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mromie's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Similar to her bestseller Breast and Eggs, Kawakami explores the themes of becoming as well as defining womanhood for oneself against a world that speaks so loudly on the ways a woman should be. In the vein of great Japanese novels, Kawasaki delves into these thought-provoking concepts ever so subtly through delicate yet poignantly worded descriptions of the mundane and muddled paragraphs of the main character’s inner thoughts and feelings.
The main character Fuyuko is stuck in an endless loop of isolation and passivity. I understood the feeling of wanting decisions to be made for you and to numbingly move through day to day. Fuyuko could even withstand being completely alone with no one to really talk to for a month or so.
Fuyuko reminded me of a quote from Fleabag where the titular character says, “I want someone to tell me what to wear every morning. I want someone to tell me what to eat. What to like, what to hate, what to rage about. What to listen to, what band to like…who to love and how to tell them.” There can be freedom in passivity, letting go of control and seeing where the waves of life take you. But, as we see with Fuyuko, there is also great damage as she numbs and blurs life through alcohol and struggles to build meaningful relationships.
I appreciated how the book ended without the resolution of a grand love story, rather with Fuyuko recognizing how bright and full of energy life can be, how striking it is to have felt something even if it is pain or hardship. It was wonderful to see the differences in how Hijiri and Fuyuko interacted with each other in the end. Instead of thoughtlessly nodding through Hijiri’s rambling, Fuyuko was now an active participant. Made me proud of the MC
The main character Fuyuko is stuck in an endless loop of isolation and passivity. I understood the feeling of wanting decisions to be made for you and to numbingly move through day to day. Fuyuko could even withstand being completely alone with no one to really talk to for a month or so.
Fuyuko reminded me of a quote from Fleabag where the titular character says, “I want someone to tell me what to wear every morning. I want someone to tell me what to eat. What to like, what to hate, what to rage about. What to listen to, what band to like…who to love and how to tell them.” There can be freedom in passivity, letting go of control and seeing where the waves of life take you. But, as we see with Fuyuko, there is also great damage as she numbs and blurs life through alcohol and struggles to build meaningful relationships.
I appreciated how the book ended without the resolution of a grand love story, rather with Fuyuko recognizing how bright and full of energy life can be, how striking it is to have felt something even if it is pain or hardship. It was wonderful to see the differences in how Hijiri and Fuyuko interacted with each other in the end. Instead of thoughtlessly nodding through Hijiri’s rambling, Fuyuko was now an active participant. Made me proud of the MC
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Alcohol
Moderate: Mental illness
lesliekate's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I feel like I didn’t get this at all. it started off so strong, then got so depressing and creepy and weird and uncomfortable, then completely irritating and fucked up, then slightly better. I am lost.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, and Alcohol
Moderate: Body shaming and Fatphobia
Minor: Sexism, Vomit, and Pregnancy
sea_sea's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This was such a good book! It was so beautifully written and I really liked how the ending wasn’t the classic “happy end” but you could still tell that the mc had grown as a person. . It also had very sad parts ;^;… I think the mc was really likeable and relatable, I enjoyed reading the book from her perspective.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Grief, and Alcohol
Moderate: Self harm, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship
sea_tea_books's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
4 ⭐
[A book club/buddy read selection.]
Beautiful and interesting descriptions of light throughout the story.
The story is told from the perspective of the main character and depicts the messiness of life when individuals connect and their complex feelings and choices merge. More than once I became lost in the story and was even caught off guard by the abrupt ending. I'll be checking out more works from this author.
Trigger warnings: alcoholism, rape
[A book club/buddy read selection.]
Beautiful and interesting descriptions of light throughout the story.
The story is told from the perspective of the main character and depicts the messiness of life when individuals connect and their complex feelings and choices merge. More than once I became lost in the story and was even caught off guard by the abrupt ending. I'll be checking out more works from this author.
Trigger warnings: alcoholism, rape
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Alcohol
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Emotional abuse and Abandonment
literarydaph's review against another edition
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Alcoholism and Mental illness
wenwanzhao's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Not a good book to read when you’re already worried about whether or not you will be happy or satisfied when you’re older.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Alcoholism and Mental illness
seaoftranquility's review
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Rape, and Alcohol
Moderate: Bullying
figenthusiast's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Sexual assault
hanfaulder's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
All The Lovers In The Night by Mieko Kawakami is a story about the intensity of emotions, and the human experience of loneliness. Although the story might be marketed as being a love story, and it is true that our main character Fuyuko is awakened into the true extent of her loneliness through a burgeoning romantic relationship with Mitsutsuka, it is in fact the female friendship that she develops with her co-worker, Hijiri, which truly shapes her as a character. The romance is painful, it tortures Fuyuko, but her friendships make her step outside herself, they make her stronger, and ultimately it is Hijiri's love for Fuyuko that helps her begin to trust other people. It is also their relationship which preservers above all others.
Our narrator, and from whose perspective we understand the events of the novel, is Fuyuko Irie, a freelance copy editor in her mid-thirties, with no close friends and no family. She recounts her excruciating days at a publishing house, where she avoided speaking with any of her co-workers, and altogether seemed to fade into the scenery. Then we learn of her transition into freelance, and of her rigid daily routine, as she describes the conciseness and dedication that she has for her work, but also how this does not solve her loneliness. In fact, it seems to be a way of passing the time for her, of numbing herself. So to help work up the nerve to leave her apartment, she starts to drink. More and more, so much so that she is even sick in public; and this is where she meets the solitary, slightly detached older man, Mitsutsuka, who tells her he is a high school physics teacher.
Mitsutsuka and Fuyuko's scenes are vivid and full of little details which make the world of All The Lovers In The Night feel painfully tactile. The two meet at a cafe to drink coffee and talk about light - conversations which clearly hold a great deal of emotional weight for Fuyuko, even if they might seem insignificant, or pretentious, as Mitsutsuka explains things to her, taking on a teacherly role. But as their trust grows, and Mitsutsuka becomes an important person in her life, Fuyuko relishes her connection with him, clings to the feeling that there is one person out there who knows that she is alive, while also lamenting that their relationship may never become anything beyond their encounters in the cafe, stating “But then what? These feelings, these awful feelings, what would happen to them?”
The uncertain progress of comprehending oneself, or of trusting another person, and how to cope with feelings - the awful intensity and unpredictability of them - are central questions that Kawakami raises in her novels. Like light, emotions are invisible things, refutable yet world-altering, life-informing. Like light, emotions make up what we can understand about the world. There is a beautiful symmetry between these two themes as expressed in the story. And it is because of the startling way that Kawakami writes, how vivid and real these mundane experiences are rendered, which only serves to draw the reader deeper into the intensity of the scenes, the relationships and the characters.
Kawakami is an incredibly sensory writer, simplistic but beautiful in her prose, her background in writing poetry is very clear and makes for an incredibly pleasing read. Her attention to the sensory experience of the characters, and how she swiftly relates this to her readers, is particularly enjoyable to experience. Her writing sensibility is keen, concise, and meaningful - if only the translation wasn't a little jarring in certain passages. Kawakami doesn’t just assemble a scene, she breathes it onto the page, these sensations seemingly drive her scenes forward. There is no real plot, but there are these characters whose pain and emotions are so vivid it feels as if you too are experiencing it alongside them. Ultimately, this is the story of a woman who was traumatised, who lived her life disconnected and as if constantly dreaming, and how she longs to brake free of her loneliness, to finally start living in a world which has colour and light, a world in which she loves people and is loved. There are many more things that I could say about this story, many more interpretations and brilliantly cutting quotes that I could extract, but put simply I wouldn't want to tarnish the experience for anyone else. Go read it!
Our narrator, and from whose perspective we understand the events of the novel, is Fuyuko Irie, a freelance copy editor in her mid-thirties, with no close friends and no family. She recounts her excruciating days at a publishing house, where she avoided speaking with any of her co-workers, and altogether seemed to fade into the scenery. Then we learn of her transition into freelance, and of her rigid daily routine, as she describes the conciseness and dedication that she has for her work, but also how this does not solve her loneliness. In fact, it seems to be a way of passing the time for her, of numbing herself. So to help work up the nerve to leave her apartment, she starts to drink. More and more, so much so that she is even sick in public; and this is where she meets the solitary, slightly detached older man, Mitsutsuka, who tells her he is a high school physics teacher.
Mitsutsuka and Fuyuko's scenes are vivid and full of little details which make the world of All The Lovers In The Night feel painfully tactile. The two meet at a cafe to drink coffee and talk about light - conversations which clearly hold a great deal of emotional weight for Fuyuko, even if they might seem insignificant, or pretentious, as Mitsutsuka explains things to her, taking on a teacherly role. But as their trust grows, and Mitsutsuka becomes an important person in her life, Fuyuko relishes her connection with him, clings to the feeling that there is one person out there who knows that she is alive, while also lamenting that their relationship may never become anything beyond their encounters in the cafe, stating “But then what? These feelings, these awful feelings, what would happen to them?”
The uncertain progress of comprehending oneself, or of trusting another person, and how to cope with feelings - the awful intensity and unpredictability of them - are central questions that Kawakami raises in her novels. Like light, emotions are invisible things, refutable yet world-altering, life-informing. Like light, emotions make up what we can understand about the world. There is a beautiful symmetry between these two themes as expressed in the story. And it is because of the startling way that Kawakami writes, how vivid and real these mundane experiences are rendered, which only serves to draw the reader deeper into the intensity of the scenes, the relationships and the characters.
Kawakami is an incredibly sensory writer, simplistic but beautiful in her prose, her background in writing poetry is very clear and makes for an incredibly pleasing read. Her attention to the sensory experience of the characters, and how she swiftly relates this to her readers, is particularly enjoyable to experience. Her writing sensibility is keen, concise, and meaningful - if only the translation wasn't a little jarring in certain passages. Kawakami doesn’t just assemble a scene, she breathes it onto the page, these sensations seemingly drive her scenes forward. There is no real plot, but there are these characters whose pain and emotions are so vivid it feels as if you too are experiencing it alongside them. Ultimately, this is the story of a woman who was traumatised, who lived her life disconnected and as if constantly dreaming, and how she longs to brake free of her loneliness, to finally start living in a world which has colour and light, a world in which she loves people and is loved. There are many more things that I could say about this story, many more interpretations and brilliantly cutting quotes that I could extract, but put simply I wouldn't want to tarnish the experience for anyone else. Go read it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Rape, and Vomit
felicityj's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Mental illness