Welcome to Litsy!

Such a brilliant collection. Recommended.

I resonated deeply with this as a wife/mother. Yamada focused on realism and according to the afterword, wasn‘t one to romanticize married life. I‘m not as cynical but I respect what she did here and how she felt about it. There were plenty of light-hearted/funny moments in between the serious ones. Ultimately, the focus is on women finding their own identities outside of their home/family. Which seems to transcend time and is personally relevant.

Currently reading the afterword essay by the translator. I love learning about artists and their life/work. But I‘m getting a little irritated with the translator who wrote this essay. Speaking on the author‘s abusive 1st husband, he seems to lack understanding/compassion as to why the author felt the way she did about the patriarchy and marriage. Personally, I respect the author even more but can‘t say the same for the translator.

This made me LOL, literally 🤭

“When I start feeling guilty for acting high and mighty as a parent, spoiling them tastes sweet… that is, as long as it‘s mixed in the same bowl with love and familial bonds.”

“The tasks of housework are sundry, but they are entirely unremunerated. Raising children, on the other hand, isn‘t so thankless. ‘Your children‘s happiness‘ and ‘a mother‘s contentment‘ are a kind of remuneration. I want the same for being a wife.”

“There‘s plenty between us that‘s hard to talk about. There are plenty of words that are supposedly sacred and inviolable… But they‘re worth reconsidering sometimes.”

“My kids are not me. They might resemble me, but we are different. We are separate beings. They are not my accessories.”

My haul from the warehouse sale of Drawn & Quarterly… I got a little too excited. I can‘t wait to dive in.