Strange Weather in Tokyo
By Hiromi Kawakami, Allison Markin Powell (translator)
Publication Year: 2013 (first published in Japanese in 2001)
Type: Fiction
Genre: contemporary
Read on 2019-07-28
View additional specs on this book in Muhan’s 2019 Reading Survey ➞
★★★☆☆
I excepted something a little more atmospheric. As it turns out, this is just a quaint slice-of-life sort of thing where things just sort of quietly happen and there’s not a ton of plot or tension or set-up or pay-off. Just a very gentle story about a woman in her thirties who befriends her old high school teacher, a widower in his 60s who tends towards intellectualism and certain personality quirks.
I personally found it kind of boring and lacking in terms of a driving theme and literary charm. The translation may be in part to blame, but I also really appreciate how deftly Allison Markin Powell has translated plot points culturally. I just know that there are nuances I am missing when I’m reading words like “I love you” in English that were originally written in a different language with better and more words for love.
On a side note, Allison Markin Powell’s name doesn’t seem to be on the Goodreads listing for this book any where? Translators should always always always be listed, preferably right next to the original author’s name, because really in translation they are also authors of the book!!!
See me review this book in this video!
