Asleep

Rating:
Summary: A Poignant, Intimate and Playful Collection
Review: "Asleep" was my introduction to the work of Banana Yoshimoto. After reading this book, I'm compelled to seek out her other books, as this collection of novellas was a beautifully written, dreamy and engaging read. This book can be read within a few hours, as the language isn't as sophisticated as that used in most other literary works (because this book is translated from Japanese to English), but it is descriptive and evocative..not merely "simple" as Yoshimoto is too often described.

The protagonists in all three of the short stories in this collection are mysterious, and as they vividly describe their thoughts, it's as if Ms. Yoshimoto is allowing the reader to be privy to the very private, intimate world of her characters. This collection as a whole is imbued with sensuality, mystery and magic. The stories have open endings, and the effect of these stories resonates long after you've read them.

My favourite novella was the second of the three, "Love Songs", as its interesting subject matter (a woman's romantic desire for a deceased woman she hated in life), meshed with the candid reality of alcoholism, made for a gripping read. Novellas 2 and 3 both deal with addiction, as it completely consumes the two protagonists it affects.

I found the third short story, "Asleep", to be the least engaging of the three, but it is nonetheless an inspiring story about a young woman's rise from a life of stagnant ennui, to her courageous leap into the workforce.

This is an enchanting, irresistable collection that makes a refreshing change from anything you've ever read before. Here, Banana Yoshimoto puts a surreal twist on the mundane, and the results are shimmering.

Rating:
Summary: Enter the Ether
Review: Banana Yoshimoto is an interesting writer. Her writing is very dreamlike and delves deeply into the world of magical realism. Many people dislike her writing because it is not on the same level with Mishima, Kawabata, or Tanizaki. Well, fine. But these peope are doing her books a great injustice comparing them to the writings of the older male writers. Yoshimoto is writing for another group of readers, she is writing for young Japanese women who have graduated from two year colleges and are working as Office Ladies. These young women are the freest residents of Japan. They work minimal jobs performing minimal tasks, and are able to use their money for trips and expensize clothes. Of course all this ends when they get married.

All that aside this is a pretty enjoyable book. "Night and Night's Travelers" is the first and my favorite story in the book. It is narrated by a young woman named Shibami whose brother was killed in a dcar accident. The story revolves around Shibami's relationships with her cousin Mari, who was Shibami's brother, Yoshihiro, and an American girl named Sarah who was also one of Yoshihiro's lovers. It is quite a sad story about making amends with the dead. "Love Songs" is the second story and my least favorite it is about a young woman is drinking herself slowly to death. At night she hears a beautiful song she thinks that it is a woman she knew a couple of years back, a rival for a man's love. After finding out that the woman is dead. The young woman goes to see a dwarf medium. This one is really a story about enemies who grow to love each other. The third story is titleD "Asleep" It is about a young woman who cannot seem to stay awake, and the only thing that seems to wake her from her deep slumber is when her boyfriend calls her. This is a sad little story about a young woman wasting away in the shadow of her boyfriend's comatose wife. Must be read to grasp the full emotion behind it.

Thi sis a pretty good book. It is 14 years old though so Yoshimoto wrote these stories when she was only 25. Although she wrote kitchen when she was 24. If after you read this book you think that Yoshimoto's writing is not on par with her older stuff. Just remember that this is the older stuff, just took a while to be translated. A good book, check it out.

Rating:
Summary: Struggled to keep from falling Asleep
Review: In all honestly, I very rarely struggle to finish a book ... but probably the only things that kept me reading until the end were

1) This book was a gift and I would've felt guilty not finishing a book that someone shelled out $10 for, and

2) Having read Kitchen, I know Ms. Yoshimoto has writing talent ... in other words, I hoped against hope that it would get better.

To be fair, it did get better as the short story "Asleep" was probably better than the first two. If Banana had developed it into a longer work a la Kitchen, it might've been as good of a read.

But in the end I just couldn't believe how bad the book was. Kitchen was a light but thoughtful and thought-provoking romance full of emotion and beauty. It was like a literary breath of fresh air. Asleep was like Yoshimoto waxing poetic about a breath of fresh air. Every sentence was truly beautiful and artfully constructed. But without a solid story, it was mind-numbingly dull and felt meaningless.

Because I liked Kitchen so much, I'll give Yoshimoto another shot. I sure would be disappointed if Banana was just a one-hit wonder.

Rating:
Summary: A dreamlike hazy world.
Review: Overcoming a loss is the subject of this book - much like Yoshimoto's other work. Yoshimoto's characters are always people on the verge of a breakdown of some sort; however, some mystical force is able to pull them back to life. Although this description might seem strange to people who have not read Yoshimoto before, it is accepted in Banana Yoshimoto's work. All of Yoshimoto's stories are a blend of the real and the unreal. On the one hand she can describe in detail the most daily and realistic activities and on the other hand her stories speak naturally of a supernatural force in life, be it intuition, visions or any other surreal happenings. Yoshimoto describes some powerful force that cannot be explained in the means we know but that somehow seems genuine in the world Yoshimoto creates. I guess it is accepted because Yoshimoto does not use any big words or declarations. She talks about events every person can relate to and the"force" she describes is really something that comes from within (the mind, the heart, the subconscious).
All of Yoshimoto stories have a spiritual sense to them which is achieved both by the story and the poetic language.
"Asleep" contains 3 stories that revolve around the subject of sleep: In the first story the narrator, a young woman, talks about the two loves of her dead brother. The narrator does not mention her mourning or her suffering. She describes other people and their loss and the bereavement comes out through every cherished memory and the troubling, bitter-sweet recollections. The writer tells us about her good relationships with the two women and learns what an important role they play in her life in the past and in the present.
The second story deals with a woman who escapes to alcohol. She feels the alcohol is like an obsession she cannot control. Something that clouds her days and nights. After she tackles an "open issue" from her past and comes to terms with herself and her "inner world" things are improving.
In the third story "Asleep" the heroine is struggling with the sleep that overtakes her whole day. She is drifting through a current emptiness in her life following a loss of a close soul. This character has a man in her life whose wife is in coma - thus sleep surrounds her from all sides. She learns to see that the sleep is there for a reason and to understand it as the friend she lost used to work in "sleeping next to people". Her job was to ensure these people that her presence is close by, and thus to free them from their troubling dreams. All these incoherent details and "weird" characters are beautifully woven together. Yoshimoto has a lovely way of describing people and the connections between them. My only criticism is that "Asleep" does not achieve the "perfect" level of "Kitchen". The story is sometimes very slow and reflective and therefore I gave it only 4 out of 5 points.

Rating:
Summary: Somnambulism
Review: Slumber, Drunkenness, Death and Love are the topics explored in Banana Yoshimoto's "Asleep." As with "Kitchen," there are three novellas linked thematically but not by characters or plot. Three women, all in love with someone emotionally of physically dead, all troubled sleepers, all drinkers, try to find rest and quietude that is not found in sleep. Each aspect is a metaphor for the unconscious, where perhaps the answers lie. For in this sleep of death, who know what dreams may come? Girlfriend in a coma, I know, I know it's really serious. Drink, don't think. Seeking answers, the women look to their friends, their family, magical dwarfs or anyone who can help.

"Asleep" is told in Yoshimoto style, like a story overheard with half-open eyes while drifting off to sleep. It is semi-magical and dreamy, but still in touch with the real world. The pacing, the narrative are all influenced by classical Japanese literature. Her writing is very gentle, very feminine. And poetic.

An enjoyable, lazy book. Good for seekers of love and those who cannot sleep at night.

Rating:
Summary: Ugh
Review: Slumber, Drunkenness, Death and Love are the topics explored in Banana Yoshimoto's "Asleep." As with "Kitchen," there are three novellas linked thematically but not by characters or plot. Three women, all in love with someone emotionally of physically dead, all troubled sleepers, all drinkers, try to find rest and quietude that is not found in sleep. Each aspect is a metaphor for the unconscious, where perhaps the answers lie. For in this sleep of death, who know what dreams may come? Girlfriend in a coma, I know, I know it's really serious. Drink, don't think. Seeking answers, the women look to their friends, their family, magical dwarfs or anyone who can help.

"Asleep" is told in Yoshimoto style, like a story overheard with half-open eyes while drifting off to sleep. It is semi-magical and dreamy, but still in touch with the real world. The pacing, the narrative are all influenced by classical Japanese literature. Her writing is very gentle, very feminine. And poetic.

An enjoyable, lazy book. Good for seekers of love and those who cannot sleep at night.

Rating:
Summary: Ugh
Review: The works of Banana Yoshimoto have long been an important feature of my bookshelf. I tell everyone I know to pick one of her works up and read it, to experience the sheer captivation that is reading her fabulous stories. I cried for all different reasons through Kitchen and N.P., and Goodbye Tsugumi is also wonderful. I even tried reading Lizard in Japanese. They all have the ability to transport the reader into a new, but familiar world and delve deep into the human psyche.

Then I read "Night and Night's Travelers" in the Asleep collection. At the completion of this story I wanted nothing more than to throw the book to the ground and jump on it with all possible force. Perhaps this piece was not quite as compelling in English as in the original, but it nonetheless left a taste of disappointment in my dry, cynical mouth. The death in the story was not handled well, and the overuse of hyperbole and cliche is something to cry into one's brandy over. I hope the rest of this book proves to be back to her original, interesting self.

Rating:
Summary: Well done!
Review: This book was recommended to me by a friend. I had never read any of Banana Yoshimoto's works, but I enjoyed this collection, its subtle blurring of reality and fantasy, the deep sadness that permeates it without ever rising to the surface, so much that I have now bought all her books. I have become a fan. So far this book and Kitchen are my favorites. If you haven't encountered a work by Yoshimoto yet, start here. You won't regret it.