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A review by kidclamp
The Lake by Banana Yoshimoto
3.0
I was disappointed in this book. The latest translation of Banana Yoshimoto, written originally in 2005, this is the first book where I felt the translation itself might be a large part of the problem.
An aspiring artist connects with her unusual neighbor after a long period of seeing each other only in their adjacent windows. As she works on a mural and deals with the loss of her mother she uncovers the truth about his past and the pain he carries inside of him.
It's got Yoshimoto's usual introspective reflections on love and life, but lacks the magical qualities of her earlier works, and the lines the characters speak seem so unnatural as to be distracting. Possibly it was poor word choice by the translator, but everything felt so stilted and forced that I could never picture the characters having these conversations.
An aspiring artist connects with her unusual neighbor after a long period of seeing each other only in their adjacent windows. As she works on a mural and deals with the loss of her mother she uncovers the truth about his past and the pain he carries inside of him.
It's got Yoshimoto's usual introspective reflections on love and life, but lacks the magical qualities of her earlier works, and the lines the characters speak seem so unnatural as to be distracting. Possibly it was poor word choice by the translator, but everything felt so stilted and forced that I could never picture the characters having these conversations.