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theciz 's review for:
The Premonition
by Banana Yoshimoto
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was excited to read my first Yoshimoto, given how celebrated she is, but I was surprised at how terrible I thought this was. I only finished it because it was short. I feel like Yoshimoto is the kind of author whose prose is dreamy and lyrical, but of a type that tips over into incoherence more often than not. There was an attempt to build atmosphere, but at no point did I find it convincing, the whole idea of the house and lost memories just ended up half baked and filled with dead ends.
I suppose the whole book feels like that - setting up a sense of magical realism, only to peter out into lame "taboo" relationships. This may be the fault of the translation, but the writing was stiff and clunky beyond belief, with stilted dialogue and an irritating "tell over show" narration style.
Hopefully other Yoshimotos are better, as this one was a definite miss for me.
I suppose the whole book feels like that - setting up a sense of magical realism, only to peter out into lame "taboo" relationships. This may be the fault of the translation, but the writing was stiff and clunky beyond belief, with stilted dialogue and an irritating "tell over show" narration style.
Hopefully other Yoshimotos are better, as this one was a definite miss for me.