Mieko Kawakami Books

On a sweltering summer's day in a poor suburb of Tokyo we meet three women: thirty-year-old Natsuko, her older sister Makiko, and Makiko's teenage daughter Midoriko. Makiko, an ageing hostess despairing over the loss of her good looks, has travelled to the city in search of the breast-enhancement surgery she thinks will change her life. Accompanying her is Midoriko, who has recently stopped speaking. In Natsuko's rundown apartment the three women slowly confront their individual anxieties as well as their relationships under the weight of Midoriko's punishing silence. Eight years later, we are reunited with Natsuko. She is now a writer and finds herself on a journey back to her native city, returning to memories of that summer and her family's past as she faces her own uncertain future

Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2022 From the bestselling author of Breasts and Eggs and international literary sensation Mieko Kawakami comes a sharp and illuminating novel about a fourteen-year-old boy subjected to relentless bullying. In Heaven, a fourteen-year-old boy is tormented for having a lazy eye. Instead of resisting, he chooses to suffer in silence. The only person who understands what he is going through is a female classmate, Kojima, who experiences similar treatment at the hands of her bullies. Providing each other with immeasurable consolation at a time in their lives when they need it most, the two young friends grow closer than ever. But what, ultimately, is the nature of a friendship when your shared bond is terror? Unflinching yet tender, sharply observed, intimate and multi-layered, this simple yet profound novel stands as yet another dazzling testament to Mieko Kawakami's uncontainable talent. TIME's 100 Must-Read Books of the Year 'Mieko Kawakami is a genius' - Naoise Dolan, author of Exciting Times 'An expertly told, deeply unsettling tale of adolescent violence' - Vogue Translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd.

A young boy returns obsessively to a supermarket sandwich counter, entranced by the beauty of the woman who works there. Her aloof demeanour and electric blue eyelids make him feel the most intense joy he's ever known. He calls her Ms Ice Sandwich, and he wants nothing more than to spend his days watching her coolly slip sandwiches into bags. But life keeps getting in the way -- there's his beloved grandmother's illness, and a faltering friendship with his classmate Tutti, who she invites him into her private world. Wry, intimate and wonderfully skewed, Ms Ice Sandwich is a poignant depiction of the naivety and wisdom of youth, just as it is passing

From literary sensation and International Booker Prize-shortlisted author Mieko Kawakami, the bestelling author of Breasts and Eggs and Heaven comes All the Lovers in the Night, an extraordinary, deeply moving and insightful story set in contemporary Tokyo. 'A brief, compelling study of alienation and friendship; I binge-read it in one sitting.' - Rebecca F Kuang, bestselling author of Babel Fuyuko Irie is a freelance proofreader in her thirties. Living alone in an overwhelming city and unable to form meaningful relationships, she has little contact with anyone other than her colleague, Hijiri. But a chance encounter with a man named Mitsutsuka awakens something new in her. Through their weekly meetings, Fuyuko starts to see the world in a different light and still, painful memories from her past begin to resurface. As Fuyuko realizes she exists in a small world of her own making she begins to push at her own boundaries. But will she find the strength to bring down the walls that surround her? Pulsing and poetic, modern and shocking, this is an unforgettable novel from Japan's most exciting writer. 'Mieko Kawakami is a genius' - Naoise Dolan, author of Exciting Times All the Lovers in the Night is translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd.

Štrnásťročný stredoškolák sa pre zrakovú poruchu stáva terčom posmechu svojich spolužiakov. Neschopnosť vzdorovať mučiteľom a pasivita voči ich krutému zaobchádzaniu ho nútia uzavrieť sa do vlastného sveta. Jeho osamelosť naruší až spolužiačka, ktorá rovnako ako on zažila šikanovanie. Ich priateľstvo je pre nich útechou a umožňuje im nachádzať povzbudenie a otvorene hovoriť o svojich trápeniach. K násiliu sa však stavajú opačne. Zatiaľ čo ona považuje tých slabých za víťazov s morálnou prevahou, on sa, naopak, vzoprie rezignácii a snaží sa zmeniť svoj život. Jednoduchý a zároveň hlboký román Mieko Kawakami je ďalším dôkazom jej talentu, ktorý je charakteristický neúprosnosťou a zároveň nežnosťou, ostrým pohľadom, intímnosťou a mnohovrstevnosťou. Nepochybne si tak upevňuje povesť jednej z najvýznamnejších mladých autoriek súčasnosti. Z japonského originálu Hevun (Kodansha Ltd, 2009) preložila Dana Hashimotová.