On My Wishlist (#5)

On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It’s where we list all the books we desperately want but haven’t actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming. It’s also an event that you can join in with too – Mr Linky is always at the ready for you to link your own ‘On My Wishlist’ post. If you want to know more click here.

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Kitchen

by Banana Yoshimoto

Banana Yoshimoto’s Kitchen is an enchantingly original and deeply affecting book that juxtaposes two tales about mothers, transsexuality, kitchens, love, tragedy, and the terms they all come to in the minds of a pair of free-spirited young women in contemporary Japan. Told in a whimsical style that recalls the early Marguerite Duras, “Kitchen” and its companion story, “Moonlight Shadow,” are elegant tales whose seeming simplicity is the ruse of a masterful storyteller. They are the work of a very special new writer whose voice echoes in the mind and the soul.

 Kitchen won two of Japan’s most prestigious literary prizes so with a recommendation like that it makes me eager to get my hands on this slim novel. With such a popular book, I really want to see what the fuss is about. It was on the bestseller list  for over a year in Japan. Even more fuss! I’m tempted to buy a copy right now!

Has any book that won literary prizes tempted you?

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