Book 10 - Woman on the Other Shore

It's interesting to document my reading like this - I'm starting to see some trends and themes as I move from one book to the next. Some are obvious - like continuing the myth thing - but some seem to appear by themselves. For example, the role of women within society and story seems to be a common theme in my last few reads, including this latest one.

Woman on the Other Shore, written by Mitsuyo Kakuta and translated by Wayne P. Lammers, was winner of the Japanese Naoki Prize in 2005 and is the first of her works to be translated into English. I have a quiet fascination for Japanese culture and literature, from the popular (manga) to the literary (such as Haruki Murakami) which led me to pick up this book.

Sayoko is a quiet woman, very much submissive to the will of her husband and his mother, who worries that her antisocial tendencies are being transferred to her young daughter. She resolves to put her into daycare and go back to work, finding a job under the independent, capricious and compelling Aoi. Aoi's adventurous spirit and charm draws her into activities that she would never have expected of herself. Little does she know that Aoi suffered terrible bullying in high school. When she moved to another town, she became caught up in a similar compelling relationship with charismatic Noriko that had severe consequences but also led her to become the strong-willed yet flawed businesswoman that Sayoko admires. Both stories unfold and inform each other throughout the course of the novel.

The parallel stories and reversed relationships are the most fascinating element of this read. For me there was also a sense of dislocation - of common themes and relationships set in a different context and culture, with different reactions. An interesting read.