Status
Checked out
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Penguin Books (2022), 224 pages
Description
"A bestselling, prizewinning novel of obsession and psychological intrigue about two enigmatic unmarried women, one of whom manipulates the other from afar, by one of Japan's most acclaimed young writers"--
Media reviews
The Woman in the Purple Skirt is an apolitical novel, but evidence of the challenges facing Japan’s economy and culture are everywhere. Unreliable employment and limited professional opportunities are the lived reality of Japan’s have-nots. They invisibly shape the way people live no less than
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Yellow Cardigan invisibly interferes with Purple Skirt.... And at the heart of the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan’s obsession is an unsated desire to initiate a relationship—to form, not a sexual or romantic bond, but a connection to any other person. “I think what I’m trying to say is that I’ve been wanting to become friends with the Woman in the Purple Skirt for a very long time,” she says in her characteristically understated way. Show Less
The narrator of Japanese novelist Imamura’s deliciously creepy English-language debut likes to watch a woman in her neighborhood known as “the Woman in the Purple Skirt.” The Woman in the Purple Skirt doesn’t do anything particularly interesting. She sits on a bench in the park; she goes to
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the bakery; she is intermittently employed. But there’s something about her that makes it “impossible not to pay attention,” as the narrator explains. “Nobody could ignore her.” The same isn’t true of the narrator, who refers to herself as “the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan.” Gradually, as Imamura’s taut narrative unfolds, we realize just how much of her own life the narrator is willing to give up or, indeed, destroy for the sake of her obsession. A subtly ominous story about voyeurism and the danger of losing yourself in someone else. Show Less
Japanese author Imamura invites the reader to become a voyeur of the everyday in her graceful English-language debut, in which plot takes a backseat to character study. The lonely, self-deprecating narrator, who refers to herself as the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan in contrast to the novel’s
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eponymous subject of her obsession, watches the woman’s daily public routines and describes them in minute, adulatory detail....The narrator’s intense one-way nonsexual desire creates an off-balance frisson of strangeness in which the focused energy expended by her contrasts with the woman’s charmed-life obliviousness, and an inherently dull existence becomes infused with the power of fascination. Psychological thrillers fans who appreciate subtlety should take a look. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member EdGoldberg
This book was pointless.
The novel’s self-effacing narrator refers to herself as the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan. She is obsessed with a local woman who she anointed the Woman in the Purple Skirt. In the narrator’s mind, the object of her obsession has the unique ability to walk through crowds
Neither character is really fleshed out but then again, there's really nothing to flesh. Readers are not going to care about either character.
The author’s first novel to be translated from Japanese into English is a character study with psychological thriller overtones. The prose were matter of fact; the ending anticlimactic. Time spent reading this is time I'll never get back.
The novel’s self-effacing narrator refers to herself as the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan. She is obsessed with a local woman who she anointed the Woman in the Purple Skirt. In the narrator’s mind, the object of her obsession has the unique ability to walk through crowds
Show More
without bumping into anyone and is noticed by everyone. The virtually invisible narrator stalks her prey, marking in a notebook her comings and goings, her intermittent employment, her favorite bakery product. Eventually, by placing want ads on her ‘Exclusively Reserved Seat’ in the local park, she steers the Woman in the Purple Skirt to a job cleaning hotel rooms at the same hotel as the narrator, all in the hopes of befriending her. However, the narrator cannot bring herself to interact with the object of her desire. As the Woman in the Purple Skirt’s popularity at work rises, the narrator is unnerved. However, when it comes crashing down, the narrator hopes that her chance has arrived.Neither character is really fleshed out but then again, there's really nothing to flesh. Readers are not going to care about either character.
The author’s first novel to be translated from Japanese into English is a character study with psychological thriller overtones. The prose were matter of fact; the ending anticlimactic. Time spent reading this is time I'll never get back.
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LibraryThing member AmaliaGavea
‘’Some people would pretend they hadn’t seen her, and carry on as before. Others would quickly move aside, to give her room to pass. Some would pump their fists and look happy and hopeful. Others would do the opposite and look fearful and downcast. (It’s one of the rules that two sightings
A young woman wearing a purple skirt has drawn the attention of an entire neighbourhood. The children in the park treat her as a companion, the residents as a mystery. Why is she there? Why does she wear the same clothes? Where does she work? Our narrator is her faithful watcher. Now, we all hate stalkers, but do not be so quick to judge. Soon, the watcher known as the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan will become a guardian angel as the mysterious young woman is threatened by what initially seemed a promising ‘’new’’ start.
We all know that Japanese Literature can be exciting and absurd. This story may not be as ‘’absurd’’ as others but it is mysterious and cryptic. Apart from the questions raised by the woman’s presence and the watcher’s constant observation, the story is built around the very realistic question of our work’s influence on our lives, the gossip, the vilification, the continuous undermining. The major implication comes when a love affair joins the game and the innocence of our main character causes her to become a gullible prey.
What starts as a quirky tale slowly (but surely) becomes darker and darker when slunder and violence kick off, the results of a vile man’s actions and our heroine’s naïveté.
Many thanks to Faber & Faber and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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in a single day means good luck, while three means bad luck.)’’A young woman wearing a purple skirt has drawn the attention of an entire neighbourhood. The children in the park treat her as a companion, the residents as a mystery. Why is she there? Why does she wear the same clothes? Where does she work? Our narrator is her faithful watcher. Now, we all hate stalkers, but do not be so quick to judge. Soon, the watcher known as the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan will become a guardian angel as the mysterious young woman is threatened by what initially seemed a promising ‘’new’’ start.
We all know that Japanese Literature can be exciting and absurd. This story may not be as ‘’absurd’’ as others but it is mysterious and cryptic. Apart from the questions raised by the woman’s presence and the watcher’s constant observation, the story is built around the very realistic question of our work’s influence on our lives, the gossip, the vilification, the continuous undermining. The major implication comes when a love affair joins the game and the innocence of our main character causes her to become a gullible prey.
What starts as a quirky tale slowly (but surely) becomes darker and darker when slunder and violence kick off, the results of a vile man’s actions and our heroine’s naïveté.
Many thanks to Faber & Faber and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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LibraryThing member JJbooklvr
I’m not sure how to describe this little gem of a novel. Sparse yet deep. As an introvert particularly poignant.
LibraryThing member RealLifeReading
The Woman in the Purple Skirt is an ordinary woman who only ever wears a purple-colored skirt. She doesn’t do anything particularly unusual or unique. She looks for work. She eats a cream bun while sitting on a park bench. She seems to barely make ends meet.
Our narrator isn’t the Woman in the
“When the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan goes out walking in the shopping district, nobody pays the slightest bit of attention. But when the Woman in the Purple Skirt goes out, it’s impossible not to pay attention. Nobody could ignore her.”
But it’s not just watching, the reader realizes. The narrator helps the woman in the purple skirt by putting out the job listing magazines at the convenience store, she drops off shampoo at her apartment to make sure her hair gets washed. She eventually finds the Woman a job at the same hotel, cleaning rooms.
This is part of her attempt to befriend the Woman, by making them colleagues at the same job. But still she watches from afar.
The Woman in the Purple Skirt becomes popular with the other employees. But the narrator remains invisible, not just to the woman but it seems to almost everyone else working there.
Some might say this book is disturbing. But I just felt this sadness for the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan. A nameless, faceless woman who nobody knows, not even the reader. The loneliness of living in a city leads her to longing for a friend, into voyeurism and idolization of an everyday person.
Our narrator isn’t the Woman in the
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Purple Skirt. It’s the woman in the yellow cardigan, who watches the woman in the purple skirt, and know her life thoroughly. She seems to want to be friends with the woman in the purple skirt. “When the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan goes out walking in the shopping district, nobody pays the slightest bit of attention. But when the Woman in the Purple Skirt goes out, it’s impossible not to pay attention. Nobody could ignore her.”
But it’s not just watching, the reader realizes. The narrator helps the woman in the purple skirt by putting out the job listing magazines at the convenience store, she drops off shampoo at her apartment to make sure her hair gets washed. She eventually finds the Woman a job at the same hotel, cleaning rooms.
This is part of her attempt to befriend the Woman, by making them colleagues at the same job. But still she watches from afar.
The Woman in the Purple Skirt becomes popular with the other employees. But the narrator remains invisible, not just to the woman but it seems to almost everyone else working there.
Some might say this book is disturbing. But I just felt this sadness for the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan. A nameless, faceless woman who nobody knows, not even the reader. The loneliness of living in a city leads her to longing for a friend, into voyeurism and idolization of an everyday person.
Show Less
LibraryThing member kakadoo202
Fast paced but odd story
Awards
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
224 p.
ISBN
0571364675 / 9780571364671