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Ebook216 pages3 hours
Moshi Moshi
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
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About this ebook
This novel of a young Japanese girl grieving her father is “an unlikely, engrossing Tokyo ghost story . . . You won’t be able to take your mind off it” (Marie Claire).
Yoshie’s much-loved musician father has died in a suicide pact with an unknown woman. It is only when Yoshie and her mother move to Shimokitazawa, a traditional Tokyo neighborhood of narrow streets, quirky shops, and friendly residents, that they can finally start to put their painful past behind them. But despite their attempts to move forward, Yoshie is haunted by nightmares in which her father is looking for the phone he left behind on the day he died, or in which she is trying—unsuccessfully—to call him. Is her dead father trying to communicate a message to her through these dreams?
With the lightness of touch and surreal detachment that are the hallmarks of her writing, Banana Yoshimoto turns a potential tragedy into a poignant coming-of-age ghost story and a life-affirming homage to the healing powers of community, food, and family.
“An intimate portrayal of grief and recovery . . . Yoshimoto’s beautiful imagery—the cherry tree in front of the Les Liens bistro where Yochan works, restaurants glowing late at night, the coziness among the restaurant staff members, all captures the spirit of Shimokitazawa and marks Yochan’s slow return to an anchored life.” —Booklist
“Yoshimoto has an effortless ability to penetrate her characters’ hearts.” —The New York Times
Yoshie’s much-loved musician father has died in a suicide pact with an unknown woman. It is only when Yoshie and her mother move to Shimokitazawa, a traditional Tokyo neighborhood of narrow streets, quirky shops, and friendly residents, that they can finally start to put their painful past behind them. But despite their attempts to move forward, Yoshie is haunted by nightmares in which her father is looking for the phone he left behind on the day he died, or in which she is trying—unsuccessfully—to call him. Is her dead father trying to communicate a message to her through these dreams?
With the lightness of touch and surreal detachment that are the hallmarks of her writing, Banana Yoshimoto turns a potential tragedy into a poignant coming-of-age ghost story and a life-affirming homage to the healing powers of community, food, and family.
“An intimate portrayal of grief and recovery . . . Yoshimoto’s beautiful imagery—the cherry tree in front of the Les Liens bistro where Yochan works, restaurants glowing late at night, the coziness among the restaurant staff members, all captures the spirit of Shimokitazawa and marks Yochan’s slow return to an anchored life.” —Booklist
“Yoshimoto has an effortless ability to penetrate her characters’ hearts.” —The New York Times
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Reviews for Moshi Moshi
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
18 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5When Yoshie’s father dies with a strange woman — lover’s pact or murder/suicide, it’s never fully determined — Yoshi and her mother are plunged into a muddled grief. Of course they mourn for their father and husband, but the manner of his death means they are also filled with resentment and anger. Yoshie decides that a change of scene is all that she can do to redirect this bad energy, so she moves to the Shimokitazawa district of Tokyo where she takes an apartment that overlooks the bistro, Les Liens, where she later finds employment. Is she moving on or just running away? And just how far can she run when, much to her surprise, her mother decides to move in with her? What follows is a lengthy period of growth and adjustment as both of these women reconcile themselves to their grief and discover new resources for strength within themselves.As much a love letter to the Shimokitazawa district as an exploration of grief, Banana Yoshimoto follows her characters to bistros, noodle bars, cafés, tea houses and more. It seems as though the principals are either eating or drinking in every scene, which is a bit disconcerting. Or is it misdirection? Is there something else we should be noticing instead? It’s hard to get a clear picture since the emotions here are so muffled. There are momentary bursts of joy or tears, but the overall impression is a subdued pallor.Written originally as a newspaper serial, that may have some impact on how the story develops. Certainly it calls for a great deal of repetition. Events arise and conclude quickly, no doubt to be contained within one issue of the newspaper. And other than the nods to seasonal change, time seems to nearly stand still. So when you discover that more than two years have passed since the opening of the novel, it may be a bit of a surprise. Nevertheless, there is a lot here to like — tender relations between a mother and a grown daughter, burgeoning love, the indecisiveness that accompanies the decision to be decisive, and, of course, the atmosphere of Shimokitazawa itself. But perhaps it doesn’t entirely work in this rendition.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Story of A daughter and her day to day journal of her life after her father died a suicidial murder. Loved the story. Though little stretching in the end but quite captivating. Can give a try to this book. Being a fan of Japanese authors, undoubtedly the story has won my heart, specially the description of Japanese lifestyle. Beautiful and inspiring.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An exploration of grief: the narrator loses her father in a murder-suicide with another woman, and she and her mother come to terms with it over the next couple of years in their own ways. The prose is incredibly transparent: in the first paragraphs I wasn't 100% sure if the story had started or if this was an author's foreward, and it continues throughout both beautifully and naturally.