read: 03.01.19 - 09.01.19

Summary

In a dreamlike adventure, one woman travels through an apparently unending night with a porcelain girlfriend, mist-monsters and villainous monkeys; a sister mourns her invisible brother whom only she can still see, while the rest of her family welcome his would-be wife into their home; and an accident with a snake leads a shop girl to discover the snake-families everyone else seems to be concealing.

Sensual, yearning, and filled with the tricks of memory and grief, Record of a Night Too Brief is an atmospheric trio of unforgettable tales.

Review

I have never been big into magical realism type works before, but when I saw the cover of this book around six months ago I couldn't not buy it. Six months later, I was looking for something different to read. So I picked up this book - wait, change that - I picked up this experience.

This book has three stories it which are connected by the dreamlike quality which consumes them. They were beautiful fragmented and random in the best possible way, largely not making rational sense which is the beauty of it. The stories told are so rich and full of gorgeous detail which I was sucked into.

The writing in this is something else, and managed to be incredibly descriptive and literary whilst also remaining very engaging and interesting. It was so much fun reading these stories and looking for hidden meanings. The ambiguity of these stories makes it so interesting because I feel like every reader will read this and interpret in their own way. I would love to go back and properly analyse this book and unpick all the symbolism.

I don't think this book is for everyone though, and if really abstract, quite-plotless books aren't really something that you enjoy then I think this isn't the book for you. But if you want something abstract and fantasy-like then maybe give this a read. I'll be sure to look out for more of Kawakami's books in the future.

rating: 8.5/10