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shelvedbysara 's review for:
All the Lovers in the Night
by Mieko Kawakami
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It was an okay read overall. Although I wasn’t exactly blown away by it, there were definitely things I enjoyed. This was such a beautiful portrayal of how human connections are built slowly. I loved how Kawakami captured the natural awkwardness of social interaction — the silences, the tentative exchanges, the intimacy of talking about completely mundane things with someone you’re only just beginning to know.
It really frustrated me how every character, except Mitsutsuka, constantly talked at Fuyuko — as if she were almost invisible — and how she simply allowed this to happen. At the same time, I saw this as a testament to Kawakami’s brilliance. The first-person narration makes it feel as though we are the ones being talked at: rendered invisible and voiceless by Fuyuko’s passiveness.
The writing style wasn’t my favourite, but I could appreciate its strengths. While I thought the story felt a little flat given the weight of the themes it set out to explore (loneliness, human connection), I think it ultimately succeeds in the version it chooses to tell. It’s a beautiful and desolate account of what it feels like to crave connection yet be terrified of it.
Perhaps, in experiencing Fuyuko’s loneliness, I felt a little less alone myself. I don’t know if that was the book’s intention, but if it was, I’d say it achieved it.
It really frustrated me how every character, except Mitsutsuka, constantly talked at Fuyuko — as if she were almost invisible — and how she simply allowed this to happen. At the same time, I saw this as a testament to Kawakami’s brilliance. The first-person narration makes it feel as though we are the ones being talked at: rendered invisible and voiceless by Fuyuko’s passiveness.
The writing style wasn’t my favourite, but I could appreciate its strengths. While I thought the story felt a little flat given the weight of the themes it set out to explore (loneliness, human connection), I think it ultimately succeeds in the version it chooses to tell. It’s a beautiful and desolate account of what it feels like to crave connection yet be terrified of it.
Perhaps, in experiencing Fuyuko’s loneliness, I felt a little less alone myself. I don’t know if that was the book’s intention, but if it was, I’d say it achieved it.