My New Friend, "HEAVEN" by Mieko Kawakami, translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd

 

Me, Bobby Keniston, with my new friend "Heaven" by Mieko Kawakami, translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd

Hi. My name is Bobby Keniston, and, as the name of this blog suggests, my only friends are books. You might be thinking, "Huh, that's sad," but it's not really. Books don't bully you or one day just disappear...

Which brings me to my new friend, Heaven by Mieko Kawakami, translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd. But before I get into the details of my new friend Heaven, I would like to share a quote from author Mieko Kawakami:

"We have to confront and examine our mistakes, and write stories to pass down our folly and ignorance. Literature should not just portray our ideals. We have to examine our past mistakes, our past ignorance, without turning our eyes away." (from an interview/conversation between Kawakami and Fernanda Melchor for "Broadly Speaking" through the Wheeler Centre. You can watch the full interview on YouTube by CLICKING HERE... I highly recommend it). 

Kawakami certainly does not turn her eyes away from harsh realities in Heaven. The word "unflinching" really had no solid meaning to me until reading this book. It is indeed a work of art, so let's talk about it. 

HOW I MET MY NEW FRIEND

I heard about Heaven from a booktube channel called Books and Bao, hosted by Willow Heath, and they had so much praise for the novel and Kawakami (you can watch their video review HERE). I would like to think I would have heard of the book when perusing the International Booker Prize longlist and shortlist, but, who knows? Willow's recommendation certainly encouraged me to check it out sooner. I am glad to have read the book before the winner of the prize is announced. 

ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

Heaven is a first-person narrative of an unnamed fourteen year-old protagonist who is bullied. Constantly. In myriad, painful ways. Please believe me when I say this. The bullying is graphic, but often told in a simple, almost understated manner to highlight just how tragically normalized it has become for our narrator. Though perhaps understated isn't the best way to describe it-- perhaps it is better to say that it is presented flat-out as a fact of our narrator's life. His tormenters, led by a cool, beautiful boy named Ninomiya, call him "Eyes" because of his lazy eye, and they punch him, kick him, and hurt him, and he waits for it to be over with. 

But the novel actually begins with our narrator receiving a note in his desk at school, a note saying "We should be friends." It turns out that the note is from a girl in his class, Kojima, who is also bullied. When they meet up, they do become friends, and though they can never intervene to help each other at school (indeed, they never even really talk at school), the secret notes they share offer a great deal of comfort to each other. 

This is a short novel, and I don't want to give too much away, but I will say this: to suggest that the book is simply about bullying is like saying Moby Dick is just about trying to catch fish. Kawakami uses bullying to look at the bigger picture behind power structures, and the meaning, if any, behind them. 

Short and sleek, but absolutely painful and beautiful. 

BULLYING

I know I have already said it, but I cannot stress enough how unflinching a portrayal of bullying resides within these pages. If you were someone who was bullied (as I was), this book will bring up the memories and the pain (at least it did for me). Kawakami captures the constant stress, anxiety, fear and shame that comes with the territory of being bullied. Please do not misunderstand me here--- I don't mean to suggest that is like some afterschool special about bullying for a YA or middle grade audience. It most certainly is not. Kawakami delves deeply into the philosophy behind bullying, truly exploring what it means to have power, what it means to be weak, and whether that weakness can really be a strength. 

It is not easy to read sometimes, but still an important read, in my opinion. 

If you are someone who had no experience with being bullied, and that's really great if that's the case, you may think it is perhaps exaggerated here. I don't know. Maybe a little. But it felt very real to me. I didn't have it exactly as bad as our narrator, but there were some similar moments. 

Things you never forget. Things that, many years later, your realize are permanently a part of you. 

Special note: if you are being bullied, do not make the same mistake I did. There are things I kept to myself, never told my parents or a teacher, not even my closest friends. I know, believe me, I know, there is shame attached to being bullied and it is not easy to talk about. But please try to talk to someone, even if it is anonymously. There is support out there. CLICK HERE for some resources. 

BEAUTY

And yet, amongst all the pain, there is still beauty. And Kawakami's writing is absolutely beautiful, and lovingly translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd. 

"His eyes shifted, the way the shadows of clouds pass the sun on windless days."

I can't even tell you how much I wish I could write a description so beautiful in its simplicity and precision. 

FINAL TAKEAWAYS

This book hurt my stomach at times, and I mean this as the highest compliment. Great writing does hurt sometimes, great writing should be unflinching and honest. I am so happy to have finally read Mieko Kawakami and can't wait to read her other works in translation, like Ms. Ice Sandwich, Breasts and Eggs, and the recent release, All the Lovers in the Night. Clearly Kawakami is a writer at the very top of her powers, and she has a brand new fan. 

Thank you for reading my thoughts on my new friend Heaven.  Come back Monday to meet a whole new friend, and please feel free to comment any thoughts below.