Reviews

The Nakano Thrift Shop by Hiromi Kawakami

Only show reviews with written explanations

bartlebebop's review against another edition

3.0

[2.5-3 stars] I wanted to like this one, but I found the characters to be pretty flat and the plot very hard to follow. I'm not sure if some of it was lost in translation or if some of the charm of this book was lost on me. However, I really enjoyed the elements of the quirky customers and just the general functioning of the store. Overall, I find my feelings to be very mixed. The plot dragged, the characters were very bland, and the book felt much longer than it actually was. However, I found reading the book to be oddly soothing and the slice of life nature of the book was a nice breather from the other heavy things I've been reading. I still don't know what was going on completely, but I would still read this author again.
5/31/2021 update: Ranking this one up to three stars officially on my goodreads. I enjoyed this one more than Strange Weather in Tokyo which I gave 2 stars and Nagano doesn't deserve to have the same rating.

indy_oc's review against another edition

Go to review page

lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

jhlrssll's review against another edition

Go to review page

lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

thewintersings's review against another edition

Go to review page

I'm just not in the right mood for contemporary fiction right now.

lostinagoodbook's review

Go to review page

4.0

The Nakano Thrift Shop is a small, cluttered, quasi-antique store. The owner is an odd duck, which is fitting as so are the customers, and the items they bring in to buy and sell. The main character is a young woman, Hitomi, on the verge of 30, a little lost and a little in love. In love with the shop, with the funny owner, with the cheap items she sells, with the customers and the quirky artists who wander in and out. Most of all, she is in love with a young man, Takeo, who works alongside her in the store. He is a lost soul too. Neither of them has much direction in life and somehow they've washed up on the shores of the Thrift Shop. To some degree they recognize each other as a kindred spirit, but as it goes in real life, feeling the connection is not the same as communicating the connection. Sometimes, it's hard even communicating the depth of it to yourself, and Hitomi is puzzled by her attraction to the quiet, withdrawn Takeo. They have trouble making themselves clear with one another.

The genre for this book would be a slice-of-life. It's something you see more frequently in Japanese entertainment. People familiar with anime and manga will understand what I'm talking about. There are no big plot twists, no huge melodrama. The drama is what you find in normal life. It is tender and sweet. The books charm is in it's quietly observational style. People and items wander in and out of the store. You can easily picture yourself sitting on a tall stool in the shop, watching the dust motes dance in the sunlight, listening to the employees chat with one another, hoping Hitomi and Takeo will figure things out between them. It's a book to unwind to. I'm very glad it's been translated and published here in America.

Song for this book: Mou Sukoshi by Atsumi Saori (an old favorite from my anime watching days)

I received this book from Edelweiss in return for a fair review.