The Ten Loves of Mr Nishino by Hiromi Kawakami

It felt too much like a collection of short stories not delving deep enough into the characters. Over the course of his life, Mr Nishino falls hopelessly in love. She won the 2020 #PENlitawards for this book. Buy The Ten Loves of Mr Nishino by Hiromi Kawakami for 16.99 at Mighty Ape Australia. UPDATE: Congrats to the translator Allison Markin Powell.

The book structure is interesting, it feels like a painting, with delicate touches here and there to evoke a man, but at the same time, I felt I didn’t have enough to completely see the portrait of the man.Īlas, I can’t read Japanese, but I think the translator did a great job. Like a modern Decameron, this humorous, sensual, and touching novel by one of Japan's best-selling and most beloved writers is a powerful and embracing portrait. The air around Toru Tanabe was like that of a clear fresh morning in the highlands. Still clinging to the vivid memory of his warm breath and his indecipherable sentences, ten women tell their stories as they attempt to recreate the image of the unfathomable Nishino. There are some beautiful descriptions like this one: Some stories seem to point out his behavior as a “sweetheart scammer” may have roots in his childhood, but as for everything he says, it’s impossible to know if you can rely on his words or not. The type of man who could slip so smoothly into a woman’s sensibility…Ī man who could satisfy a woman’s desires that even she was unaware of. It is interesting to see his way of doing it, his way with words, the way he plays with their emotions, their curiosity, and his way of talking them into it. The book is made up of short chapters, each presenting a relationship between a woman and Nishino, at different periods of his life, from the perspective of each of the ten women.ĭespite his character, his awkwardness, though he is also described as handsome, kind and courteous, despite his obvious unfaithfulness, despite their resolve to resist and desire to love somebody else, and even their sense of discomfort with him for some, all these women end up his lovers. I read it for Japanese Literature Challenge 13 Born in 1958 in Tokyo, HIROMI KAWAKAMI is one of Japans most popular contemporary novelists. Hiromi Kawakami has written several noticeable novels, so I decided to try The Ten Loves of Mr Nishino.