Kitchen [Paperback]

Banana Yoshimoto (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1994

Two stories, "Kitchen" and "Moonlight Shadow," told through the eyes of a pair of contemporary young Japanese women, deal with the themes of mothers, love, transsexuality, kitchens, and tragedy. Reprint. NYT.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In this translation of a best-selling novel first published in Japan in 1987, the young narrator, Mikage, moves into the apartment of a friend whose mother is murdered early in the tale. What seems like a coming-of-age melodrama quickly evolves into a deeply moving tale filled with unique characters and themes. Along the way, readers get a taste of contemporary Japan, with its mesh of popular American food and culture. Mikage addresses the role of death, loneliness, and personal as well as sexual identity through a set of striking circumstances and personal remembrances. "Moonlight Shadows," a novella included here, is a more haunting tale of loss and acceptance. In her simple and captive style, Yoshimoto confirms that art is perhaps the best ambassador among nations. Recommended for all fiction collections.
- David A. Berona, Westbrook Coll. Lib., Portland, Me.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Japanese

Product Details

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: Washington Square Press (March 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671880187
• ISBN-13: 978-0671880187
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (125 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #546,894 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't underestimate Banana November 1, 2001

By Charles E. Stevens VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

I think it would be a mistake to write of Kitchen or Yoshimoto as a literary lightweight, a common knock against her. Mikage and Yuichi's struggles in the aftermath of shocking and devastating deaths was incredibly moving. Their need to create a brighter, happier life together in a death-filled world, to discover how to continue to live in a cruel and uncaring environment ... isn't that what we all are trying to do to some degree or another? Kitchen is a 4.5/5 star book in my opinion. If you liked Kitchen, I'd recommend Haruki Murakami ... especially "Dance, Dance, Dance" which touches on some similar themes but deals with them in very different ways.

Moonlight Shadow was a little whimsical for my tastes. The characters deal with the same issues as Mikage and Yuichi, but with a science fiction touch. Yoshimoto seemed to be trying too hard to make her point about moving on after death, rather than developing a good short story. It was a disappointing follow-up to Kitchen.

This is the first book of Yoshimoto's that I've read ... thanks to Kitchen, I'll be sure it's not the last. But I can only hope that the rest of her work is as well-writen as Kitchen and not like Moonlight Shadow.

One last comment: I read the Japanese version first, and I think the translator did a good job of getting Yoshimoto's style into English. It felt like the ending of the translation was more abrubt than the Japanese version, but I'm not sure why. Not sure if I'm the only one who felt that way or not ... In any event, I would definitely recommend Kitchen- see for yourself if you like it and Yoshimoto's style.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars good book, bad translation February 6, 2007

By Bob O

Format:Paperback

In Japanese, "Kitchen" is not the kitsch piece of trash the English translation makes it out to be. Even so, I'd hold off reading "Kitchen" until another translation appears, unless you can read it in Japanese.

Here's why:

As others have said, the translator took some liberties and manhandled the feel of the novel. In several cases the translator (Backus) completely removed sentences (does a 100-page book need abridged?), and in other cases replaced prose, elegant in its simplicity, with cliche.

An example of the latter is the very last sentence of the second part, "Full Moon" (this isn't a spoiler). In Backus's translation: "I launched into what time I'd be in and what platform I'd be on." In Japanese, it's literally "I started to explain my arrival time and what platform I'd be on." I can't remember the last time I got so excited I fell out of my seat and "launched" into telling someone something mundane like I was going to be home at 3:20pm.

It's the gross overuse of cliche in the translation that destroys that fragile atmosphere Yoshimoto Banana created in the Japanese prose. For example, when a page is filled with a few precise words, it's like a Monet painting: hundreds of tiny strokes carefully arranged to create a greater image. But to translate those emotionally-loaded carefully chosen words into goofy cliche is to take a Monet painting and make a few strokes with a floor mop. Spare yourself of this translation.

***********

(UPDATE Six Years Later: Honestly, I was probably a bit hard on the translator. Sorry, girl! It's more probable that this book just doesn't do it for me in any language. Then again, I read it oh so long ago.)

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Twin Souls November 28, 2006

By Rebecca of Amazon HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

When my friend Mini sent me this gift, I wanted to immediately loose myself in the pages. I kept thinking it was truly a book I would want to read all in one sitting. I wanted to curl up on a couch and have my two cats sleeping at my feet and how right I was!

Once I started reading, (my husband sound asleep, cats sleeping at my feet, and the house deathly quiet except for the quiet humming of the refrigerator), I was immediately drawn into Mikage Sakurai's world.

Banana Yoshimoto uses luscious descriptions of food and kitchens. She describes people and places with such poignancy, you truly feel connected to them. Her thoughts burst onto each page with such honesty, you cannot help but fall in love with her innocent, charming writing style.

There are life and death issues in "Kitchen," we can all relate to. Her evocative writing will fill you with nostalgia for some of the cooking spaces you have perhaps left behind. Mostly I love my grandmother's kitchen best. The familiar creak of the oven door, the scooting sound of the chairs as we sit for a cup of tea, and the racks of cookbooks patiently waiting on the shelves. To imagine this kitchen without my grandmother was to imagine the entire house without a soul, without love, and without peace.

This is the emotion Mikage feels as she sleeps on the floor in her grandmother's kitchen. After loosing her grandmother, Mikage is lost, lonely and depressed. Her soul longs for the comfort of another soul who can understand her torment. She feels as though death surrounds her and she cannot escape.

For a time she finds happiness with Yuichi, who knew her grandmother well. He is living with his mother Eriko. Mikage goes to live with them until she can learn to handle her emotions....

Yuichi's girlfriend is not impressed, even though the relationship is purely platonic on the surface. Deep within their souls they are soon to become twins, bearing the scars of a common life experience.

Banana Yoshimoto's writing is fresh, real and casts a spell on the reader. I would have preferred the book to end on page 105. She does truly seize hold of your heart and I wanted the book to either end or I wanted one more chapter in place of Moonlight Shadow.

I found the second book did not belong with the beautiful yet somewhat unfinished story of Yuichi and Mikage. I think you will agree. In fact, I suggest that when you get to page 105, you close the book and come back later to read the second story.

I find her writing to be most inspirational when she has fully developed her characters. To truly appreciate this book, you must love food and kitchens, that is the magic.

~The Rebecca Review Read more ›