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A review by lakmus
Heaven by Mieko Kawakami
4.0
Lord of the Flies was never about kids running wild on an island.
I'm not sure what I think, so, a list, in no particular order:
1. Subjectively, reading this lost me a bag of cortisol and got me some grey hair. Ethical dilemmas aside, this book could be used as textbook material for "how to traumatise people 101".
2. I like that this goes beyond "kids bully other kids bad, let's all be friends". The way kids treat each other is not different from how adults behave towards each other. School really is a special type of hell if the wrong group of people is thrown together, because for the most part, we have no idea how to keep people that might have nothing in common from establishing some baboon-style hierarchies and throwing shit at each other just because they can.
3. In terms of ethics, two choices are considered: people can be doing something, or they could be doing nothing. 'The something' could be actively hurting others just because you feel like it (Momose), it could be actively not doing things because that is a way to keep yourself in one piece internally when you can't really change things outside (Kojima). Or, you could be truly doing nothing (the protagonist, I'm not sure he ever got named). In the end, it seems like the guy really didn't do anything at all, things just kind of happened to him, but not because he was following a philosophy of Let Things Happen On Purpose (Kojima), but because he couldn't choose any course of action. There is no obvious solution to the dilemma: Kojima's mental health is likely in ruins and I doubt she lived to adulthood, doing whatever you want is obviously a bad choice, and doing nothing like the protagonist leaves everything to chance.
4. Kojima oddly reminded me of the manic pixie dream girl trope and I can't unsee it now? She appears when she's needed, imparts wisdom and comfort on the faceless protagonist, and then disappears once her narrative job is done. We learn things about her, but somehow not really. Or maybe it is just because she doesn't fit into the common idea of a victim and refuses to sulk.
I'm not sure what I think, so, a list, in no particular order:
1. Subjectively, reading this lost me a bag of cortisol and got me some grey hair. Ethical dilemmas aside, this book could be used as textbook material for "how to traumatise people 101".
2. I like that this goes beyond "kids bully other kids bad, let's all be friends". The way kids treat each other is not different from how adults behave towards each other. School really is a special type of hell if the wrong group of people is thrown together, because for the most part, we have no idea how to keep people that might have nothing in common from establishing some baboon-style hierarchies and throwing shit at each other just because they can.
3. In terms of ethics, two choices are considered: people can be doing something, or they could be doing nothing. 'The something' could be actively hurting others just because you feel like it (Momose), it could be actively not doing things because that is a way to keep yourself in one piece internally when you can't really change things outside (Kojima). Or, you could be truly doing nothing (the protagonist, I'm not sure he ever got named). In the end, it seems like the guy really didn't do anything at all, things just kind of happened to him, but not because he was following a philosophy of Let Things Happen On Purpose (Kojima), but because he couldn't choose any course of action. There is no obvious solution to the dilemma: Kojima's mental health is likely in ruins and I doubt she lived to adulthood, doing whatever you want is obviously a bad choice, and doing nothing like the protagonist leaves everything to chance.
4. Kojima oddly reminded me of the manic pixie dream girl trope and I can't unsee it now? She appears when she's needed, imparts wisdom and comfort on the faceless protagonist, and then disappears once her narrative job is done. We learn things about her, but somehow not really. Or maybe it is just because she doesn't fit into the common idea of a victim and refuses to sulk.