Buzzer
Languidly Clinical
- Oct 1, 2006
- 26,121
I got through Hiromi Kawakami 'The Briefcase' (also titled 'Strange Weather In Tokyo') very quickly. This is the first book by this author that I've read and I'll definitely look out for more. Relatively short, it's about a very slowly blossoming love affair between a thirty something woman and a retired teacher. It gives a very good insight into Japanese sensibilities and culture and it seems from reading this book that modern day Japanese courtship/manners aren't that far different from Jane Austen novels.
Now almost finished reading Martin Amis 'Zone of Interest'. His second Holocaust-themed novel, this looks at the lives of those who work in or around Auschwitz, mainly focusing on the fairly mundane machinations of 4 or 5 central characters including the camp commandant, his wife, a mid-ranking official and one of the forced labour Jewish workers. It's an interesting spin on the genre; the strange, large-scale horrors committed daily are recounted quite casually as details to the main plot. The way that Amis has made the characters three-dimensional with their own justifications for doing what they did doesn't trivialise the facts neither does it make you empathise. It's a very tricky type of book to write and Amis does it well. I think I still prefer his first Holocaust book Time's Arrow though as it packs a much bigger punch.
Now almost finished reading Martin Amis 'Zone of Interest'. His second Holocaust-themed novel, this looks at the lives of those who work in or around Auschwitz, mainly focusing on the fairly mundane machinations of 4 or 5 central characters including the camp commandant, his wife, a mid-ranking official and one of the forced labour Jewish workers. It's an interesting spin on the genre; the strange, large-scale horrors committed daily are recounted quite casually as details to the main plot. The way that Amis has made the characters three-dimensional with their own justifications for doing what they did doesn't trivialise the facts neither does it make you empathise. It's a very tricky type of book to write and Amis does it well. I think I still prefer his first Holocaust book Time's Arrow though as it packs a much bigger punch.