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A review by candacesiegle_greedyreader
A True Novel by Minae Mizumura
5.0
A True Novel
First of all, the highest praise to Juliet Winters Carpenter and Ann Sherif, whose translation of “A True Novel” sets the bar higher for literature in translation. So often books translated from Japanese have a stiff, quaint feel, but their work on “A True Novel” is gorgeous; fluid, emotionally true. The characters spring off the page, completely realistic and believable whether they wear kimono or jeans.
“A True Novel” is being touted as a retelling of “Wuthering Heights,” which is only part of the story. Don’t get too into this or you’ll go nuts trying to figure out who is Mr. Lockwood or Nelly Dean or Mr. Earnshaw. Can this really be Cathy? The story flits back and forth in time, making harder to settle on a single candidate for the role. Is it the author, who cleverly places herself in the narrative? When you see who it will be (neatly revealed at the end of the first volume) you’ll be compelled to wonder how that’s going to work as you crack volume two.
Set in Japan and New York at the end of World War II, the story is beautifully reeled out to include characters from various classes and levels of education, from different regions and with varying degrees of Westernization. The two volumes give it that Victorian novel vibe.
But this book is not like anything else I’ve read. I felt as though I had entered a new world, where the emotions were universal but the setting was rare. I highly recommend “A True Novel” to anyone who loves fiction filled with nuance and truth. Minae Mizumura has written several other novels, and I hope translations are in the works.
First of all, the highest praise to Juliet Winters Carpenter and Ann Sherif, whose translation of “A True Novel” sets the bar higher for literature in translation. So often books translated from Japanese have a stiff, quaint feel, but their work on “A True Novel” is gorgeous; fluid, emotionally true. The characters spring off the page, completely realistic and believable whether they wear kimono or jeans.
“A True Novel” is being touted as a retelling of “Wuthering Heights,” which is only part of the story. Don’t get too into this or you’ll go nuts trying to figure out who is Mr. Lockwood or Nelly Dean or Mr. Earnshaw. Can this really be Cathy? The story flits back and forth in time, making harder to settle on a single candidate for the role. Is it the author, who cleverly places herself in the narrative? When you see who it will be (neatly revealed at the end of the first volume) you’ll be compelled to wonder how that’s going to work as you crack volume two.
Set in Japan and New York at the end of World War II, the story is beautifully reeled out to include characters from various classes and levels of education, from different regions and with varying degrees of Westernization. The two volumes give it that Victorian novel vibe.
But this book is not like anything else I’ve read. I felt as though I had entered a new world, where the emotions were universal but the setting was rare. I highly recommend “A True Novel” to anyone who loves fiction filled with nuance and truth. Minae Mizumura has written several other novels, and I hope translations are in the works.