Customer Reviews

Bedtime Eyes

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The author Amy Yamada is married an American man (of African descent) in real life. However, in regards to the novel 'Bedtime Eyes,' I think that is where life imitating art ends.

None of the characters in the book have any redeemable qualities. They hurt one another, either verbally or physically, and sometimes get pleasure from doing such. I actually stopped while reading the second story 'The Piano Player's Fingers'...as the book was just too much of a downer.

I understand that there was a 1987 Japanese film made from the first story, which shares the title of the book; however, judging from the story I read, and the rating on IMDB (Internet Movie Database), I don't think it would be something worth seeing.

It would have been interesting if we saw different couples with varying circumstances; but, as aforementioned, we get the same type of dysfunctional characters in each of the stories. Furthermore, I don't get what Amy Yamada is trying to say in her stories. (Although, one could say there is a certain rape fantasy, and/or a fetishism for black males in the stories--and that's about it).

I can't recommend this book: No point to the stories, and no characters I cared about. Still, I am going to attempt a reading of Yamada's 'Trash,' however, judging from the reviews on Amazon, I don't think it would be much of an improvement on 'Bedtime Eyes.'

All, (and I really tried), of her books are almost on the verge of severe pathology. I know that inter-race-relationships are hard and sometimes mixed with other poor values, morals, and psychopathic people, they can be even very difficult. How can you enjoy these books ? I feel sorry for the way the Japanese woman characters are played out in her writings. They are made out to be promiscuious, ill-witted, and attracted to low-lifes. For the younger aged due to shock value.

"Leroy must have been thirsty. He lapped at me like a dog, slurping at my skin deliciously, flicking the tip of his tongue over my electrified body, gorging himself on every last drop of the sweet, sticky liquid that covered me."

Amy Yamada doesn't mince her words and she isn't afraid to delve into the seedier side of life: a world of drugs, sex, violence and prostitution. So whilst I have to admit that they may not be everybody's cup of tea, we had a blast translating the three short novels which make up this single volume in the English.

But you have to put her work into context to understand just how ground-breaking Bedtime Eyes was when it was first published in Japan 25 years ago. These days we see a lot of sex and violence in literature, at the cinema and on TV, so with our modern perspective these stories may not have quite the same impact now that they had then. But it is important to consider that Amy Yamada was the ONLY female writer in Japan in the 1980s who dared to write this sort of material: she was a pioneer who wasn't afraid to tackle taboos head-on, whose dramatic debut spawned a whole host of "liberated" female writers and who blazed the trail for some of the more recent "controversial", prize-winning female authors such as Yu Miri ("Family Cinema", "Gold Rush"), Wataya Lisa ("The Back I Want To Kick") and Kanehara Hitomi ("Snakes & Earrings").

If I had any criticism at all, it would be that the characters could have been given a little more depth -- difficult, admittedly, given the length of the stories -- but Amy Yamada is more interested in what drives her characters' destructive relationships than in delving into what makes the individual characters tick.

I really hope you enjoy reading this book every bit as much as we enjoyed translating it. The images are powerful and strong... not always pretty of course, but they will stay with you for a long time: you certainly won't look at a piano the same way again.

I absolutely loved this book. Yamada has always weaved such facinating and emotionally intense stories about her characters. The way she writes about relationships in general is an interesting take on love, urban life and the young generation. She dosen't mince words or hides emotions and that makes her work all the more personal and great to read. It's rawness pulled me in and Bedtime Eyes was a great follow-up to the American release of Trash. I sincerely hope more of her books will be translated for the American public.

Bedtime Eyes is a odd mix of overt racism and reverse racism. The lead Female characters in each of the three short stories seem to habour an inbreed sense of superiority. There are numerous times when the ladies look down on their Black lovers, in the way a mother would treat a small child or how a dog owner treats her pets. There is no sincere love, they seem to simple crave what the men give them sexually, moreover it seems that the ladies see their men as trophies or accessories, which they can gloat over, controlling and possesing as they will. In one scene the lead character states that her lovers musky smell makes her feel superior, it really does seem that the women see their men as modern day sex slaves! I don't know what this says about how Japanese women view black males, prehaps the majority do harbour racist ideas or maybe their attitudes have changed over the years but I do know one thing for sure. I need to find out for myself, I'll be traveling to Japan to begin teaching english and as a black male with extreme yellow fever, I'm hoping to use these women as much as they use me, if you can't beat them join them! As for the erotic parts of this book they are quite good...in "the Piano Players Finger" the lead character admits she'd do anything Leroy asked even let him urinate in her mouth, such is her addiction! Leroy doesn't get the chance to do that, but I found the description of their "sexual collisions" to be breath taking...I hope to play them out in real life very shortly, very shortly indeed.