two kids, leading to dynamics changing that Pearl never thought of.

The writing is very poetic, to the point of it being poetic-prose and feels very satisfying most of the time. Yet the nagging thought of something bad will happen which keeps haunting the reader. Pearl and her makeshift family (those characters are something else, trust me I can only urge you to read the book to know them better) has been thought of so beautifully, even if the moments of tenderness and grace are not so much, you learn to sit patiently for them to come.

“Let’s No One Get Hurt” captures the essence of power, violence and redemption wonderfully and with parallel stories and layers to the larger narrative. It is a book that will break your heart mostly but will let you heal yourself. A lot of you might think that there is nothing new about it, but you have to read it to believe what Pineda has created – a stunning portrait of loss, love and turmoil in the South.

 

Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orisha) by Tomi Adeyemi

Title: Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orisha)
Author: Tomi Adeyemi
Publisher: Macmillan Children’s Books
ISBN: 978-1509871353
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Pages: 544
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5  Stars

Hands down one of the best fantasy I have read in recent times, and by that, I mean in the last fifteen years or so! Children of Blood and Bone is the first part of a series and let me tell you that I just couldn’t get enough of it. While the regular tropes of any high-fantasy exist, it is also an intelligent book and doesn’t spoon-feed the reader at any point of time in the narrative. You must make the effort to read carefully and connect the dots.

The book starts off instantly. There is no build-up as such because Adeyemi has so much to say. I wish I could do justice to the book with this review. I shall try. There are layers and sub-layers in the narrative, with the focal point being magic and how to get it back. The African culture is seeped within in the story so strongly that it is so refreshing to read about it as you go along. Their gods, their way of life, their myths are integrated beautifully by Adeyemi in this tale of the revival of Orïshan magic.

Zélie remembers the time when Orïsha was full of magic – the entire land, and when different clans ruled and each of them had their role to play. And one night, all the magic disappeared. The plot then is to bring back magic to a land without hope and now ruled by a tyrant monarch. As the plot unravels, we see Zélie coping with her doubts when it comes to magic and its revival and more than anything else the one thing she should not be doing and ends up doing anyway.

Adeyemi’s writing is so good. She captures the much-needed gender and social injustices that should be talked about. The oppressed and the oppressor are captured in the most humane way possible with magic lurking in every corner of the page. “Children of Blood and Bone” moves so fast that sometimes you must stop and catch your breath. The characters are varied and not one-dimensional at all. The writing like I said before, is stunning and I for one cannot wait for the second book, which will be a long time coming. A must must read!

 

 

Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday

Title: Asymmetry
Author: Lisa Halliday
Publisher: Granta
ISBN: 9781783783601
Genre: Literary Fiction
Pages: 275
Source: Publisher
Rating:

This isn’t a plot-driven book. To me, “Asymmetry” was more character-driven (or so I would like to believe) which worked wonderfully when I read it. Yes, some parts did seem disjointed and irrelevant initially, but it all fell into place by the second half of the book and I could see the mirrors within mirrors and more clues staring in my face as I devoured this read. Also, might I add that this isn’t a mystery or thriller. It just is. The worlds are parallel and yet Halliday beautifully manages to blend these worlds, and show us that we are after all connected one way or the other.

“Asymmetry” is told in three sections. The first one titled “Folly” is about Alice, a young American editor and her relationship with the much older writer Ezra Blazer (whose characterization is spot on, in my opinion). The second part takes place at Heathrow airport, where Amar, an economist on his way to Kurdistan is detained at the airport with seemingly no reason. And right at the end, after years have passed by, Ezra reappears mulling on life, love, and loss.

What is the connection between these people? Is there any at all? Why is this story so bizarre and will it even make any sense? I was asking myself these questions a lot, till it all started falling into place and it became more playful than investigative. Halliday conjures characters and situations that take time to wind your head around, but when you do, reading this book is then an adventure, a joyride almost.

At the same time, let me also add that “Asymmetry” is a book about a lot of things that will make you uncomfortable as well (maybe it is intended to and more so in the second half), so be prepared. One can’t be prepared while reading this book. Anything can step out of its pages and shock or surprise you.

The Italian Teacher by Tom Rachman

Title: The Italian Teacher
Author: Tom Rachman
Publisher:Riverrun
ISBN:978-1786482587
Genre:Literary Fiction
Pages: 336
Source:Publisher
Rating:4 Stars

After a very long time, I read a book about art and its understanding and more than anything else about the value it holds in our lives. “The Italian Teacher” is a melting pot of everything – well, almost – it is about art, its integrity, how to preserve it, the frailty of humans, and of relationships we hold close and the ones that often break way too easily.

Pinch’s parents are both artists. To a very large extent it is the bane of his life, but somehow Pinch learns to live with it. His mother, Natalie, is a maker of pottery and quite eccentric at that. While his father, Bear Bavinsky is a renowned painter who only cares about his art and nothing else in the world means anything to him. Pinch only wants his father to notice him and show him some affection.

Pinch wants to become an artist and his dissuaded by his father, who leaves Natalie and Pinch in Italy, moving to America where other wives and children await him. Years pass. Pinch wants to chronicle his father’s life but ends up teaching Italian in London. One fine day Bear dies and Pinch comes up with a plan to ensure his father’s legacy is secure.

That in short is the plot of the book. But this is just the surface. There is a lot which takes place that I haven’t even mentioned. The rawness of emotions, passion for art and above all the desire to keep proving oneself to ones we love is at the crux of this book. Rachman strikes so many chords and presses all the right buttons when it comes to emotions and relatability (we all can relate to it – after all it is all about ambition and love at the end of the day).

“The Italian Teacher” is an immersive experience. I could sense everything – the way Rachman weaves not only the story but the passages and chapters on art are so stunning that I often thought I was there, as it was all unfolding. The book starts in 1955 and goes on till 2018 and the sheer expanse of the book – plus to ensure to tie everything together is no easy task. The span of the book is done justice to by Rachman. The relationship between a son and his father shines throughout the book – it is so complex and layered that you are only left thinking about your relationship with your parents.

At the same time the questions of art and what it takes to be an artist are deftly managed and in relation to the world that changes across the book. “The Italian Teacher” is a feast of a read which is not to be missed.