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The briefcase hiromi kawakami6/20/2023 The main theme explored in the novel is that of letting go and finding closure. Of course, with only the two novels out in English, who’s to say which is the more representative of her style. It’s certainly a little darker and edgier, with a more surreal style in parts than The Briefcase. Kawakami is well known for her novel The Briefcase (AKA Strange Weather in Tokyo), and for those who have already tried that one, Manazuru may come as a bit of a surprise. On the next outing, she’s accompanied by her daughter after that, her companion is someone slightly less familiar… It’s the first of several visits, and the only one she spends alone. One day, on a whim, Kei sets off for the seaside town of Manazuru, hoping to find answers in the course of her travels. Twelve years ago, her husband, Rei, vanished without a word, and while her life has stabilised to a certain extent, thanks in part to a relationship with a married man, she certainly has a lot of unfinished business. Hiromi Kawakami’s Manazuru (translated by Michael Emmerich) is centred on Kei, a middle-aged woman living with her daughter, Momo, and her mother back in the family home. It’s the story of a woman trying to find herself, and looking in one particular place… The weather’s nice – let’s take a trip to the coast □ Today’s post sees my review of the first of the two January in Japan group reads, and while the writer is very familiar, the book itself is perhaps less well known.
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