A review by snaillydia
N.P by Banana Yoshimoto

4.0

Banana Yoshimoto is quickly becoming a favorite author. I've been slowly submerging myself into her body of work for the last two years. N.P is the first full novel of hers I've read, and it's her book that I have the most complicated feelings on.

This novel has some exceptional elements. It examines several difficult subjects (and, like, Game of Thrones levels of incest) and lets the reader make up their own mind. The narrator almost started to feel like an observer, not doing or thinking so much as witnessing. This would normally annoy me, but the narrator actually acknowledges it, and it becomes part of the story.

Banana Yoshimoto somehow sprinkles some life into every character, they all feel like real, complex people. I unexpectedly loved Sui a lot, and I loved the sapphic turn her relationship with the man character took. That rooftop scene, man.(little-women-jo-saying-women.gif).

My two major complaints:

- The translation felt a bit clunky at times compared to other books by Yoshimoto I've read, which were translated by other people.
- I wish Otohiko got a bit more time to shine. We see other characters talk about him a lot, but we don't actually see him on the page much. His limited development hurts the ending a bit.

Definitely pick this up if you're looking for something character driven, that sometimes may feel like a foggy, layered fever dream.