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thebobsphere's review against another edition
4.0
As a child I was bullied heavily, especially when I attended middle school in Canada, I remember at one point my leg was covered entirely with bruises and I couldn’t walk properly. Fortunately when I moved to Malta it died down until I went to six form where it started again (leading to a back injury which I still have to this very day) until I punched the leader in the face. From then on no one bothered me.
The question is why do bullies do what they do? why do they single out a specific someone, what pleasure do they get in humiliating and hurting that person? Mieko Kawakami’s Heaven goes into that phenomenon.
The main protagonist is a boy with a lazy eye. He is bullied to a point where his tormentors should go to jail but he just takes it. One day he bonds with another bullied misfit Kojima, a girl who has kinky hair and body odour. When not in school the two hang out. At one point they go to an outing to an art museum where Kojima shows the narrator a painting she renames heaven.
One afternoon during the start of a new school year, the narrator goes through a rough torment session which leads him to a hospital and they extent of the damage is so bad that he has to return. It is upon this second visit he sees one of the more passive bullies and they have a philosophical conversation about the reasoning behind the teasing. The other big revelation is that the narrator can have his lazy eye corrected. This some Kojima is against as it will normalise him. The book concludes epically which reminded me of a Renaissance painting.
Heaven is an exploration into human nature, why we commit certain actions. Mieko Kawakami’s other book Breasts and Eggs also explored society’s foibles, especially when it comes to certain irregularities. With B & E it was the female anatomy and in Heaven it is not reacting the way one should.
I think the following quote explains the underlying contradiction of Heaven. Technically these characters can go to a better place but as the psychology of the bullied works one has to resign and that, in itself is a sign of strength:
But I wasn’t crying because I was sad. I guess I was crying because we had nowhere else to go, no choice but to go on living in this world. Crying because we had no other world to choose, and crying at everything before us, everything around us
The question is why do bullies do what they do? why do they single out a specific someone, what pleasure do they get in humiliating and hurting that person? Mieko Kawakami’s Heaven goes into that phenomenon.
The main protagonist is a boy with a lazy eye. He is bullied to a point where his tormentors should go to jail but he just takes it. One day he bonds with another bullied misfit Kojima, a girl who has kinky hair and body odour. When not in school the two hang out. At one point they go to an outing to an art museum where Kojima shows the narrator a painting she renames heaven.
One afternoon during the start of a new school year, the narrator goes through a rough torment session which leads him to a hospital and they extent of the damage is so bad that he has to return. It is upon this second visit he sees one of the more passive bullies and they have a philosophical conversation about the reasoning behind the teasing. The other big revelation is that the narrator can have his lazy eye corrected. This some Kojima is against as it will normalise him. The book concludes epically which reminded me of a Renaissance painting.
Heaven is an exploration into human nature, why we commit certain actions. Mieko Kawakami’s other book Breasts and Eggs also explored society’s foibles, especially when it comes to certain irregularities. With B & E it was the female anatomy and in Heaven it is not reacting the way one should.
I think the following quote explains the underlying contradiction of Heaven. Technically these characters can go to a better place but as the psychology of the bullied works one has to resign and that, in itself is a sign of strength:
But I wasn’t crying because I was sad. I guess I was crying because we had nowhere else to go, no choice but to go on living in this world. Crying because we had no other world to choose, and crying at everything before us, everything around us
mittens_the_scamp's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
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? It's complicated
1.5
bungadinding's review against another edition
4.0
Is this book clever and philosophical? I'm sure it is. Is it worth triggering my own past memories & trauma with its graphic description of bullying? I don't know, I'm still contemplating it
andrea_3010's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
coffeebooksrepeat's review against another edition
3.0
Okay, so where do I start?
Let me start here — there is a special place in hell for bullies, and if I could, I would pay a premium so they would directly go there fast.
I have put off reading this bookstagram favorite for months. I had the Europa edition but sold it because of the trigger warnings.
I WAS BULLIED. In high school. For my weight and my hair.
Those who read my Facebook post about bullying a few years ago might think — “Why hasn't she moved on?” “Couldn't she forget all those things? It has been almost 20 years.”
Yes, it has been 20 years, yes, I have moved on, but no, I will never forget the faces, places, and phrases. EVER.
When you are a victim of bullying, you become angry and hateful not only to your attackers but also at yourself. And during these "angry" years, you become voiceless and quiet, and you silently run away — for your life and sanity.
It does not take a genius to know that bullying changes the victims, sometimes almost immediately after the first attack. When Kojima and her unnamed narrator male friend chose to accept their fate in the hands of their attackers without any resistance, I understood. One does not need to slit wrists or write "dark" journals to tell the world of his (or her) suffering. With bullying, silence and submission are the loudest screams.
You submit even if it is painful.
You submit so you can say you “survived” yet another day.
You submit because you have no other choice.
I could not be more direct when I say this — STOP BULLYING! JUST STOP!
#Heaven
@kawakami_mieko trans. #sambett #davidboyd
#STOPBULLYING
Let me start here — there is a special place in hell for bullies, and if I could, I would pay a premium so they would directly go there fast.
I have put off reading this bookstagram favorite for months. I had the Europa edition but sold it because of the trigger warnings.
I WAS BULLIED. In high school. For my weight and my hair.
Those who read my Facebook post about bullying a few years ago might think — “Why hasn't she moved on?” “Couldn't she forget all those things? It has been almost 20 years.”
Yes, it has been 20 years, yes, I have moved on, but no, I will never forget the faces, places, and phrases. EVER.
When you are a victim of bullying, you become angry and hateful not only to your attackers but also at yourself. And during these "angry" years, you become voiceless and quiet, and you silently run away — for your life and sanity.
It does not take a genius to know that bullying changes the victims, sometimes almost immediately after the first attack. When Kojima and her unnamed narrator male friend chose to accept their fate in the hands of their attackers without any resistance, I understood. One does not need to slit wrists or write "dark" journals to tell the world of his (or her) suffering. With bullying, silence and submission are the loudest screams.
You submit even if it is painful.
You submit so you can say you “survived” yet another day.
You submit because you have no other choice.
I could not be more direct when I say this — STOP BULLYING! JUST STOP!
#Heaven
@kawakami_mieko trans. #sambett #davidboyd
#STOPBULLYING
amyaswin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.5