A review by sharkybookshelf
Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami

3.0

In the distant future, humans are nearly extinct and live in small groups, supervised by “Mothers”…

I should preface this review with a caveat that dystopian/apocalyptic fiction isn’t really my thing - I might dabble from time to time, but this one made me realise that near-term dystopia works better for me. This was so far in the future and on such a scale that my brain struggled to make sense of it (I guess I need some sort of anchoring reference point if it’s in our world, otherwise make it futuristic sci-fi). I felt at a remove throughout and struggled to feel engaged.

That said, whilst it’s not the genre for me, I do appreciate that Kawakami is essentially exploring the idea of humanity: what makes us human, our need for connection and community, how ingrained is human nature, the tenacity of humans, motherhood, our place within the environment, the strengths and weaknesses of human nature and how they might play into the future of humanity. The writing is easy to read and accessible but there are big thoughts and a deceptive amount of depth behind it.

I very much enjoyed the way the book came together - each chapter (I can’t decide whether to call them interconnected short stories?) felt like a puzzle piece, with three overall picture coming into focus as each piece slots in. But the ending did leave me rather…deflated.

An accessible but deceptively deep exploration of the idea of humanity and how the (distant) future could play out.