Status
Available
Genres
Publication
Europa Editions (2019), 240 pages
Description
"Hiromi Kawakami tells the story of an enigmatic man through the voices of ten remarkable women who have known him. Each woman has succumbed, even if only for an hour, to the seductive, imprudent, and furtively feline man who drifted so naturally into their lives. Still clinging to the vivid memory of his warm breath and his indecipherable silences, ten women tell their stories as they attempt to recreate the image of the unfathomable Nishino."--Publisher description.
User reviews
LibraryThing member RandyMetcalfe
Nishino is an enigma. Presented here at different points in his life are ten perspectives on him. Each is from the point of view of a woman who loved or was loved by him, though “love” appears to be an essentially contested concept throughout. At times Nishino claims that he doesn’t know if
Possibly, these ten perspectives are meant to generate a rounded view of Nishino. But to me, he remained inscrutable. We learn a few important tidbits about his personal history. He had a much older sister who after a troubled marriage, an infant death, and the breakdown of the marriage, commits suicide. It is very likely that in one way or another Nishino’s “loves” are a response to or reflection or refraction of that seminal incident in his life. But since we know so little otherwise about him — he dresses well, is polite, works hard in an office job, is a generous lover — it is difficult to come to any satisfactory conclusion. He is also duplicitous, frequently two-timing his sexual partners, unwilling or unable to commit himself, consistently opaque to himself, and ever haunted by the sister he feels he failed somehow.
If the novel does not present a comprehensive view of Nishino, perhaps its goal is instead to canvas aspects of womanhood. The women at the centre of each of the ten chapters are very different in some respects, though they might be said to share a common fascination with and flexible relationship to “love”. Yes, “love” as a concept, since they are typically always questioning either whether they are in love or whether they should decide to be in love or even what love is. It’s as though their interaction with Nishino triggers these reflections. Perhaps then this is a study of ten different ways of love being in the world, in which the persistence of the character of Nishino is merely incidental.
One thing is clear. Kawakami does not make claims to comprehensiveness. There is a lightness (despite sometimes dark subject matter) to her writing that belies ponderous statements. Or perhaps there is a flickering to lives themselves that makes firm conclusions inappropriate.
Gently recommended.
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he is capable of love. At times one of his female companions attempts to throttle her love only to find the controls subsequently shattered. Sometimes (often) love is expressed sexually. But not always. And despite the definite article in the English title, it is evident that Nishino’s love-making has not been restricted to ten women over the course of his life. So why these women? Why their particular stories?Possibly, these ten perspectives are meant to generate a rounded view of Nishino. But to me, he remained inscrutable. We learn a few important tidbits about his personal history. He had a much older sister who after a troubled marriage, an infant death, and the breakdown of the marriage, commits suicide. It is very likely that in one way or another Nishino’s “loves” are a response to or reflection or refraction of that seminal incident in his life. But since we know so little otherwise about him — he dresses well, is polite, works hard in an office job, is a generous lover — it is difficult to come to any satisfactory conclusion. He is also duplicitous, frequently two-timing his sexual partners, unwilling or unable to commit himself, consistently opaque to himself, and ever haunted by the sister he feels he failed somehow.
If the novel does not present a comprehensive view of Nishino, perhaps its goal is instead to canvas aspects of womanhood. The women at the centre of each of the ten chapters are very different in some respects, though they might be said to share a common fascination with and flexible relationship to “love”. Yes, “love” as a concept, since they are typically always questioning either whether they are in love or whether they should decide to be in love or even what love is. It’s as though their interaction with Nishino triggers these reflections. Perhaps then this is a study of ten different ways of love being in the world, in which the persistence of the character of Nishino is merely incidental.
One thing is clear. Kawakami does not make claims to comprehensiveness. There is a lightness (despite sometimes dark subject matter) to her writing that belies ponderous statements. Or perhaps there is a flickering to lives themselves that makes firm conclusions inappropriate.
Gently recommended.
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LibraryThing member greeniezona
I picked up this book at the bookstore during #witmonth and read it for #januaryinjapan, so I think it's fair to say that about half of my reading these days is determined from bookstagram. Plus, I couldn't resist this cheery cover.
I was utterly charmed by this collection of stories, each told from
I enjoyed this collection even more than I expected, and will almost certainly read more Kawakami in the future.
I was utterly charmed by this collection of stories, each told from
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the perspective of a different woman who knew Nishino, and to some extent fell for his charms. I enjoyed how different the women were, and how different the relationships they had with him. A later story in the collection makes some interesting parallels between Nishino and a cat named Maow. Like a cat, Nishino was happy to wander into their lives demanding petting and fish, but also like a cat, you never know when he is getting pets and fish elsewhere.I enjoyed this collection even more than I expected, and will almost certainly read more Kawakami in the future.
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LibraryThing member labfs39
I read and was utterly charmed by The Nakano Thrift Shop last year, so I was eager to read something else by this author. Unfortunately, Ten Loves of Nishino was disappointing in comparison. The idea is interesting enough, depict a man through the lenses of ten of the women he has dated. The
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relationships occur throughout his life, from the time he was a teenager until his death. The relationships were of different types: more or less sexual, older women, younger women, love, friendship. Nishino is self-centered and rather boring, and the women's voices are so similar as to blur into one (although translation may have effected this as well). Although I appreciated the concept, I felt that it was not executed as well as it might have been. Show Less
Awards
PEN Translation Prize (Winner — 2020)
Language
Original language
English