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geowhovian 's review for:
Four Seasons in Japan
by Nick Bradley
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A cosy little slice-of-life novel about the importance of appreciating life and the people around you. The chapters of Flo’s life and Kyo’s story are a pleasant mirror of each other, if a little too on the nose at times.
I have a couple of friends who work in translation, and it was good to see the difficulties in crafting an accurate retelling of a story between Japanese and English depicted so honestly - many readers may not have considered that aspect before, and I hope more people do after reading this.
I also enjoyed the way traditional Japanese words and terms were included in the text, and ended up on several enjoyable rabbit holes looking up various terms (in particular I was fascinated by the momiji manju cakes, and the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Dome, which is decidedly haunting in its preservation).
I have a couple of friends who work in translation, and it was good to see the difficulties in crafting an accurate retelling of a story between Japanese and English depicted so honestly - many readers may not have considered that aspect before, and I hope more people do after reading this.
I also enjoyed the way traditional Japanese words and terms were included in the text, and ended up on several enjoyable rabbit holes looking up various terms (in particular I was fascinated by the momiji manju cakes, and the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Dome, which is decidedly haunting in its preservation).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Self harm, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail