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461 reviews for:

N.P

Banana Yoshimoto

3.49 AVERAGE

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Loveable characters: Yes
challenging dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
dark mysterious reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

this was so strange and beautiful and a bit disturbing, it's so interesting how she can write about weird messed up stuff but still it's also about the beauty of life and living. that's also what struck me so much in kitchen was her lines about appreciating small moments, sunshine and the company of others and little things they do. 
I struggled to get into this at the beginning, the exposition of the story was quite bleak, a lot of it is bleak and sad. but then when sui became part of the story I loved it so much. such a complicated relationship of characters. i just love banana's observations about the world, it really connects with me and how I see the world I think. pain and love and happiness and memory. this is one I think I need to reread, because at the start I was struggling to be invested, but clearly it was worth being invested in.
also loved to see queer themes in here! the obsession and fascination and deep friendship between the women being love, being infatuation, being them having true feelings for each other. perfect for this story. was surprised to see it explicitly written in even tho I was sending those vibes, very cool
 
need to keep reading bananas work, i really love it
hopeful reflective sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark mysterious reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

difficile da digerire, un finale inaspettato e un vuoto incolmabile

“In Yoshimoto’s story, N.P. is the last collection of short stories by a celebrated Japanese writer. Written in English while he was living in Boston, the book may never see print in his native Japan: each time new translator takes up the task, death gets in the way.”

From reading the blurb inside the flap, I thought N.P. would have a strong paranormal or supernatural element. A haunted book that kills off all its translators? Spooky.

But N.P. isn’t paranormal, at least not in the Stephen King kind of way I was anticipating. Instead the short story collection haunts the main cast of four as a curse... kind of.

Kazami, our protagonist, is drawn into the lives of three children of the deceased writer of N.P. Sui, Kazami, Saki, and Otokhiko are all messed up, but find comfort in each other’s company. In this story, relationships have a healing power, and pull the characters from their dream-like states of living in memory, into the present.

The book that binds them all hangs over them like a curse, but I find that the true curse is depression, which makes their lives harder. The nature of depression as a curse suggests that mental illness and messed-up-ness isn’t indicative of good or evil character, but a burden the characters must bear.

I enjoyed the story-book quality of Kazami’s perception of reality, in which she sees things as dreams or fiction. “The whole summer seemed like something that happened in a dream.”

Also, everyone is strangely nonchalant about the incest thing.

N.P. is a short novel that packs a punch.
dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark reflective relaxing sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Mungkin sebab aku banyak sangat baca karya Jepun yang dull, gloomy and monotonous sejak akhir-akhir ini, jadi ceritanya sudah tak appealing lagi.