Scan barcode
caroisreading's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I'm still grasping at the layers of symbolism within "The Hole" with its cicadas, its ambiguous beast, and a grandfather who endlessly waters his garden even in the rain.
Our narrator is a woman in her 30s who moves to the countryside due to her husband's job. They live rent-free in her in-laws' spare home next door. She quits her own job due to the distance, and doesn't know how to spend her days other than cleaning the home, grocery shopping, and cooking dinner. Strange things start happening after she has to go to the closest 7-Eleven, and we end up with very weird, somewhat disconnected events happening that feel dreamlike, starting with her falling in a hole that's perfectly sized. Cicadas are the constant in this story, only falling silent when things aren't...right.
After separately reading more about cicadas, I understand that they symbolize rebirth, leaving their shells, burying in the earth.
I think Hiroko Oyamada has written a very artful book, the kind that reflects back to you your most personal insecurities and worries. For me, this was about feeling lost and dismissed as a woman, at work and at home. Her husband inhales the dinner she makes him, never looking up from his phone. Do they even love each other? She's given up everything to fit into his life, and he is simply not there. She's expected by other women to want to be a mother, but she feels indifferent to it, and isn't sure she could raise a child there. A seemingly comfortable lifestyle as a trad wife is painted as a rather unsettling world, something she can't make sense of.
This is a quick read, so I recommend you give it a try, especially if you like Japanese fiction, and thought-provoking pieces on society and women.
Our narrator is a woman in her 30s who moves to the countryside due to her husband's job. They live rent-free in her in-laws' spare home next door. She quits her own job due to the distance, and doesn't know how to spend her days other than cleaning the home, grocery shopping, and cooking dinner. Strange things start happening after she has to go to the closest 7-Eleven, and we end up with very weird, somewhat disconnected events happening that feel dreamlike, starting with her falling in a hole that's perfectly sized. Cicadas are the constant in this story, only falling silent when things aren't...right.
After separately reading more about cicadas, I understand that they symbolize rebirth, leaving their shells, burying in the earth.
I think Hiroko Oyamada has written a very artful book, the kind that reflects back to you your most personal insecurities and worries. For me, this was about feeling lost and dismissed as a woman, at work and at home. Her husband inhales the dinner she makes him, never looking up from his phone. Do they even love each other? She's given up everything to fit into his life, and he is simply not there. She's expected by other women to want to be a mother, but she feels indifferent to it, and isn't sure she could raise a child there. A seemingly comfortable lifestyle as a trad wife is painted as a rather unsettling world, something she can't make sense of.
This is a quick read, so I recommend you give it a try, especially if you like Japanese fiction, and thought-provoking pieces on society and women.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Excrement and Infertility
woodsybookworm's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Another 'what on earth did I just read?' book - I definitely have a type 😅
The Hole follows Asahi 'Asa' as she and her newlywed husband Muneaki move to the countryside, becoming next door neighbors to Muneaki's parents.
Asa struggles to find herself in this new life - newly married, new home, no job - her entire identity as it once was has disappeared and in its place she has become simply "the bride". Muneaki's mother, Tomiko, prides herself in her role as a housewife and from the window next door Asa sees her future laid out before her very eyes.
Asa moves through this new slow life by taking daily walks to 7-Eleven, moseying along the river, and through the trees with only the sound of cicadas for company until one day she sees a strange animal in the woods that's been digging holes...
I think we could discuss this book in its own forum at nauseum. We could discuss gender politics, the identity crisis, the fact a woman can be whatever they desire - a worker, a mother, a housewife - all day long and that's one of the interesting things about this story. It's so short but in those few pages so much is really being said.
I will say this isn't a happy book. If you're interested in an odd read that raises more questions than answers then I'd give The Hole a try.
The Hole follows Asahi 'Asa' as she and her newlywed husband Muneaki move to the countryside, becoming next door neighbors to Muneaki's parents.
Asa struggles to find herself in this new life - newly married, new home, no job - her entire identity as it once was has disappeared and in its place she has become simply "the bride". Muneaki's mother, Tomiko, prides herself in her role as a housewife and from the window next door Asa sees her future laid out before her very eyes.
Asa moves through this new slow life by taking daily walks to 7-Eleven, moseying along the river, and through the trees with only the sound of cicadas for company until one day she sees a strange animal in the woods that's been digging holes...
I think we could discuss this book in its own forum at nauseum. We could discuss gender politics, the identity crisis, the fact a woman can be whatever they desire - a worker, a mother, a housewife - all day long and that's one of the interesting things about this story. It's so short but in those few pages so much is really being said.
I will say this isn't a happy book. If you're interested in an odd read that raises more questions than answers then I'd give The Hole a try.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Death of parent, and Dementia
danimacuk's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Dementia
Minor: Confinement, Grief, and Animal death
caroliners's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
v171's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
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? No
3.0
This was a curious read with some hits and misses. In the moment, I didn't really pick up on the allegory about one's place in society, but after reflecting, I found that it was actually fairly heavy handed, yet lost in excessive descriptions of the setting and internal commentary. Not that I minded, though. I found the hyper focus on the descriptions of the summer, the grass, and the cry of the cicadas to be filled with nostalgic lethargy, reminding me of my own home. That was probably my favorite part of this story where everything else fell just a bit flat. While the overall theme was heavy handed, there were aspects of the story that didn't seem to fit and weren't explained, leading to an almost misplaced feeling of whimsy. This kind of mysticism in literature isn't bad by any means, but pairing mysticism with the over explained allegory made it feel disjointed. At the end of the day, I found it to be a beautiful, sensory read which partially made up for lacking construction.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Confinement
More...