Kitchen

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best books i ever read.Simple yet satisfying
Review: Banana Yoshimoto is one of the best authors ever to cross over seas. I own Kitchen and have read it over ten times. She writes with such clearness. The same kind of clearness as a crisp winter night. I hope to see more work from her.

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Summary: Touching the human heart
Review: At some level we have all experienced loss, loneliness, and comfort from other humans. I loved this book, and love to re-read it on cold rainy nights with something hot to drink in my little apartment.

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Summary: Liked "Moonlight Shadow" better than "Kitchen"
Review: I didn't find "Kitchen" terribly interesting, but I thought the second story "Moonlight Shadow" was quite powerful, particularly the latter part describing the apparition.

Rating:
Summary: A Gem!
Review: I applaud Banana Yoshimoto for this fine piece of work. "Kitchen" is a delightful treat filled with humor and irony. She can touch upon the raw emotions of love and lost. I must admit I shed a few tears on her second story in the novel, "Moonlight Shadow." The reader has to be in the right mood to really appreciate these stories.

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Summary: Lovely & Adorable Story, But Not Very Deep
Review: The prose is textured with a rich sensuality and reads pleasurably. The characters are sweet and quirky. The story is short and to the point. Overall, this book was an entertaining read, but not an earth-shatteringly provocative one. I can't figure out why it means so much to so many people.

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Summary: One of the best novels of this decade
Review: indeed we western people do not pay any attention to eastern cultures, exception made for "economis" issues. However, I am a great reader of Japanese novels (even if unfortunately translated: Learning Japanese is a bit difficult) and I do believe that the Japanese world represented by the young writer Banana Yoshimoto is a universal one, even the differences are many. I read all the novels written by Banana and translated into Italian but I am always impressed by the depth of all the characters. Above all, the mother (father?) is impressive. I was very disappointed whenI watched the movie on TV: it was different, and the "happy end" was.....a real loss.

Rating:
Summary: I thought this book was pretty good.
Review: Kitchen, by Banana Yoshimoto is not a typical novel. First of all, the character Eriko is a beautiful, practically perfect woman who is actually the father of Yuichi. This novel takes the reader into the life of Mikage, a young girl who has lost everyone in her life, who then goes to live with Yuichi and his "mother," learning to love them both, and then also losing Eriko. This novel gives extremely detailed descriptions of everything, whether the events or people are of great or little importance to the overall plot of the story. Because of all the excess of details, the story can at times seem to drag on and therefore become somewhat of a slow book to read. The way Banana Yoshimoto ends the novel is also not that of a typical novel. When the story comes to an end, the reader is left with mixed feelings. On one hand, the story seems incomplete, and the reader feels that they are left hanging, and wondering what is going to happen next, though they will never find out because that is, in fact the end of the novel. On the other hand, the end of the novel leads the reader to believe that Yuichi and Mikage will get together and all of the details of their happy life together can be left to the imagination of the reader. Either way, however, the ending provides no real closure and still leaves the reader wondering. Although this novel is well written, and although I greatly enjoyed the story, I would not recommend it to everyone. The long, overly detailed descriptions may cause a reader's mind to wander, and the lack of a solid ending may give the reader the feeling that something is missing from the plot.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book, but is there supposed to be a sequel?
Review: I read KITCHEN on a trip to Japan, mostly on the plane, and I thought that it was excellent. The story was incredible, and there were parts that made me feel like I was actually one of the characters in the book. In fact, another girl I traveled with shared the book with me because she was so anxious to read it after I had been telling her about it. When the story ended, it seemed like it wasn't really finished, and there should be another follow up book. I really enjoyed the book except for that fact.

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Summary: English 122-100 Extra Credit Ben Nomura
Review: Ben Nomura, 6.4 (Novel Essay for Kitchen)

Mikage Sakurai is a young woman who has suffered losses that no one her age should suffer. Her parents died when she was little. After that, her grandparents brought her up until her grandfather passed away when Mikage was in junior high school. Banana Yoshimoto's "Kitchen" follows Mikage shortly after her grandmother dies during Mikage's college years. Mikage must learn to deal with the passing of her grandmother as well as the effects of a terrible tragedy awaiting her in the coming months. Despite these terrible events, Mikage learns that she has only one choice in dealing with desperate situations. She must start over. In dealing with her losses, Mikage Sakurai goes through a series of rebirths. Mikage was not traumatized by the passing of her parents because of she was young at the time of their deaths. Likewise, her grandfather's death did not deeply affect her because she was little when it happened. Not until her grandmother passed was Mikage capable of being fully impacted by the loss of a loved one. Although the emotional stress was horrific for her, Mikage had other problems to deal with. She had to find a new home and a new life elsewhere. When we catch up with Mikage, she is taking time off from school. Her future is uncertain. It is at this time that Yuichi, a friend of Mikage's family, and his transsexual mother Eriko offer to take Mikage into their home. Still grieving the loss of her grandmother, Mikage decides to accept their offer because she has nowhere else to go. What Mikage does not realize is that Yuichi and Eriko will be her new family. However, becoming her new family is not an easy task. At one point, Mikage is informed that by staying with Yuichi, she is jeopordizing Yuichi's relationship with his girlfriend. Mikage decides that she must move. However, she holds off on leaving when she makes deep connections with Yuichi and Eriko. Mikage and Yuichi connect through their simultaneous dreaming about a conversation involving the two of them at Mikage's old home. More profound is the impact of a conversation Mikage had with Eriko. After suffering the passing of all of her close relatives, Mikage feels lost when Eriko tells her, "If a person hasn't ever experienced true despair, she grows old never knowing how to evaluate where she is in life; never understanding what joy really is." Eriko goes on to tell Mikage that she has been "so lucky". These words strike Mikage in her heart. Her outlook on her tragic situation changes. More importantly she is transformed into a new person. She has become part of a new family. She has gone through a rebirth. It is at this point in the story that Mikage's life takes yet another turn for the worse. Mikage moves out and gets a job as a chef's assistant when she learns that Eriko had been murdered a month earlier. Eriko Tanabe was Mikage's mentor. Eriko helped Mikage through a time in Mikage's life when no one else was around. Stunned by the loss of another loved one, Mikage feels beaten and alone "From the bottom of my heart I wanted to give up; I wanted to give up on living. There was no denying that tomorrow would come, and the day after tomorrow, and so next week, too." Her only comfort comes from Yuichi for whom Mikage begins to develop feelings. Although the love that is evolving from the friendship between Mikage and Yuichi is mutual, Yuichi has a girlfriend. However important Yuichi is to her, Mikage's romantic relationship with Yuichi is secondary to the loss of Eriko. At this time Mikage learns that she has gone through yet another rebirth "The experiences of the last months had changed me. In the mirror I could see only a trace of the spoiled princess I had been, the one who took Eriko for granted. I was so far from that now."

Mikage has been through a lot. She lost nearly everyone she has ever cared for. She has suffered losses no one should have to deal with at her age. Despite all of the turmoil in her life, Mikage lives on. She bounces back with renewed strength each time she is forced to cope with a loss. Each time she bounces back she learns more about who she is. Each time she bounces back she becomes closer to an adult. Mikage has learned that despite the desperate times she has gone through she must continue to be reborn. As she puts it "We live like the lowliest worms. Always defeated-defeated we make dinner, we eat, we sleep. Everyone we love is dying. Still, to cease living is unacceptable."

Rating:
Summary: A transvestite as a mother-in-law and a love for kitchens!
Review: Critical, sharp and hurting! A very good Japanese book