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A review by rawrr_reads
Heaven by Mieko Kawakami
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
This book explores what it means to be bullied and what it means to be a bully. But it also touches on how people who are being abused by others sometimes find solace within them, just because they have a baseline they can relate to. The 'weak' stick together and endure what the 'strong' impose on them. This is something that we see happening in life, not just in terms of bullies and school, but in general life itself.
There is this scene in the book where the main character confronts one of the bullies; Momose, and questions him about why they bully him, and the answer Momose gives is honestly very disturbing. He says that there is no real reason why they bully him, they bully him just because they want to and because they can. He says these selfish and sadistic things, and for a minute there, the protagonist is convinced by him. However, he continues to question what Momose says after their confrontation, and he's always going back and forth between believing Momose and thinking what he said was utterly wrong and inhumane.
I didn't really like how the cook ended because it ended on an open note. Just thinking about what the main character is going to face in his life even after his eye surgery keeps me worried for him, because like Momose says, they don't really need a reason to bully him, it wasn't because of his eyes. At the end of the day, if no one finds out, they're not going to face the consequences of bullying him. And that in itself is very depressing, and the fact that people actually go through things mentioned in this book and things even worse than that makes me sick to my stomach.
There is this scene in the book where the main character confronts one of the bullies; Momose, and questions him about why they bully him, and the answer Momose gives is honestly very disturbing. He says that there is no real reason why they bully him, they bully him just because they want to and because they can. He says these selfish and sadistic things, and for a minute there, the protagonist is convinced by him. However, he continues to question what Momose says after their confrontation, and he's always going back and forth between believing Momose and thinking what he said was utterly wrong and inhumane.
I didn't really like how the cook ended because it ended on an open note. Just thinking about what the main character is going to face in his life even after his eye surgery keeps me worried for him, because like Momose says, they don't really need a reason to bully him, it wasn't because of his eyes. At the end of the day, if no one finds out, they're not going to face the consequences of bullying him. And that in itself is very depressing, and the fact that people actually go through things mentioned in this book and things even worse than that makes me sick to my stomach.