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leonardtalbot 's review for:
Breasts and Eggs
by Mieko Kawakami
A book with a lot to unpack. I picked this up after coming across at a Barnes and Noble and being smitten with the title and the cover. Haruki Murakami's blurb on the back aided in my desire to dive in (although he has received a lot of criticism as of late he was a dear love of mine many moons ago and do value his endorsements).
This novel stands as an examination of womanhood, the expectations of others upon them and the internal dialogue constantly at play in a woman's mind against the stereotypes imposed. The book is essentially split into two sections separated by 8 years, the first mostly exploring the female body through a story involving one of our main characters, Makiko (who happens to be the older sister of our other primary character, Natsuko) and her desire to conform to western beauty standards. She is seeking out breast augmentation and also lightening of her areola. Natsuko is the voice of concern in this story pushing Makiko to really justify the need for this. Makiko's daughter's opinion is captured in journal form during this time and I greatly appreciated the vantage of a young woman on this narrative partnered alongside the view of our primary characters who happen to be in their 30s and 40s.
Our second segment which is cast 8 years later mostly highlights Natsuko, staring at her 40s, childless and without a romantic partner (there are reasons for this that the novel explores which are worth leaving out for spoiler purpose). I didn't particularly love this segment as much largely due to the fact that there was far more dialogue but it was spectacularly delivered, none the less. In the end we meet Natsuko rekindling some of the conversation she had many years before, at a different twilight in her life and the author is superb and rehashing the prior arguments through a new, more mature lens.
Overall, this was a really great read with a perspective I myself do not employ, being an American male, and it was written in such an eloquent way that it's relate-ability was paramount to other novels that have read which try to explore the same topics. I think this is a great book for men to read who are seeking to understand the pressures imposed upon females.
This novel stands as an examination of womanhood, the expectations of others upon them and the internal dialogue constantly at play in a woman's mind against the stereotypes imposed. The book is essentially split into two sections separated by 8 years, the first mostly exploring the female body through a story involving one of our main characters, Makiko (who happens to be the older sister of our other primary character, Natsuko) and her desire to conform to western beauty standards. She is seeking out breast augmentation and also lightening of her areola. Natsuko is the voice of concern in this story pushing Makiko to really justify the need for this. Makiko's daughter's opinion is captured in journal form during this time and I greatly appreciated the vantage of a young woman on this narrative partnered alongside the view of our primary characters who happen to be in their 30s and 40s.
Our second segment which is cast 8 years later mostly highlights Natsuko, staring at her 40s, childless and without a romantic partner (there are reasons for this that the novel explores which are worth leaving out for spoiler purpose). I didn't particularly love this segment as much largely due to the fact that there was far more dialogue but it was spectacularly delivered, none the less. In the end we meet Natsuko rekindling some of the conversation she had many years before, at a different twilight in her life and the author is superb and rehashing the prior arguments through a new, more mature lens.
Overall, this was a really great read with a perspective I myself do not employ, being an American male, and it was written in such an eloquent way that it's relate-ability was paramount to other novels that have read which try to explore the same topics. I think this is a great book for men to read who are seeking to understand the pressures imposed upon females.