After having read a lot of books that I had borrowed or received as a present, and re-reading Un Nos Ola Leuad, I was going to read a novel I had bought for myself for the first time in a long while. I had bought it quite a while ago, after I had read the review in the newspaper. It sounded interesting! I had never heard of the writer, but I decided to take a chance.
What attracted me in this book was that it dealt with a relationship, but seen from the separate perspectives of the two people in it. And I was interested to see their different perspectives on similar events. People can sometimes have such a different view on the same thing! I had already enjoyed that to a modest extent in Blasu, where two children of the protagonist have a completely different view on her..
So how was it? I must admit I was a bit disappointed! For two reasons. The first one was that there was less reflecting on the same things from the two people in the relationship. They do a lot of reflecting on things that concern only them and not their partner, such as family relationships. So you don't get the two contrasting perspectives.
A bigger reason was that it was all about a relationship, but I really struggled to spot any affection. I was wondering a bit if it really wasn't there, or whether how it is expressed is cultural to such an extent I just didn't recognise it. I'm convinced that at least some of it was the former. The two men involved are not very inclined to communicate with each other, they both cheat, they consider breaking up, and the words they use about their interactions are cold and carnal. That was not what I had been hoping for.
There was one additional thing: the suspension of disbelief. The story is that a young Black American has moved in with a young Japanese American. The Japanese guy's parents both moved to America as adults, and have also since moved back. Independently of each other; they are not together anymore. And then at some point the mother lets the son, Mike, know that the father has cancer and doesn't have long to live. Mike then tells his mum she should come over to stay with him, as she might want to not think about the situation. However; pretty much while she is in the air on her way to him, he decides that he wants to go and visit his dad, with whom he has lost contact. That seems implausible. Maybe I just don't know what strange contradictory urges the imminent death of a parent can bring out people, but I thought it was weird. Would you really go to Japan if your mother has just travelled halfway around the world on your invitation? But if you really feel like this is the last chance you have to reconcile with your dad, maybe you do.
In the book, anyway, Mike totally does go to Japan. Pretty much as soon as his mother arrives. And that leaves his mother staying with his boyfriend Ben. They have never met before. And Mike ends up working in the grotty-sounding diner his father runs in Osaka.
You do get a lot of interaction in the book between Mike and his mum, and Ben and Mike’s mum. That was quite interesting.
In the end, Mike decides that, after having come back to the US after his dad’s death, he has to go back to Osaka to run the diner for a while. Ben decides to stay in the US. The men seem to have decided that means breaking up, but Mike's mother thinks otherwise. You don't find out what the final decision is. I think that is an elegant ending.
In the end I am glad I read it, although I wish there had been more relationship in the book, but obviously, you only know what's in a book when you read it. And my next book is already on the go: I am going back to non-fiction. Stay tuned!
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