Monday, April 28, 2014
Y is for Yoshimoto, Banana
I was glad to find out that "Banana" Yoshimoto is a pen name and not one of those unfortunate appellations bestowed at birth by parents who should really, really know better. The writer is pushing 50 now, but she still does teenage angst better than almost anyone, except perhaps S. E. Hinton. Her first novel, Kitchen, was published in 1988 (to wild acclaim and commercial success) and since then, she's been busy, with 12 novels and more than a few collections of essays. Her novel The Lake was published in English in 2010, but it was originally published in 2005. I wonder what she's up to now?
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I'm leery of contemporary Japanese literature. Everything I've read of it so far has been bleak, depressing and void of hope.
ReplyDeleteWell, Banana's work isn't a bowl of giggles, it's true. I've mostly read short stories by contemporary Japanese writers. And mysteries. Big fan of ALL SHE WAS WORTH, but that's pretty dark too.
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