Kanazawa - Libroj.org

264 paĝoj

Lingvo: English

Eldonita je 20-a de novembro 2022 de Stone Bridge Press.

ISBN:: 978-1-61172-071-6

(1 recenzo)

In Kanazawa, the first literary novel in English to be set in this storied Japanese city, Emmitt’s future plans collapse when his wife, Mirai, suddenly backs out of negotiations to purchase their dream home. Disappointed, he’s surprised to discover Mirai’s subtle pursuit of a life and career in Tokyo, a city he dislikes.

Harmony is further disrupted when Emmitt’s search for a more meaningful life in Japan leads him to quit an unsatisfying job at a local university. In the fallout, he finds himself helping his mother-in-law translate Kanazawa’s most famous author, Izumi Kyoka, into English.

While continually resisting Mirai’s efforts to move to Tokyo, Emmitt becomes drawn into the mysterious death thirty years prior of a mutual friend of Mirai’s parents. It is only when he and his father-in-law climb the mountain where the man died that he learns the somber truth, and in turn discovers what the future …

In Kanazawa, the first literary novel in English to be set in this storied Japanese city, Emmitt’s future plans collapse when his wife, Mirai, suddenly backs out of negotiations to purchase their dream home. Disappointed, he’s surprised to discover Mirai’s subtle pursuit of a life and career in Tokyo, a city he dislikes.

Harmony is further disrupted when Emmitt’s search for a more meaningful life in Japan leads him to quit an unsatisfying job at a local university. In the fallout, he finds himself helping his mother-in-law translate Kanazawa’s most famous author, Izumi Kyoka, into English.

While continually resisting Mirai’s efforts to move to Tokyo, Emmitt becomes drawn into the mysterious death thirty years prior of a mutual friend of Mirai’s parents. It is only when he and his father-in-law climb the mountain where the man died that he learns the somber truth, and in turn discovers what the future holds for him and his wife.

Packed with subtle literary allusion and closely observed nuance, with an intimacy of emotion inexorably tied both to the cityscape and Japan’s mountainous terrain, Kanazawa reflects the mood of Japanese fiction in a fresh, modern incarnation.

1 eldono

Stephanie Jane recenzis Kanazawa de David Joiner

A beautiful novel

5 steloj

On spotting review copies of Kanazawa on NetGalley I immediately remembered how much I had enjoyed David Joiner's previous novel, Lotusland, some years ago now, and so was delighted to be offered the chance to read his work again. Kanazawa proceeds at a very different pace to the books I had read just preceding it so it did take me a few chapters to truly get into the book, to slow down and appreciate its vision. This was, I thought, one of David Joiner's themes though so it felt appropriate to have this experience.

I loved the depiction of Emmitt and Mirai's relationship with their stilted conversations highlighting the cultural chasm between them. Raised with very different life expectations, they do come across as being committed to each other and with similar outlooks, but struggle to communicate effectively which leads, unsurprisingly, to deep misunderstandings. I could empathise with Emmitt's desire …

On spotting review copies of Kanazawa on NetGalley I immediately remembered how much I had enjoyed David Joiner's previous novel, Lotusland, some years ago now, and so was delighted to be offered the chance to read his work again. Kanazawa proceeds at a very different pace to the books I had read just preceding it so it did take me a few chapters to truly get into the book, to slow down and appreciate its vision. This was, I thought, one of David Joiner's themes though so it felt appropriate to have this experience.

I loved the depiction of Emmitt and Mirai's relationship with their stilted conversations highlighting the cultural chasm between them. Raised with very different life expectations, they do come across as being committed to each other and with similar outlooks, but struggle to communicate effectively which leads, unsurprisingly, to deep misunderstandings. I could empathise with Emmitt's desire to retreat into an older ideal of Japan by way of renovating the machiya house, but I could also understand Mirai's envy of her sister's opportunities leading her to want to emulate them.

Joiner's love of Japan and the city of Kanazawa in particular suffuses every page of this novel and losing myself in descriptive passages almost felt like visiting for myself. I was certainly drawn to glance at flight prices after finishing reading! There is a strong sense of the importance of history and tradition in maintaining community ties, but we also see the benefits of progress. I felt that Emmitt particularly was searching for a way to balance the two. For me, Kanazawa was a quietly inspirational novel about living one's best life and not allowing other people's ideas of conventionality to stifle creative dreams. All four of the main characters have creative ambitions, some artistic and some literary. Their challenge is in finding a way to centre the emotional satisfaction of exploring those ambitions without becoming isolated by doing so.

Kanazawa is a gently paced, introspective novel that won't appeal to every reader, but is a rewarding read to those of us who enjoy such character-driven fiction. It does have a strong Japanese style and is resolutely literary in its frequent circling around to illustrious Kanazawa writers such as Kyoka (who I have not yet read, but now hope to do so soon). All in all, a beautiful novel which I am coming to appreciate more and more the longer I mull it over.