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Strange Weather in TokyoIntroduction of the ebook: Strange Weather in Tokyo
Đánh giá : 3.76 /5 (sao)
Tsukiko is drinking alone in her local sake bar when by chance she meets one of her old high school teachers and, unable to remember his name, she falls back into her old habit of calling him ‘Sensei’. After this first encounter, Tsukiko and Sensei continue to meet. Together, they share edamame beans, bottles of cold beer, and a trip to the mountains to eat wild mushrooms. Tsukiko is drinking alone in her local sake bar when by chance she meets one of her old high school teachers and, unable to remember his name, she falls back into her old habit of calling him ‘Sensei’. After this first encounter, Tsukiko and Sensei continue to meet. Together, they share edamame beans, bottles of cold beer, and a trip to the mountains to eat wild mushrooms. As their friendship deepens, Tsukiko comes to realise that the solace she has found with Sensei might be something more. …more
Review ebook Strange Weather in Tokyo
A May-December love story. She’s 37, he’s in his 70’s.
Her life is her career as an office worker. She has no friends; seldom sees her family; she seems tired of failed relationships with men. She drinks too much sake and beer. The story is written from her point of view.
She calls him Sensei. He’s her former high school Japanese teacher. They see each other on and off in a bar, occasionally eat out together, take walks or visit a museum. They go mushroom hunting with the bartender. They are bot A May-December love story. She’s 37, he’s in his 70’s.
Her life is her career as an office worker. She has no friends; seldom sees her family; she seems tired of failed relationships with men. She drinks too much sake and beer. The story is written from her point of view.
She calls him Sensei. He’s her former high school Japanese teacher. They see each other on and off in a bar, occasionally eat out together, take walks or visit a museum. They go mushroom hunting with the bartender. They are both careful not to think of these as ‘dates.’ Occasionally they have stupid arguments and stop speaking to each other.
He’s loaded with oddities. He wears old-fashioned clothes and always carries a briefcase. He keeps dead batteries and tests them occasionally to see if they still have a charge. He still acts as her teacher, reciting haikus and criticizing her for not remembering things he talked about in class 20 years ago.
Despite their age difference, she falls in love. He’s a widower, afraid of getting too involved and dying on her.
And did I mention all the food? It’s as if Camilleri’s Inspector Montalbano is vacationing in Japan. We need a glossary to look up yudofu (apparently best with shaved bonito), oden, daikon, konnyaku noodles, kombu, hanpen, yakitori (sounds delicious), shabu-shabu (skewered chicken, only so-so). And did someone order whale meat? Shame!
There is good writing. I liked this passage that captures her loneliness going off alone on weekend trips: “Times had changed – nowadays, hotels didn’t seem to consider a woman traveling alone unusual. They briskly escorted me to my room, briskly instructed me where the dining room and the bath were located, and briskly indicated when checkout time was. I had no other choice, and once I had briskly used the bath, briskly finished my dinner, and briskly taken another bath, there was nothing else to do. I briskly went to bed, briskly left the next morning, and that was all there was to it.”
A great story and a quick read.
The author (b. 1958) has written about 10 novels and has won several of Japan’s literary awards. About half of her books have been translated into English and some have been made into movies.
Tokyo restaurants: top photo from japan-guide.com
Middle photo from cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor
The author from lareviewofbooks-org
…more
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