Welcome to Litsy!

A physical book!! It's been a while lol I've been meaning to read a book by this author and just, the writing is so beautiful?! I felt conflicted with some topics but overall it's a good read. It's about death and grief and a reflection of the relationships we have with loved ones, sorta queer sorta heteronormative, it's complicated... (mixed feels about this) #fiction #japaneselit

Surrealistic (Magical Realism) stories of three women, all bewitched into a spiritual sleep. One, mourning for a lost lover, finds herself sleepwalking at night. Another, who has embarked on a relationship with a man whose wife is in a coma, finds herself suddenly unable to stay awake. A third finds her sleep haunted by another woman whom she was once pitted against in a love triangle.

The young women in these 3 stories sleep or night-walk to cope with the death of a friend (or brother). I love the clarity of Yoshimoto‘s prose. She writes of their day-to-day lives, conversations & work. It‘s deceptively simple but there‘s poetry in the attention she pays to her characters. She accepts their eccentricities & focuses on their quiet strength coping with loss rather than the dramatic event itself. Feels true; they confide in you.

I‘ve had a bit of an anxiety time of it, and Banana Yoshimoto is always the most soothing, calming and thoughtful writer for me to read when I‘m feeling bad. This collection of three novellas was no exception, they were just perfect. Her style is just like absolutely nothing else, so moving, quietly profound, melancholy and hopeful. One of my fave writers of all time

#SeptemberDanes Day 18: In each of the stories, #DeepSleep is perceived as a form of escape, an unraveling, a literal undoing – sapping one‘s strength instead of giving back life. It is a surreal cloud-like transformation of one‘s very being as one swims deeper into the waters of the womb where there are strange muted sounds seemingly from far away, another lifetime, a different universe. My full review: https://wp.me/pDlzr-5WP

Loved the first two stories in this short collection, but didn't really care about the third story, which was the title story. I don't know, I'm not a fan of reading about infidelity, no matter the situation. It's also a bit triggering for me thanks to a past abusive relationship. The first two stories had spectacular use of subtle #magicalrealism qualities that I adored, however. Total rating 3.5/5

#bananayoshimoto #asleep #japanese #ownvoices

With 9.5 hours left, I'm going to start my 5th book. This small collection has 3 magical realism tales within it. It'll be my first time reading magical realism by Banana Yoshimoto! I have high hopes as I tend to really love her books!

#24in48 #bananayoshimoto #asleep #magicalrealism #ownvoices #japanese #diversebooks

Doggie Park #CurrentlyReading

2017, Book 5 "The reverberations of that voice wandered sweetly, softly, working like a massage on the area of my heart that was the most tightly clenched, helping those knots to loosen. It was like the rush of waves, and like the laughter of people I'd met in all kinds of places, people I'd become friendly with and then separated from, and like the kind words all those people had said to me, and like the mewing of a cat I had lost..."

The perfect blend of angst and surrealism. I loved this book.