Breasts and Eggs (Japanese: 夏物語, Hepburn: Natsu Monogatari, lit. 'Summer Stories') is a novel by Mieko Kawakami, published by Bungeishunjū in July 2019. It features a completely rewritten version of Kawakami's 2008 novella Chichi to Ran (乳と卵, lit. 'Breasts and Eggs'), but uses the same characters and settings. An English translation was published in 2020, under the original novella's translated title of Breasts and Eggs. It is a completely different work from the novella, which has not been translated into English.[1] The novel received the 73rd Mainichi Publication Culture Award.[2]
 First edition cover (Bungeishunjū, 2019) | |
| Author | Mieko Kawakami |
|---|---|
| Original title | Natsu Monogatari (夏物語) |
| Translator | Sam Bett David Boyd |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Published | March/April 2019 in Bungakukai |
| Publisher | Bungeishunjū |
Publication date | 11 July 2019 (hardcover) 3 August 2021 (paperback) |
Published in English | 7 April 2020 (Europa Editions) 10 June 2021 (Picador) |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback), e-book |
| Pages | 552 pp. (hardcover) 656 pp. (paperback) |
| ISBN | 978-4-16-391054-3 (hardback) 978-4-16-791733-3 (paperback) |
Plot edit
The novel is divided in two parts and is narrated by Natsuko Natsume (夏子 Natsuko), an aspiring writer in Tokyo. In the first part, Natsuko's sister, Makiko (巻子), and her 12-year-old daughter, Midoriko (緑子), arrive in Tokyo from Osaka. Makiko has come to Tokyo seeking a clinic for breast augmentation. Midoriko has not spoken to her mother in six months. Midoriko's journal entries are interspersed and contain her thoughts about becoming a woman and recognising the changes in her body. In the second part, set years later, Natsuko contemplates becoming a mother and the options open to her as an older single woman in Japan.
Publication edit
In 2019, Kawakami published the two-part novel Natsu Monogatari (夏物語). The first half of Natsu Monogatari is a completely rewritten version of the original 2008 novella Chichi to Ran. The second half is a continuation of the narrative. It is considered a sequel to the original novella, using the same characters and settings.[3][4] The first half was originally published in the March 2019 issue of Bungakukai. The second half was published in the April 2019 issue of Bungakukai.[5]
English translation edit
It was translated into English by Sam Bett and David Boyd,[6] but was published under the title of Breasts and Eggs, a translation of the original novella's title.[3] Bett and Boyd's translation was published in the United States by Europa Editions on 7 April 2020.[7] It was published in the United Kingdom by Picador on 20 August 2020.[8][9]
Reception edit
English translation edit
Kirkus Reviews criticised the "flat" English translation, writing that Kawakami's writing style is "lost on Anglophone readers, and her frank talk about class and sexism and reproductive choice is noteworthy primarily within the context of Japanese literary culture."[10]
Publishers Weekly praised the "bracing and evocative" narrative of the novel's first part, but felt the second part faltered into an "overlong and chatty" narrative.[11]
References edit
- ^ "Best Books 2022: Publishers Weekly". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
- ^ "毎日出版文化賞の人々：／上 文学・芸術部門 川上未映子さん／人文・社会部門 関根清三さん". 毎日新聞 (in Japanese). Retrieved 28 December 2023.
- ^ a b "Kawakami Mieko: Amplifying the Voices of Japanese Women Through Fiction". Nippon.com. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
- ^ ""このように書かれなければならない"ものを 書くために──作家 川上未映子". Lexus.jp (in Japanese). 12 July 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
- ^ "川上未映子ニュース". www.mieko.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 6 January 2024.
- ^ Braden, Allison (1 April 2020). "Translation as an Exercise in Letting Go: An Interview with Sam Bett and David Boyd on Translating Mieko Kawakami". Asymptote Journal. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
- ^ "Breasts and Eggs - Mieko Kawakami". Europa Editions. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
- ^ "Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami". Pan Macmillan. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
- ^ McNeill, David (18 August 2020). "Mieko Kawakami: 'Women are no longer content to shut up'". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
- ^ "Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami ; translated by Sam Bett & David Boyd". Kirkus Reviews. 26 January 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
- ^ "Fiction Book Review: Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami, trans. from the Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd". Publishers Weekly. 19 March 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
External links edit
- Breasts and Eggs - Europa Editions
- Breasts and Eggs - Pan Macmillan