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Book Club Group 1, February 23rd 2024 Review - Breast and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami.
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The book is divided into two parts. Most of the first part is from the novella, and it’s a detailed account of a three-day visit to Tokyo made by Mikiko and her twelve-year old daughter, Midoriko, with Mikiko’s younger sister, Natsuko, in Tokyo. The second part takes place 10 years later and is mostly about Natsuko.
We started with a lengthy discussion concerning an unusual topic : translation. We all felt, unfortunately, the translation couldn’t really convey many of the nuances of the language and culture. For instance, Mieko’s stylistic writing along with the characteristic dialect in the Japanese version makes the serious social issues and rather too expressive details less distressing - sometimes funny. The author is known for her poetic qualities and her insights into the female body, ethical questions, and the dilemmas of modern society in Japan. The book discusses breast implantation, poverty, and AID (Artificial Insemination by Donor) which is an incredibly unkind system for unmarried women who would like to have children. At first, we felt perplexed by the information. However, we realized that the undercurrent of the book dealt with the relationship between mother and child/unborn child and the question whether a mother has the right to have a child under any circumstances. This is what truly fits the title of the book in Japanese
All 10 members who attended, weren’t convinced about the book, until our meeting. Fortunately, the discussion was very active and interesting. One member mentioned that our discussion completely changed her overall experience of the book. We all agreed that we may not have chosen this book for ourselves, but we were happy to have read it for the book club meeting.
Noriko Nishizawa |
