kitchen
Orphan Mikage is raised by her grandmother, who has a comforting yellow kitchen. When her grandmother passes, Mikage is taken in by a boy and his mother, who despite being under constant abuse and transphobia has a sunny care-free disposition. Mikage and the boy bond in their experiences of grief, and in their disconnectedness.
Translated works are tough to judge accurately, but I put my faith in our translators. They do quite the difficult job, and I must believe they are doing it well, despite some disagreement within the goodreads community. I will therefore assume, that this description of grief, as if one stands at an important distance from tragedy, thoughts locked onto it at all times, eyes full of sand and fog, was deliberate, and beautiful.
I am a biased individual, with an ear that perks up at the mention of kitchens and mothers. So the lack of my encounter with them in this book – although purposeful in many ways, left me a little empty. How can I recognise what is literary choice, and what is disappointment!
Two sparkling scenes:
“There was only one way to learn: I tried making anything and everything, and I tried to do it right. I would carefully wipe out the bowls, replace the caps on the spices every time, calmly chart out the steps in advance, and when I began to make myself crazy with irritation I would stop what I was doing and take a few deep breaths. At first my impatience would lead me to the brink of despair, but when I finally learned to correct my mistakes coolly, it was truly as if I had somehow reformed my own slapdash character. Or so I felt (of course, it wasn’t true).”
“I was not afraid of burns or scars; I didn’t suffer from sleepless nights. Every day I thrilled with pleasure at the challenges tomorrow would bring. Memorizing the recipe, I would make carrot cakes that included a bit of my soul. At the supermarket I would stare at a bright red tomato, loving it for dear life. Having known such joy, there was no going back.”
P.S.
I had a little shock with this book. I didn’t read the fine print, and so just as I was expecting about 40 more pages of the book to tie up lose storytelling ends, I was met instead with a separate short story! So I experienced a rather ABRUPT end that I was not anticipating! BEWARE! Does this ever happen to you?
I must not dismiss blurbs or covers, and should remain an informed reader in the future.
if you enjoyed kitchen you might enjoy:
fair play
Tove Jansson
convenience store woman
Sayaka Murata