A review by afi_whatafireads
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

emotional lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

"Life can be so hard.

But if a person hasn't ever experienced true despair, she grows old never knowing how to evaluate where she is in life; never understanding what joy really is. I'm grateful for it."


One of the shortest books that I've read, but it was one of the most impactful books I've read in a short time. I loved the message of the book, where the theme is centred around grief. I've read a lot of books on this theme, but I would say, how Yoshimoto had narrated the story, in a way that feels so real and mundane, and on people that had been left behind.


"When was it I realized that, on this truly dark and solitary path we all walk, the only way we can light is our own? Although I was raised with love, I was always lonely."


Kitchen consisted of two short stories, and the similarities of the two stories, is on characters and how different people take different measures to handle trauma and pain. Grieving is a no easy process, and this process will always take you to a part that implores and feeds on your very soul. Yoshimoto took characters that can find comfort in each other and of people that finds warmth in people that are the least unexepected.

I loved her Writing Style and how significant it is to show that without grieving there is now easy way to continue with our life. Sometimes there are times that we will miss the person that is gone forever to an extent that we will want to follow them to the other world, but Yoshimoto also showed there is a strength to being alive. The second story made me teared up so much, with a spark of magical realism that makes the story felt more alive.

I would say, this book is well deserved of its love. It has a mellow tone that depicts how humans cope when they are in pain. The process that they are going through, the hardships and mostly, in how to survive the loneliness of being left behind and being alone.

Highly recommended and will definitely be a book that leaves a big impact for me this year, and I found it in a time of my life that I needed to ground myself back again. And I hope that anyone who will be reading this, will find that kind of peace as well.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings