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Breasts and Eggs: A Novel Paperback – March 23, 2021
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A BEST BOOK OF 2020
TIME Magazine・The Atlantic・Book Riot・Electric Literature・The New York Times (Notable Book of the Year)
The story of three women by a writer hailed by Haruki Murakami as Japan’s most important contemporary novelist, WINNER OF THE AKUTAGAWA PRIZE.
On a sweltering summer day, Makiko travels from Osaka to Tokyo, where her sister Natsu lives. She is in the company of her daughter, Midoriko, who has lately grown silent, finding herself unable to voice the vague yet overwhelming pressures associated with adolescence. The story of these three women reunited in a working-class neighborhood of Tokyo is told through the gaze of Natsu—thirty years old, an aspiring writer, haunted by hardships endured in her youth. Over the course of their few days together in the capital, Midoriko’s silence will prove a catalyst for each woman to confront her fears and family secrets.
On yet another blistering summer’s day eight years later, Natsu, during a journey back to her native city, struggles with her own indeterminate identity as she confronts anxieties about growing old alone and childless.
One of Japan’s most important and best-selling writers, Mieko Kawakami mixes stylistic inventiveness, wry humor, and riveting emotional depth to tell a story of contemporary womanhood in Japan. Breasts and Eggs recounts the intimate journeys of three women on the path to finding peace and futures they can call their own.
“Original and deeply moving…This book is a gift.”—Laura van den Berg
- Print length432 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherEuropa Editions
- Publication dateMarch 23, 2021
- Dimensions5.25 x 1 x 8.25 inches
- ISBN-10160945670X
- ISBN-13978-1609456702
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
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From the Publisher
Editorial Reviews
Review
“A sharply observed and heartbreaking portrait of what it means to be a woman, in Japan and beyond.”—TIME, The 10 Best Fiction Books of 2020
“Fantastic.”—Kat Chow, NPR
“Stunning.”—Financial Times
“Raw, funny, mundane, heartbreaking.”—Jane Yong Kim, The Atlantic, Best Books of 2020
“Kawakami writes with unsettling precision about the body…she is especially good at capturing its longings.”—Katie Kitamura, The New York Times
“I can never forget the sense of pure astonishment I felt when I first read Mieko Kawakami’s Breasts and Eggs.”—Haruki Murakami
“Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami is as confronting and modern as its title suggests. I love Kawakami’s depiction of what it is to be female today in Japan.”—Natalie Portman, Natalie’s Book Club
“Mieko Kawakami’s characters live in a world that is made up almost entirely of women but is decidedly not made for them.”—Sarah Chihaya, New York Review of Books
“A unique, direct voice—almost every page contains sentences that stop me in my tracks.”—Marta Bausells, LitHub
“Will transcend cultural barriers and enchant readers.”—Alina Cohen, New York Observer
“Mieko Kawakami’s first full-scale novel to be translated from Japanese into English reveals what a Catherine Wheel of talent she is, how unplaceable and unique.”—John Freeman, Literary Hub
“A striking portrait of contemporary working-class womanhood.”—New Statesman
“Addresses the multifaceted nature of what it means to move through the world as a woman.”—Ploughshares
“Kawakami’s prose is bold, modern, and surprising. Breasts and Eggs is a moving story about womanhood and modern life told through the lens of a supremely confident writer.”—An Yu, author of Braised Pork
“Within an affecting portrait-of-an-artist-in-transition, Kawakami deftly, deeply questions the assumptions of womanhood and family—the bonds and abuses, expectations and betrayals, choices and denials.”—Terry Hong, Booklist
“A feminist masterwork.”—Entertainment Weekly
“[Kawakami’s] voice is intimate, musical, at times wry and powerfully observant to the inner lives of women and girls.”—Kali Fajardo Anstine, ELLE Magazine
“Breasts and Eggs speaks to the stories of Lucia Berlin; there is the same sense of a dispassionate but honoring gaze cast on working-class women, dogged and unsentimental in their survival.”—Hermione Hoby, 4 Columns
About the Author
Mieko Kawakami is the author of the internationally best-selling novel Breasts and Eggs, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and one of TIME’s Best 10 Books of 2020; and the highly-acclaimed Heaven, her second novel to be translated and published in English, which Oprah Daily described as written “with jagged, visceral beauty.” Born in Osaka, Japan, Kawakami made her literary debut as a poet in 2006, and in 2007 published her first novella, My Ego, My Teeth, and the World. Known for their poetic qualities, their insights into the female body, and their preoccupation with ethics and modern society, her books have been translated into over twenty languages. Kawakami’s literary awards include the Akutagawa Prize, the Tanizaki Prize, and the Murasaki Shikibu Prize. She lives in Tokyo, Japan.
Sam Bett studied Japanese at UMass-Amherst and Kwansei Gakuin University. Awarded Grand Prize in the 2016 JLPP International Translation Competition, he has translated fiction by Yoko Ogawa, Yukio Mishima, and NISIOISIN. He also co-hosts Us&Them, a Brooklyn-based reading series showcasing the work of writers who translate. His translation of Yukio Mishima’s Star won the 2019 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission (JUSFC) Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature.
David Boyd is Assistant Professor of Japanese at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He has translated novels and stories by Hiroko Oyamada, Masatsugu Ono, and Toh EnJoe, among others. His translation of Hideo Furukawa’s Slow Boat (Pushkin Press, 2017) won the 2017/2018 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission (JUSFC) Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature.
Product details
- Publisher : Europa Editions (March 23, 2021)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 432 pages
- ISBN-10 : 160945670X
- ISBN-13 : 978-1609456702
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.25 x 1 x 8.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #52,451 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #148 in City Life Fiction (Books)
- #930 in Psychological Fiction (Books)
- #4,270 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors
Mieko Kawakami is the acclaimed author of the international bestseller Breasts and Eggs. Born in Osaka, Japan, Kawakami made her literary debut as a poet and published her first novella, My Ego, My Teeth, and the World, in 2007. Her books, translated into over 20 languages, are known for their poetic qualities, insights into the female body, and preoccupation with ethics and modern society. Kawakami’s literary awards include the Akutagawa Prize, the Tanizaki Prize, and the Murasaki Shikibu Prize. Heaven, translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd, is on the shortlist for the 2022 International Booker Prize. Her most recent novel that has been translated into English is All the Lovers in the Night. She lives in Tokyo.
Writer of fiction and translator of Japanese into English, specializing in novels, fashion and the arts.
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book easy to read and enjoyable. They praise the well-written prose and language. The story is described as engrossing, moving, and emotionally touching. Readers appreciate the interesting themes and perspectives on modern women's lives. The feminist content opens their eyes to new ideas about womanhood, motherhood, and sex. The characters feel real and authentic, with unique voices. Overall, customers describe the book as an authentic and ground-breaking feminist novel about the lives of women in contemporary Japan.
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Customers find the book readable and enjoyable. They describe it as an original and interesting novel with vivid imagery. Readers appreciate the writing style and narrative voice.
"...The novel is worth reading for several reasons...." Read more
"...Let me reiterate, there are a lot of good things in this novel and there is something about the, let me call it gentleness, of this prose that I..." Read more
"...Timeless and thoroughly contemporary, intimate and expansive, Natsuko and her companions encompass extremes in a singular and unforgettable fashion." Read more
"...I liked Kawakami’s writing style and her vivid imagery...." Read more
Customers find the story engaging and moving. They appreciate the stream-of-consciousness writing style and emotional depth of the stories. The plot is described as interesting and remarkable to watch unfold.
"...Kawakami is able to covey Natsuko's daily life, family history and relationships, her friendships, and the—I guess—texture of her lived experience...." Read more
"...I like the relationships she develops in part two, with Aizawa and Rika in particular, and I did get a feeling of closure which I admit I was..." Read more
"...The story is candid about the pain of being a woman...." Read more
"...This money kept the orphaned sisters together and is therefore honorable. Makiko has a daughter, Midoriko...." Read more
Customers praise the writing style as well-written and beautifully described. They find the author gifted and amazing, praising the powerful and emotional literary work. The writer tackles a sensitive and timely subject with ease, seamlessly dealing with several themes related to parenting, giving birth, and raising children. The author makes ordinary stories interesting and masterful, using a laid-back and colloquial writing style.
"...They did not translate every Japanese term—izakaya, mugicha, okonomiyaki, tanto—which means they did not have to slow a sentence down by explaining,..." Read more
"...Their language is punchy – less lyrical and more percussive...." Read more
"...I liked Kawakami’s writing style and her vivid imagery...." Read more
"...The writing was insightful, with passages of great beauty and emotional depth...." Read more
Customers find the book engaging and thought-provoking. They appreciate the exploration of important themes and issues that transcend the setting. The book provides an interesting perspective on what it's like to be a woman in modern Japan. Readers appreciate the author's ability to convey Natsuko's daily life, family history, and relationships.
"...Kawakami is able to covey Natsuko's daily life, family history and relationships, her friendships, and the—I guess—texture of her lived experience...." Read more
"...It is not especially plot driven. Properly these are slice of life stories...." Read more
"...Others were waiting to read this fascinating work...." Read more
"...Another interesting perspective on what it's like to be a women in modern Japan and ideas on reproduction." Read more
Customers appreciate the feminist content. They say the book opens their eyes to new ideas about womanhood, motherhood, and sex. The theme is female-centric and covers issues and pressures modern women face.
"...Ultimately, this is a book about women's bodies...." Read more
"...chapters but overall it is a charming read that covers issues and pressures modern women face." Read more
"...I'm glad I read Kawakami's novel - it opened my eyes to some ideas about womanhood, motherhood and sex that I never would have arrived at..." Read more
"This was a great read. Very female centric. It focuses on a female and single writer who struggles with her desire to have a child...." Read more
Customers enjoy the character development. They appreciate the well-written characters with distinct voices and desires for friendship, success, and family. The author expresses the characters' needs for friendship, work, and family. Readers also mention strong female characters who triumph and struggle.
"...Makiko and Midoriko as well! All of the characters are well written and feel real...." Read more
"...The feeling you get of each character, whether you like them or not, you FEEL them. You feel what they are going through...." Read more
"...The topics that are often tabu. The weight of all the main characters. The females leading their lives." Read more
"...In addition, there are other strong female characters who triumph, struggle, and love in all of its manifestations." Read more
Customers appreciate the book's authenticity. They say it feels real and well-written.
"...thoughts of its narrator, which I found to be thoughtful and authentic...." Read more
"...All of the characters are well written and feel real. Every woman whether she considers herself a feminist or not, should read this book." Read more
"...Real and authentic." Read more
Customers find the book excessively long. They feel the prose is overly dramatic and prolonged beyond its purpose.
"...And yet, for me, thought I enjoyed it, there is something that falls a bit short when compared to the best work of Yoshimoto and Murakami...." Read more
"Well written prose, though overly prolonged and dramatic beyond necessity...." Read more
"Too long..." Read more
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Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2020Meiko Kawakami's novel, Breasts and Eggs, is her first to be published in English. The publisher, Europa Editions, says that it will be publishing two more, Heaven and The Night Belongs to Lovers.
Let's start with the book's title. The original title is Natsumonogatari, which could be translated as A Summer Story. Because the character telling her story is named Natsuko, a pun is buried in the title, which similar to the Genji Monogatari might also be read as The Tale of Natsu[ko].
Be that as it may, Breasts and Eggs is both appropriate more tempting title than A Summer Story. In Book One, Natsuko's older sister Makiko comes up to Tokyo from Osaka in the summer with her daughter Midoriko intent on obtaining breast enlargement surgery, staying with Natsuko.
In Book Two, ten years later, Natsuko—single, childless, now economically secure, and pushing forty—begins to consider having a child. There are two problems with this impulse: Natsuko finds sexual intercourse worse than distasteful. She tried it in her late teens, early twenties with a boyfriend, so coitus is out. Also Japanese society discourages single women from having artificial insemination. It exists, but it's for married couples who cannot have a child.
Natsuko is 29 in Book One; Makiko is 39; and Midoriko is 12 (and communicates with her mother and aunt only in writing; she'll talk to her friends but not to her mother). The girls grew up in Osaka in a cramped and gloomy apartment over an izakaya. One day when Natsuko came home from elementary school, her layabout father was gone and they never saw him again. They moved in with grandmother and mother worked a couple jobs and in a bar. Mom died when Natsuko, was 13 and two years later grandmother died. At the beginning of Breasts and Eggs Natsuko has been living in Tokyo, working in a bookstore to support herself with ambitions of being a writer. Makiko is a single mother working as a bar hostess having made an unfortunate and short-lived marriage.
The novel is worth reading for several reasons. Kawakami is able to covey Natsuko's daily life, family history and relationships, her friendships, and the—I guess—texture of her lived experience. We know who she is, what she wants, why she wants it. And we can understand why her sister could want improved breasts. The book also conveys a sharp picture of a contemporary Japanese life. This is what it is like to live as this aspiring woman in Japan today. Is Natsuko typical? Probably not. Is she representative? Probably not. Is she Japanese? Absolutely.
In Book One Kawakami does allow the reader access to information Natsuko doesn't have. These are the entries from her 12-year-old niece's journal, thoughts like: "It feels like I'm trapped inside my body. It decides when I get hungry, and when I'll get my period. From birth to death, you have to keep eating and making money just to stay alive. I see what working every night does to my mom. It takes it out of her. But what's it all for. Life is hard enough with just one body. Why would anyone want to make another one? . . ."
The book is more than the sisters' dilemmas about their breasts and eggs. At one point, Natsuko and a writer friend talk about dialect in fiction. The friend says that in Osaka she heard "these three women just talking, a million miles an hour, getting everything in there. There was so much going on. Multiple perspectives, mixed tenses, the whole shebang. They were cracking up, but they were having a real conversation. Nothing like on TV. Everything on TV is tailored for TV . . . What gets me is how writing always fails to capture it. Like, the way those three women were talking. I mean, you couldn't reproduce that performance on the page and get the same dynamic . . ."
Sam Bett, a prize-winning translator, and David Boyd, an assistant professor Japanese at the University of North Carolina, translated Breasts and Eggs. The translation is, as I hope my two short quotes indicate, smooth and resourceful ("shebang"!). They did not translate every Japanese term—izakaya, mugicha, okonomiyaki, tanto—which means they did not have to slow a sentence down by explaining, and the context provides the approximate meaning for readers who have no Japanese at all.
The jacket flap copy says "Kawakami, who exploded onto the cultural scene first as a musician, then as a poet and popular blogger, is now one of Japan's most important and best-selling writers." Based on Breasts and Eggs, she should be
- Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2020I am by no means an expert on Japanese literature; however, there is a sensibility that runs through authors I admire like Yoshimoto and Murakami. I would describe it as a touch of spirituality, a feeling of things beyond, that imbues the events of their fiction. I get that same sensibility when reading Kawakami’s Breasts and Eggs. And yet, for me, thought I enjoyed it, there is something that falls a bit short when compared to the best work of Yoshimoto and Murakami.
If I were to put my finger on the difference, it is this: whenever I finish any of these novels, I feel like there are things I simply do not understand about what went on. In stories like “Kitchen”, however, or Kafka on the Shore, I feel like these are things I couldn’t understand even if I wanted to. In Breasts and Eggs, I feel like I should be able to understand the things that ended up simply confusing me.
In the first part of the novel, we meet Natsuko, her sister Makiko, and Makiko’s daughter Midoriko, when Makiko and Midoriko come from Osaka to visit Natsuko in Tokyo. Midoriko is battling her mother by being silent while Makiko apparently wants breast augmentation surgery for reasons that never really become clear. Also, she doesn’t appear to get them, for reasons that are not clear to me, and the entire situation is dropped in part two.
Part two, set years later, finds Natsuko as a successful writer who decides she wants to have a child by a sperm donor. This all makes sense to me; however, I don’t really understand the people she meets when she starts to investigate artificial insemination. Is Japanese culture really against this, as seems to be here? I like the relationships she develops in part two, with Aizawa and Rika in particular, and I did get a feeling of closure which I admit I was fearful about as the novel drew to an end. Still, I was ultimately left dissatisfied.
Let me reiterate, there are a lot of good things in this novel and there is something about the, let me call it gentleness, of this prose that I find soothing and enjoyable. This is definitely a novel that rates above the average. And yet, in the end, I felt something was missing.
Top reviews from other countries
-
Carla VargasReviewed in Mexico on December 25, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars Bien
Llegó en tiempo pero maltratado
- BrianReviewed in Canada on March 1, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars my daughter like it
my daughter love reading the book over and over again
-
Sergio F.Reviewed in Italy on August 16, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Libro
Prodotto come da foto, bella lettura. Consegna puntuale.
- NixaReviewed in India on July 21, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Came in good condition
I just read the first chapter and i loved it so much. The book came in amazing condition. No issues
Nixa
Reviewed in India on July 21, 2024
Images in this review -
JillReviewed in France on March 7, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Livré en bon état, hate de le lire
Livré en bon état, hate de le lire