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A review by mvvelde
Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Breasts and Eggs centers around the experience of being a woman and feminism, as it intersects with the working-class. The reader follows Natsuko from her childhood to her journey to wanting to be a parent. The novel begins by following a young Natsuko through bits of her childhood to her life as an adult--each part shared through ruminations of different (and sometimes taboo) subjects, including bodily autonomy, parenthood as a single mother, sperm donation, sex and sexuality. Kawakami's writing is visceral. For me it read almost in a stream-of-concious style, and it was refreshing in that it gave true insight into Natsuko's perspective. I think that this is a very important piece of literature and am glad to see such work being not only written, but translated.
That all being said, I was disappointed in my reading experience. Perhaps this was due to hype surrounding it in friend circles or bookstagram, or me just not knowing what to expect and being in a very different mood to read a book like this? I found it especially tough around the 35%-50% mark to get through, mainly because not much happens. But, I would urge anyone to try to push through because the very ending of this novel is just incredible.
That all being said, I was disappointed in my reading experience. Perhaps this was due to hype surrounding it in friend circles or bookstagram, or me just not knowing what to expect and being in a very different mood to read a book like this? I found it especially tough around the 35%-50% mark to get through, mainly because not much happens. But, I would urge anyone to try to push through because the very ending of this novel is just incredible.