Bitter Tea and Mystery: Hiromi Kawakami

Showing posts with label Hiromi Kawakami. Show all posts

Friday, March 11, 2022

Reading Summary for February 2022

This is my idea of a good mix of reading for the month. A majority of the books were mysteries. One nonfiction book and two general fiction books. The only improvement would have been if I had read at least one vintage mystery.

Nonfiction

Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution (2001) by Diane McWhorter

This book won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction. From the Pulitzer site:

"A major work of history, investigative journalism that breaks new ground, and personal memoir, Carry Me Home is a dramatic account of the civil rights era's climactic battle in Birmingham, as the movement led by Martin Luther King, Jr., brought down the institutions of segregation."

I started reading this book one year ago, took about a long break in the middle, and took about a month to finish the last 300 pages (of 600).

General Fiction

Convenience Store Woman (2016) by Sayaka Murata

Translated from the Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori

This is an interesting story about a woman who does not fit in. Keiko is a 36-year-old woman who has been a part-time convenience store worker in Tokyo for 18 years. The novel is short, about 160 pages, and very strange, but I loved it. Reviewed here.

Strange Weather in Tokyo (2001) by Hiromi Kawakami

Translated from the Japanese by Allison Markin Powell

Another book set in Tokyo. The style of this book was unusual. It seemed to be made up of vignettes of the friendship between a woman and a male teacher who had been her teacher in school. Then it pulls together and has more focus, and I liked the ending a lot. Reviewed here.

Crime Fiction

Nemesis (2002) by Jo Nesbø

Translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett

Nemesis is the fourth novel in the Harry Hole series, which is mostly set in Norway. I did not enjoy reading this novel, but I recognize the high level of Nesbø's writing. Reviewed here.

Dressed for Death (1994) by Donna Leon

This is the third book in the Commissario Brunetti series, set in Italy; it has been over ten years since I read the first two books in the series. Brunetti has to go to Mestre to handle a case because the Commissarios there are all unavailable. The dead body of a man, badly beaten, is found near a slaughterhouse; the face is so mutilated that identification of the body is difficult. I liked this book and I am glad I got back to reading this series.

The Thursday Murder Club (2020) by Richard Osman

A quartet of men and women in their seventies or eighties form a club called the Thursday Murder Club. They start out investigating cold cases, whose case files they inherited from a former member who had access to police files. Then they have the opportunity to investigate a real crime, when a part owner of their retirement complex is killed. I found a lot to like about this book and plan to read the second book in the series as soon as possible.

One Corpse Too Many (1979) by Ellis Peters

The best thing about the books in the Chronicles of Brother Cadfael series is the setting. I learn so much about the times reading these books. Per Goodreads, the books in the series are "set between about 1135 and about 1145, during 'The Anarchy', the destructive contest for the crown of England between King Stephen and Empress Maud." This is the third book in the series and I have many more left to read.

The Postscript Murders (2020) by Elly Griffiths

This novel features Harbinder Kaur, who was also a character in an earlier book by Griffiths (The Stranger Diaries). Harbinder is a closeted gay Sikh Detective Sergeant in the police in Shoreham, West Sussex. She is the principle investigator into the death of an elderly woman, Peggy Smith, in a apartment complex for senior citizens, although initially she is not convinced it was murder. Peggy's carer, Natalka, is the one who is convinced that Peggy's death was murder, and she and two of her friends who knew Peggy also investigate. I liked this book very much, although it is quite different from The Stranger Diaries.

Status of my challenges:

I have read three novels for the European Reading Challenge, but only reviewed one of them so far.
I have read and reviewed three novels for the Japanese Literary Challenge. That challenge will end on March 31, 2022.
I have read at least two books that fit categories for the Bingo Challenge. I will go into more detail on that when I have more read for that challenge.
Back to the Classics Challenge: Nothing so far.
The TBR Pile Challenge at Roof Beam Reader: Nothing so far.
I recently joined the Mount TBR Challenge, run by Bev Hankins, via Goodreads. So far this year I have read 13 books from my TBR for that challenge.
Reading Ireland is going on for the month of March at 746 Books, and I have read one book for that event. I hope to read another this month.

The photo at the top of the post shows a gorgeous cactus in front of a business in downtown Santa Barbara. The photo immediately above is of a stonework fence in the Mission Canyon area near the Santa Barbara Mission. My husband took both photos. Click on the images for best viewing quality.

Monday, March 7, 2022

Strange Weather in Tokyo: Hiromi Kawakami

In Strange Weather in Tokyo, Tsukiko Omachi runs into her high school Japanese teacher at a bar in Tokyo. She is 37, he is much older, around 70. He recognizes her, but she cannot remember his name, so she calls him "Sensei." They continue to see each other often at the bar and she always calls him Sensei, even after she knows his name and they are friends. For about the first half of the book, at least, I wasn't sure where the story was going. It seemed to be just a series of vignettes of their meetings over the next few years.

Both Tsukiko and Sensei are loners. They don't see other people. Tsukiko has an office job, Sensei is retired. But as strange as their new friendship is, they clearly enjoy their time together. The relationship develops over time. At some point, there is a disagreement, and the two still go to their usual bar but don't speak at all. Eventually Tsukiko realizes how much she misses spending time with Sensei. Yet both of them seem to be afraid of taking the relationship any further.

My thoughts:

This book had some similarities to Convenience Store Woman. The story is narrated by Tsukiko. There are many conversations between her and Sensei, so we see the story of their relationship and learn bits about their background from her point of view and their talks. This story also provides an interesting perspective on life in Japan. I enjoyed reading about the bars that they frequented and other activities they shared. Both of them ate out for dinner frequently at bars in the evening.

There is an interesting trip to a market place that sells foods at individual stalls plus other goods.

Stalls started to appear here and there on the street. There were stalls that only sold tabi boots. Stalls that sold collapsible umbrellas. Stalls for secondhand clothing. Stalls that sold used books mixed with new books.

.....

After we passed a corner stall selling odds and ends, more and more of the stalls had grocery items for sale. Stalls selling only beans. Stalls with all different kinds of shellfish. There was a stall that had crates full of little shrimp or crabs.

.....

The grocery stalls thinned and gave way to stalls selling larger items. Household appliances. Computers. Telephones. There were mini refrigerators lined up in different colors. An LP was playing on an old record player. I could hear the low timbre of a violin. The music had an old-fashioned, simple charm. Sensei stood, listening intently, until the end of the piece.

Much of the book centers around the times that Tsukiko and Sensei eat a meal together. So there is a lot of discussion of Japanese foods. I was not familiar with much of the food, but it all sounded delicious, and I wished I could be there and they could tell me all about the food.

Strange Weather in Tokyo gave me a lot to think about after the story was over. I loved the writing. It was simple, just telling what the two did together, how the relationship, whatever it is, progresses. The story was told in under 200 pages, and was a good length, not overdone. For me, the ending was unbearably sad, but in some ways it was a happy ending.