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Senos y huevos es una novela breve sobre la relaci¨®n entre tres generaciones de mujeres japonesas vinculadas por un cari?o silencioso, propio de su educaci¨®n y concepto de la feminidad. Este divertido y provocador relato es esencialmente una reflexi¨®n sobre la mujer y su cuerpo. La relaci¨®n que las tres mujeres tienen con su cuerpo y con el de los dem¨¢s es la forma con la que se definen socialmente, la que les da su identidad; cada conversaci¨®n o acci¨®n de las protagonistas vuelve siempre al punto de el cuerpo. Senos y huevos ya ha sido traducida al franc¨¦s, noruego, chino, alem¨¢n y coreano.

95 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 25, 2008

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1,157 people want to read

About the author

Mieko Kawakami

64?books7,757?followers
Mieko Kawakami (´¨ÉÏδӳ×Ó, born in August 29, 1976) is a Japanese singer and writer from Osaka.

She was awarded the 138th Akutagawa Prize for promising new writers of serious fiction (2007) for her novel Chichi to Ran (Èé¤ÈÂÑ) (Breasts and Eggs).

Kawakami has released three albums and three singles as a singer.

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5 stars
115 (12%)
4 stars
322 (35%)
3 stars
342 (38%)
2 stars
102 (11%)
1 star
16 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 120 reviews
Profile Image for yelenska.
649 reviews161 followers
November 20, 2020
"Et c'est l¨¤ que je lui ai dit : "Mais c'est toi qui m'as mise au monde". C'est seulement apr¨¨s que j'ai r¨¦fl¨¦chi qu'elle non plus n'avait pas choisi de na?tre, et c'est l¨¤ que j'ai jur¨¦ que m¨ºme si un jour je devenais adulte, jamais de jamais je n'aurais d'enfant." (p.63)

Voil¨¤ un livre tout ¨¤ fait particulier, qui rebutera ceux et celles qui sont d¨¦go?t¨¦(e)s par la simple mention des r¨¨gles. Si c'est le cas, passez votre chemin.

Dans ce tr¨¨s court r¨¦cit, on suit trois femmes d'une m¨ºme famille. Un jour Natsu voit sa s?ur Makiko d¨¦barquer chez elle, accompagn¨¦e de sa fille Midori. Si Makiko a d¨¦cid¨¦ de se rendre ¨¤ Tokyo, c'est pour aller consulter une clinique de chirurgie esth¨¦tique qui s'occupera de lui refaire les seins. Sa fille, qui ne prononce plus un mot depuis tr¨¨s longtemps, ne comprend pas ce choix, et sa s?ur non plus d'ailleurs.

On alterne entre le r¨¦cit (souvent int¨¦rieur) de Natsu et des bribes du journal intime de Midori. Tandis que Makiko ne cesse de parler et parler, notamment de son physique, de celui des autres, des diff¨¦rentes fa?ons d'agrandir ses seins, Natsu est une femme qui a du mal ¨¤ s'exprimer. Elle a du mal ¨¤ formuler son incompr¨¦hension face ¨¤ cette nouvelle obsession qu'a sa s?ur, elle est visiblement d¨¦pass¨¦e par tout ?a. Quant ¨¤ Midori, suite ¨¤ une dispute avec sa m¨¨re, elle a d¨¦cid¨¦ de ne plus parler et utilise un carnet afin de communiquer. Pendant presque toute l'histoire, ce n'est qu'¨¤ travers son journal intime qu'on en apprend plus sur elle, en particulier ses peurs de jeune fille dont le corps est en train de changer.

J'ai trouv¨¦ ce r¨¦cit int¨¦ressant car il montre le d¨¦calage qu'il peut y avoir entre des femmes de g¨¦n¨¦rations diff¨¦rentes, toutes avec des complexes physiques propres ¨¤ chacune. C'est rafra?chissant de voir une femme qui a des fuites de r¨¨gles, qui a la femme de devoir tout laver alors qu'elle est crev¨¦e et ne veut que continuer ¨¤ dormir. C'est int¨¦ressant et provoquant de lire ¨¤ propos d'une adolescente qui est r¨¦pugn¨¦e par la capacit¨¦ inn¨¦e en son corps de pouvoir tomber enceinte (chose dans laquelle je me reconnais, par ailleurs).

Le r¨¦cit se veut ¨¦galement dr?le parfois, notamment la sc¨¨ne o¨´ Natsu se rappelle une conversation clich¨¦ au possible o¨´ une femme qui est maquill¨¦e dit ¨¤ une autre femme que si elle veut se faire refaire les seins, c'est pour le regard des hommes. C'est vraiment tr¨¨s dr?le, et ?a a son impact parce que ?a a la possibilit¨¦ d'amener les lectrices ¨¤ rigoler d'elle-m¨ºme, tout en se rendant compte de la duret¨¦ des diktats de la beaut¨¦ f¨¦minine.

Je ne suis pas s?re d'avoir compris la sc¨¨ne avec les ?ufs ¨¤ la fin par contre. ?tait-ce une fa?on de dire "fuck ¨¤ la procr¨¦ation"? de dire que c'est dur pour une femme de na?tre et de devoir devenir ce qu'elle doit devenir? A m¨¦diter.

"C'est l'horreur de penser qu'avant m¨ºme de na?tre j'avais d¨¦j¨¤ tout ce qu'il faut pour faire na?tre des b¨¦b¨¦s. Et pas qu'un peu ! C'est pas juste ¨¦crit dans les livres, ?a se passe en ce moment dans mon ventre ! Alors quand je pense ¨¤ ce truc qui est d¨¦j¨¤ pr¨ºt ¨¤ na?tre, j'ai envie de l'exploser et de le r¨¦duire en charpie, franchement ! Qu'est-ce que c'est, cette histoire !" (p.68)
Profile Image for Rebecka.
1,185 reviews99 followers
August 15, 2015
I quite enjoyed this little glimpse into today's Japan - especially after reading the translator's comments at the end. More translations should come with these enlightening little essays! It really added a whole dimension to the main text, and made me curious about Higuchi. It also explained why there were so many commas in the text (it almost felt Danish at times).

Of the actual texts (there are two), I preferred the shorter one about the depressing Woman and Man. Not that the first one wasn't depressing, but the second one decidedly felt more hopeless!
Profile Image for Javier.
222 reviews79 followers
October 14, 2022
Este libro me persigui¨® durante varios a?os hasta que hace poco tom¨¦ la decisi¨®n de hacerme con ¨¦l. Se trata de una novelita corta cuyos temas principales son la relaci¨®n de tres mujeres con su cuerpo y el papel de la mujer japonesa en la sociedad contempor¨¢nea. Le vali¨® a su autora el premio Akutagawa, y lo curioso es que a?os despu¨¦s la historia original fue ampliada y complementada por una segunda parte. En Espa?a, la nueva edici¨®n la public¨® Seix Barral y es m¨¢s conocida (la original tuvo una tirada muy corta) y yo a¨²n no la he catado. Cantante, bloguera y luego escritora, hasta el momento es lo ¨²nico en castellano de Mieko Kawakami, pero espero que eso cambie pronto porque he tenido la ocasi¨®n de leerla en ingl¨¦s y me encanta su estilo.
Profile Image for Katie.
641 reviews28 followers
November 21, 2021
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Profile Image for Laubythesea.
523 reviews1,389 followers
May 5, 2021
Despu¨¦s de a?os viendo esta obra y leyendo maravillas de ella, he le¨ªdo ¡°Senos y huevos¡± y tengo que decir que me he quedado un poco fr¨ªa.

Esperaba, seg¨²n lo que he o¨ªdo e incluso el t¨ªtulo me hac¨ªa pensarlo, que ser¨ªa una obra disruptiva y rompedora en relaci¨®n con su tema principal: la relaci¨®n de la mujer con su cuerpo y, en ese sentido, no he encontrado lo que buscaba. O al menos no en la forma que lo imaginaba. Es cierto que la novela se public¨® en Jap¨®n hace unos a?os (2008) y quiz¨¢ entonces, y sobre todo en ese pa¨ªs, si supusiera una gran controversia al tratar ciertos temas que, no quiero decir tab¨², pero si que no se hablan con naturalidad como la menstruaci¨®n, dilemas ante la maternidad, un debate en torno a la cirug¨ªa pl¨¢stica¡­ ?OJO! Si no est¨¢s preparado para leer de estos temas, me retracto y dir¨¦ que entonces, este libro es muy necesario.

[Inciso a mi propia rese?a: acabo de descubrir que la autora a reescrito de cero la novela en 2019, usando la misma historia y personajes, pero ha declarado que es una novela diferente. Mi rese?a es de la obra de 2008 en la edici¨®n de 2013 de SD ediciones, la ¨²nica hasta el momento en espa?ol]

¡°Senos y huevos¡± nos presenta a tres mujeres, dos mujeres adultas (hermanas) y la hija adolescente de una de ellas. Todo sucede en apenas tres d¨ªas, donde madre e hija visitan Tokio, en un momento de crisis entre ambas. Descubriremos qu¨¦ les ha pasado y veremos si pueden salvar sus diferencias. Midoriko, la adolescente, no habla en toda la novela, sin embargo, conocemos sus preocupaciones y reflexiones sobre ser mujer y su cuerpo a trav¨¦s de su diario.

Al ser una novela tan corta, cualquier cosa que diga ser¨ªa destrip¨¢rosla. As¨ª que, ah¨ª os lo dejo, un libro que est¨¢ bien, pero no tan bien como esperaba. A¨²n as¨ª, tiene cosas por las que merece la pena la lectura, como la forma de plasmar la brecha en el pensamiento de mujeres de distintas generaciones, o la visibilidad que da a la variedad de elecciones de una mujer sobre su cuerpo, siendo todas ellas validas y que pone de manifiesto que la verdadera importancia es que haya libertad para elegir. Tambi¨¦n, os ser¨¦ sincera, a¨²n sigo pensando en la apote¨®sica escena final y su posible significado.

Esta edici¨®n tiene varios errores tipogr¨¢ficos lo que me da mucha rabia y me genera dudas sobre si tal vez la traducci¨®n no haya captado ciertos matices de la obra. Tras conocer de la existencia de la nueva versi¨®n de ¡°Senos y Huevos¡± (Breast and Eggs, 2019), sin duda me har¨¦ con ella, y entonces, hablaremos de nuevo

Profile Image for Yukari Peerless.
66 reviews17 followers
May 18, 2021
I read this in Japanese. I know I'm so late to the Kawakami game, and she is obviously extremely talented writer. But her writing makes me uncomfortable. I'm not saying it's a bad thing though.
Profile Image for Elhyca.
39 reviews9 followers
November 17, 2024
L'ann¨¦e derni¨¨re, j'avais lu Heaven de la m¨ºme autrice et je suis agr¨¦ablement surprise de retrouver des similitudes entre ces deux r¨¦cits: c'est ¨¦trange, organique et percutant. Ce r¨¦cit est d'avantage une r¨¦flexion qu'une v¨¦ritable histoire. L'autrice aborde les relations m¨¨res-filles, le d¨¦sir ou non d'avoir des enfants, le corps des femmes dans la soci¨¦t¨¦ et son ¨¦volution. L'utilisation de la discussion interg¨¦n¨¦rationnelle rend le propos encore plus int¨¦ressant. Une tr¨¨s bonne lecture.
Profile Image for Jonas.
164 reviews20 followers
May 30, 2018
godt oversatt
Profile Image for Leia.
1 review
October 7, 2022
I read the novel in Japanese since I wanted to have a sensible/clear understanding of Kawakami's story and her narrative. Her narrative was definitely very distinctive since it mixes informal Osaka-ben in between her characters Makiko (Mother of Midoriko), Midoriko, and me/watashi (Makiko's sister/Midoriko's aunt). It was unique how we view through the lense of watashi, as her comments throughout the novel remained somewhat plateaued and calm most of the time. She considered the issues of Makiko (wanting breast augmentation surgeryÈé) and Midoriko (hitting puberty and experiencing her first periodÂÑ) as a separate reality from herself and viewed it third perspective which adapts most likely to the readers' thoughts who aren't used to this plot yet in the beginning. Makiko wanted to take back her sexuality she felt she lost through giving birth to Midoriko and losing/divorcing her husband by getting breast augmentation. Midoriko hated her period and we see glimpses of her diary texts indicating how perplexed and agitated she was with the entire thought of sexual reproduction and giving birth. She was against Makiko's surgery and couldn't talk for months but in the ending, Midoriko and her mother exploded and they started to bash eggs on their own heads, revealing their internal struggles to one another. They were both smothered in egg yolk but it strangely enabled them both to release a bit of their bottled up feelings --- leading to the finale when they both seem to have a stronger bond when they leave "watashi's" home and go back to to theres (Makiko&Midoriko were only staying during the summer).

This story was definitely unique in how it projected the common struggles of women with the sentiment of losing sexual confidence in one's own body after child birth, and struggling to maintain their ego through divorce. Another common struggle is young individuals facing puberty being unable to express their feelings and constantly going through a mental struggle of maintaining 'normal' ties with their family even when they can't talk as openly as before since they feeling the internal boundary.

The last short story about the 'love that is fatally injured,' it was brutal and true how the protagonist "Onna" also faced the harsh reality of changing perceptions in favoritism. She built her confidence through the commercialized area of cosmetic shopping counters by seeing her beautiful self, or what she thought. She didn't realize that these businesses are professionals at making women feel more beautiful with their products through perfect lighting and mirrors. She faced the reality of undeniable aging when she bumped into a youthful pretty woman when she rudely looked her up to down, and scoffed. The Onna looked away quickly, not being able to consider it. She then encountered a man she wanted to have a one night stand with that was giving out tissues, but she was violently punched by him since he had bottled feelings of frustration towards the society doing his work. He mentioned her to have a 'gray face' so all of her cosmetics may have made her believed it did wonders, but not to the man.... Her cosmetics crashed and crumbled in the process, her face bleeding, indicating her inner hopes and confidence had shattered...
Profile Image for Tocotin.
782 reviews111 followers
February 10, 2022

This was an extremely accessible and fast reading for me. I probably wouldn¡¯t have picked it up on my own, but it was a January read for my book club (the first ever book club! yay!) and I kind of breezed through it, only to find out that the English version of Breasts and Eggs actually consists of two books, this one and Natsu Monogatari, or even possibly is the translation of the latter. Ahem. Anyway, I¡¯m still reading Natsu Monogatari, which sort of includes this story with added scenes and other elements.

Makiko was my favorite character in this one, and I also enjoyed Midoriko¡¯s diary entries a lot. The narrator, Natsuko, is sort of invisible in this one, but she seems to be judging her sister ¨C and everyone else, especially women ¨C very harshly; there are some really unflattering descriptions and observations, and maybe it¡¯s been intended to show the narrator¡¯s internalized misogyny, but then I¡¯m not so sure. Anyway, I thought it was an interesting story, and I did like the egg scene, which seems to be the piece de resistance of the whole.

The second story, about an unnamed woman who tries to muster up courage to have sex with someone she has never met, is probably intended to be unnerving, but the reader can probably see where the whole thing is going¡­ the most interesting thing about it were the main character¡¯s thoughts about bookstores.

I¡¯m not sure whether Kawakami¡¯s stories are indeed as feminist as the popular opinion makes them out to be; I can sense some sort of exasperation at the aspirations and thought processes of Everywoman, so to say. I don¡¯t know yet. I¡¯m still reading Natsu Monogatari.
Profile Image for jen.
74 reviews3 followers
February 6, 2023
Hva som ellers var en ok bok, ble satt i et helt nytt perspektiv da jeg leste etterordene. Jeg kunne ?nske jeg kjente til verket som Kawakami refererer til i boka hennes. Spesielt siden et av elementene jeg likte best i boka, spr?ket, ogs? er inspirert av dette verket.

Det som str?ler mest for meg, det jeg sitter igjen med, etter ? ha lest boka, er de sm? ?yeblikkene med samtaler mellom karakterer som ikke er v?res hovedkarakterer. Samtalen mellom de to kvinnene om feminisme og valg har gravd seg spesielt inn i hjernebarken. Jeg beundrer m?ten Kawakami fremstiller det p?. At selv jenta som kritiserer venninnen sin for hennes ?nske om silikonbryster for (slik jenta mener) ? tilfredstille menn, ogs? faller i samme fella. En samtale som ender i f?le ord som slenges imellom dem, der hverken av dem "vinner" til slutt.

Jeg er glad jeg leste denne boken p? norsk. Den frie tankestr?mmen av ord oversettes s? godt p? norsk! Det var en fryd ? lese.

Det skal sies at jeg ikke er s? forn?yd med hvordan "Pupper og egg" kom fram til sin slutt. Scenen med Makiko, Midoriko og eggene fikk meg ikke til ? f?le det jeg antar det var ment at jeg skulle f?le. 4 stjerner rett og slett p? grunn av etterordene.

????????
Profile Image for Javi Rose.
54 reviews4 followers
May 11, 2021
Nada de artificios. Una escritura clara, directa y cotidiana, pero que no deja de provocarnos profundos cuestionamientos sobre nuestra posici¨®n en el mundo, sobre nuestros valores y sobre nuestras conductas.
Acompa?amos a las 3 mujeres casi a tiempo real, ya que la acci¨®n se desarrolla en 2 d¨ªas y medio, el tiempo m¨¢ximo que podr¨ªa tomarnos leer este libro, que en realidad vuela en nuestras manos.
Profile Image for Ayla M..
31 reviews11 followers
June 5, 2019
veldig braa! Intens og skikkelig bra skrevet og sjuk novelle i tillEgg
Profile Image for Lain.
63 reviews32 followers
December 24, 2021
Natsu (single woman) receives a visit from her sister Makiko (who wants breast enlargement surgery) and niece Midoriko (who has decided to stop talking altogether). The two older women struggle with their decaying and ageing bodies, Midoriko is struggling with her entry into womanhood and fears the future. They all suffer from an inability to communicate, and all of this is set with the crushingly depressing japanese labour market of the post-90's as a background. The two sisters have inane conversations without really talking to each other, giving us some small glimpses of their lives, and we get some more background information through silent Midoriko's diary entries. So far so good.

Three quarters of the way in Natsu discovers that she has bought two cartons of eggs that expire tomorrow, and she has to throw them out. I understand the allegory, her biological clock is ticking and her eggs are expiring. But as a man my very first association is that eggs stay perfectly fine in the fridge several months past the expiry date, and that the book is definitely written by a woman. I would brush past this if it were not for what follows:

All the tension builds up to a grand conclusion which involves Makiko coming home drunk and confronting Midoriko about her silence. In the middle of her sisters outburst Natsu decides the natural course of action is to open the fridge, find a bottle of french dressing (allegory for sperm?), and pouring it into the sink while commenting on its consistency and lumpiness. Midoriko one-ups her aunts performance by taking the cartons of expired eggs and smashing them one by one against her forehead and breaking her silence by screaming "mommy, mommy tell me the truth". We get a few pages describing the eggyolk and eggshells covering her head, running down her hair. The next day they get on the train and leave for home.

I can not take this seriously. Like an ungodly mixture of social realism and a terrible experimental arthouse movie. It touches upon interesting topics, difficulty of communication and expressing feelings, condition of women in japanese society, the nature of being female, but it never delivers (in my opinion). Maybe other readers will be able to relate to and engage with the characters.
Profile Image for Patricia Camargo.
149 reviews5 followers
April 28, 2021
4,5??
Impressionante como em apenas 113 p¨¢ginas, tantos temas tabus s?o tratados de forma crua e nua pela autora.

No cerne, a discuss?o de quanto dif¨ªcil ¨¦ lidar no cotidiano com o corpo feminino. Exagero? Dores menstruais, parto, p¨®s-parto, gravidez, um corpo que por todos esses processos, acaba mais debilitado. E a isso, acrescente a insistente cobran?a por mant¨º-lo dentro de padr?es inalcan?¨¢veis (tamb¨¦m para a maioria).

E ainda, a dificuldade de comunicar-se, mesmo com quem se ama.

A hist¨®ria nos leva a passar 2 dias com duas irm?s e a filha adolescente da irm? mais velha. A menina se chama Midoriko, a m?e, Makiko e tem 39 anos de idade. A outra irm?, carinhosamente chamada de Na-chan ¨¦ a nossa narradora.

E no meio da narra??o, lemos peda?os do di¨¢rio de Midoriko.

O final ¨¦ cat¨¢rtico, super visual. Mas j¨¢ te aviso que ¨¦ um livro introspectivo, de vida real e normal. E esse tamb¨¦m ¨¦ seu ponto forte, porque cont¨¦m ¡°verdades¡± que n?o costumam ser ditas, mas que povoam as mentes de muitas mulheres.

¡°¡­ cada vez entend¨ªa menos de qu¨¦ o de qui¨¦n hablaba. Me sent¨ªa inc¨®moda. Al final, ni siquiera ten¨ªa la impresi¨®n de hablar con ella, como si el eco de sus palabras planeara sobre m¨ª sin llegar a tocarme¡± (pp. 12/13)

Olha que coisa mais linda: ¡°El sonido de esas palabras, el paisaje interior que evocan, me causan un dolor del que no puedo librarme, una tristeza permanente que se me adhiere a la espalda. Son cosas lamentables que vuelven una y otra vez, como en una noche l¨²gubre. Terminan por encharcarme los pulmones, los ojos ¡­¡± (pp. 20/21).

Esse livro forma parte da lista #40ferrante
Profile Image for Ririko.
6 reviews
April 5, 2022
I listened to this on a Japanese audiobook. I tried to read a physical book twice but couldn't get past page 3 because her writing style made me dizzy and wound up switching to the audiobook. Listening to this was strange, funny, and thought provoking. I enjoyed the first half about breasts but not so much for the second half about eggs.
Profile Image for Marte KA.
69 reviews10 followers
July 27, 2016
Klarer ikke bestemme meg for om jeg liker den eller om den bare er irriterende. Men tror den henger igjen i meg en stund. Bonus med etterord av oversetteren med b?de forklaring av sjangerformen og det japanske samfunnet.
Profile Image for Kozue.
57 reviews4 followers
September 23, 2020
Not as good as I expected. I heard it was acclaimed internationally, I wonder how it is translated.
Profile Image for ISSEI.
9 reviews
February 27, 2025
Her writing style is so unique. (In Japanese anyways) It deals with serious themes but also very humorous and I really enjoyed it!! Interested how it¡¯s translated
Profile Image for Lilith.
20 reviews4 followers
March 27, 2021
Breasts and Eggs by Kawakami Mieko 3.5/5 stars ????

I read this book for my book club in January. It then turned out that I was reading the original from 10 years ago while everyone else read the expanded edition from 2019. But tbh I feel like I am good with the old version as a lot of people who have read both didn't seem to like the new version.

This is one of those books that I can't imagine reading in translation as it is featuring the warm and homely dialect from the Kansai prefecture which obviously can't be translated. The book won the Akutagawa book prize in 2009 which is a big deal in Japanese bookish field. This was my first Akutagawa prize winner read.

Pros:
? The Kansai dialect. It is warm and burning at the same time as women from Osaka are known to be very powerful in their mannerisms. The strong characters of each of the 3 women featured in the book came across quite well.
? Not your standard mother-daughter relationship. I liked how the book showed that this relationship doesn't always have to be perfect. There can be misunderstandings and kids don't always have to get along with their parents.
? The way Midoriko felt about puberty is very real. Some people don't have an issue with the changes their bodies go through, but it can be terrifying for many and that is also OK.
? I actually liked the very vague ending of the book as it left me with my own imagination.

Cons:
? Mental health state of children and young teens in Japan. Kids like Midoriko are all over the country. We even have one kid in my school who has stopped coming to classes. Bullying, puberty, being misunderstood are real problems in Japan, and instead of addressing them most of the time kids just stop going to school whatsoever. Parents are too busy with work to deal with their kids problems. This is something I cannot accept about Japanese society and its ways. We could see the same in Makiko being more worried about breast enlargement rather than whatever her daughter was going through.
? I honestly didn't like how Natsuko was ready to judge women just because they wanted to do breast enlargement and couldn't accept that it was something the woman could want to do for herself and not to appease men. I also didn't like how she never listened to her sister and everything that Makiko told her just flew over her head.
Overall the book was a good one, very well written, and it addressed some very real issues that you don't always see in literature. Normalising menstruation through literature especially in a misogynistic country like Japan is a great feat and I can't help by laud the author. However, I didn't like the characters much, as all of them were kind of selfish, ready to jump to conclusions, and easily guided by prejudices.
Profile Image for Ariane.
68 reviews1 follower
Read
February 22, 2020
J'avais lu ou vaguement entendu que Mieko Kawakami est une des auteures traduites les plus int¨¦ressantes parlant directement de th¨¨mes f¨¦minins et f¨¦ministes. Il y a d'ailleurs eu pas mal de moussage publicitaire autour de la traduction anglaise de "Chichi to ran" (Seins et Oeufs en vf), r¨¦cemment.
Malheureusement... je crois que la traduction fran?aise ne rend pas la voix de l'auteure... J'y reviens dans quelques lignes.
L'histoire en tant que telle raconte le passage d'une adolescente et de sa m¨¨re monoparentale chez la soeur de cette derni¨¨re, ¨¤ Tokyo. ?a se passe durant les vacances d'¨¦t¨¦. Le but avou¨¦ de cette visite ¨¤ Tokyo est, pour la m¨¨re, d'avoir une chirurgie d'augmentation mammaire. L'id¨¦e l'obs¨¨de depuis des mois. La soeur ne comprend pas pourquoi, mais ¨¦coute avec patience. L'adolescente ne parle plus et est d¨¦gout¨¦e ¨¤ l'id¨¦e d'avoir ses premi¨¨res r¨¨gles. Le r¨¦cit est racont¨¦ du point de vue de la soeur tokyoite, mais on n'apprend jamais rien sur elle, ce qui est assez int¨¦ressant en soit.

Avec ces th¨¨mes, on pourrait croire que le roman soit une reflexion sur la soci¨¦t¨¦, ou encore une genre de com¨¦die d¨¦jant¨¦e ¨¤ la japonaise. But I think all this got lost in translation...
Le livre est tr¨¨s court et je pense le relire en anglais. Quand j'en ai parl¨¦ ¨¤ une personne japonaise et qu'elle m'a expliqu¨¦ la fa?on dont le livre est ¨¦crit en japonais (monologue int¨¦rieur presque sans ponctuation, un hommage direct ¨¤ l'¨¦crivaine Higuchi Ichiyou, beaucoup de passages en Osaka-ben, entre autres), j'ai compris que le traducteur fran?ais a traduit l'histoire, mais qu'il n'a peut-¨ºtre pas tent¨¦ de transf¨¦rer le style de l'¨¦crivaine en fran?ais. Je dois aussi avouer avoir senti l'homme derri¨¨re la traduction dans les passages sur le corps f¨¦minin et sur les menstruations (iiishhh....). Ceci dit, le traducteur est Patrick Honnor¨¦, dont j'ai lu plusieurs autres traductions, comme l'excellente traduction de Au-del¨¤ / Entr¨¦e triomphale dans Port-Arthur, de Uchida Hyakken... Je conclus ¨¤ un accident de parcours, certainement.
Profile Image for Angel һƥÀÇ.
912 reviews61 followers
September 1, 2023
Now, for a book that is said to be "challenging every preconception about storytelling and prose style" and "paints a portrait of contemporary womanhood in Japan" and, as the interview in "The Guardian" says: "Kawakami has made her name articulating womanhood in Japan better than any living author", I found "Èé¤ÈÂÑ" not particularly original in its approach to womanhood, gender, or whatever. Maybe I have read too many academic articles on the topic, but, oh, sometimes it even feels like that kind 'talking about a topic and trying to 'liberate' actually makes it a way of reaffirming the status quo' kind of book/work.

Not to say the short novella is bad. Nah, it is good. Natsu receives the visit of her sister (who can't seem to be able to talk about anything but breasts) and niece, Midoriko (who has recently decided to take a vow of silence and only communicates through a notebook). Of course, tensions ensue, as all three women of the novel have 'unfinished business' with themselves, with each other, with society, with how the society views/wants to view/wants them to view them (a particular part of the society, with the dominant, hierarchic status quo trying to decided what they should do with their lives, bodies, etc.). The musings of Natsu are interspersed with little annotations that Midoriko writes in another of her notebooks. Oh, and all is written in a hard to hell to understand sometimes for non-natives/people used to it Kansai-ben (Kansai dialect).

And the result is kind of hypnotic, Kawakami's style throwing the reader in a read that feels as Õô¤·Ê as a summer in Japan.

The best: it isn't afraid to go off on a tangent, with beautiful results; the writing style and pace, once used to it, is really captivating

The worst: that unnecessary cathartic moment close to the end; that some reader's expectations might be too high; this book should be read in Japanese (much is sure to be lost in a translation)

Alternatives: Natsuo Kirino?

7/10

(Japanese; original)
Profile Image for ? Charlotte ?.
98 reviews39 followers
June 13, 2023
I read the book in both English and Japanese because when I was trying to compare the English translation with Japanese. Turned out that the two were rather different. Breasts and Eggs, i.e., Èé¤ÈÂÑ is a novella by Kawakami published in 2008 and was awarded the 138th Akutagawa Prize (arguably Japan¡¯s most sought after literary prize). It hasn¡¯t been translated into English.

The English edition is actually translated from Kawakami¡¯s novel Natsumonogatari (tales of a summer), which is a rewritten version of the 2008 novella, featuring the same characters and settings, but it keeps the original title Breasts and Eggs-which I suppose makes sense. The first one is about womanhood, and the protagonist Natsuko contemplates the significance of breasts, the symbol of femininity, and questions societal expectations placed upon women. Another character, Midoriko, who is just one year away from becoming a teenager, is scared of getting her first period and struggles to grapple the meaning of becoming a woman-when you get your period, does it automatically make you a woman? What makes becoming a potential mother so great? Her mother, Makiko, also the bigger sister of Natsuko, is considering getting breast implants because of her job as a hostess at a bar.

The second part jumps 8 years into the future to where Natsuko is now an author. She is still single, has no desire for a relationship, and cannot feel pleasure from sex, so she is researching semen donor options in order to have a child. (To be continued)
Profile Image for milo.
498 reviews62 followers
September 8, 2020
3,5. Honn¨ºtement c¡¯est la premi¨¨re fois que je lis une fiction qui traite autant des r¨¨gles et dans ces d¨¦tails. Que ce soit le journal de la pr¨¦-ado remplis de crainte vis-¨¤-vis des r¨¨gles et des seins, de la remise en cause de la maternit¨¦, de sa m¨¨re obs¨¦d¨¦e par les augmentations mammaires, des sc¨¨nes de douches communes avec des vieilles, ce livre regorge de descriptions de corps de femmes. Il n¡¯y aucun personnage masculin et le degr¨¦ de d¨¦tails est profond¨¦ment intime (insertion de serviettes hygi¨¦niques et nettoyage de taches de sang notamment). C¡¯est du coup assez int¨¦ressant ¨¤ lire, et m¨ºme si l¡¯histoire en soi est pas ultra aboutie, j¡¯ai vraiment appr¨¦ci¨¦ l¡¯ambiance globale.
La traduction fran?aise m¡¯a un peu sorti du livre parfois (le vocabulaire familier choisi a pas tr¨¨s bien vieilli) et puis bon je pense qu¡¯une traductrice aurait mieux choisi certains termes autour des serviettes hygi¨¦niques et de comment on s¡¯en sert¡­
J¡¯ai vu pas mal d¡¯articles passer dans la presse anglophone sur ce roman, mais j¡¯ai fini par comprendre qu¡¯en fait la version qui vient de sortir aux USA est une r¨¦¨¦criture de cette novella, qui est sortie en France en 2012. Les critiques ont l¡¯air de dire que la novella est mieux que le roman donc bon. Mais du coup, je serais curieux de lire ses autres romans.
Profile Image for Jun.
46 reviews10 followers
November 7, 2021
Far¨¤ una setmana, a l'EOI, vaig descobrir per casualitat que la traductora del llibre que llegia (aquest) treballava all¨¤. Vam xerrar una estona sobre per qu¨¨ traduir del japon¨¨s al castell¨¤-catal¨¤ d¨®na tants problemes i despr¨¦s em va demanar que, un cop acab¨¦s el llibre, li digu¨¦s qu¨¨ m'havia semblat.

?s el primer llibre que llegeixo de Kawakami. Formalment no ¨¦s una meravella i la hist¨°ria no t¨¦ res de l'altre m¨®n, per¨° penso que (malgrat tenir un estil t¨ªmid) l'autora et porta on et vol portar. En el meu cas, m'ha semblat veure la cuina dels meus tiets quan descrivia la de la protagonista, a la meva tieta quan parlava de la seva germana i a la meva ¨¤via quan recordava la seva. Tamb¨¦ m'ha entrat nost¨¤lgia del Jap¨® dosmilero i he tornat a carregar el meu diccionari electr¨°nic per fer-me la xula.

La recomano! ?s una bona novel¡¤la de cap de setmana. Al principi ¨¦s una mica lenta, per¨° cal aguantar fins el darrer cap¨ªtol, que ¨¦s la millor part del llibre amb difer¨¨ncia!

Apa ja est¨¤. Muac.
Profile Image for Louise.
418 reviews43 followers
June 5, 2024
J'ai du mal ¨¤ trouver un int¨¦r¨ºt ¨¤ cette histoire. Je vois l'intention de l'autrice (m¨ºler des g¨¦n¨¦rations de femme pour croiser les regards sur la f¨¦minit¨¦ et ses injonctions), mais l'ex¨¦cution m'a sembl¨¦ tr¨¨s maladroite. Difficile de juger la qualit¨¦ d'¨¦criture d'une autrice japonaise que je lis en fran?ais, mais c'est tr¨¨s pauvre stylistiquement. Je n'ai rien contre l'¨¦criture parl¨¦e (que manient avec brio beaucoup d'¨¦crivains) mais l¨¤ c'est juste paresseux. Hormis quelques belles formules au d¨¦but (les jambes longues de la pr¨¦ ado qui semblent lui avoir "pouss¨¦ directement du ventre ¨¤ travers les boyaux", ou "le brun-rouge lavasse et sans ?me de ses cheveux (...) comme si toute sa vitalit¨¦ lui avait goutt¨¦ par les pointes"), on reste vite sur sa faim niveau prose. Je trouve que ?a aurait pu ¨ºtre un tr¨¨s beau instantan¨¦ de vie familiale, qui creuse la dysphorie adolescente, les n¨¦vroses, les non dits, la tendresse ¨¦touff¨¦e de chacune des personnages, mais c'est trop brouillon pour que je sois touch¨¦e par cette histoire.
Profile Image for Anneli Jonsson.
11 reviews
May 11, 2024
Kunne ikke la v?re ? la den forbanna m?ten ? skrive p? ?delegge hele leseopplevelsen. Mangel p? kapitler er ¨¦n ting, en annen ting er mangel p? punktumer og tegnsettinger. Fikk hjernespasmer av dette, klarte ikke ? se ?rsaken til hvorfor Kawakami valgte en slik alternativ skrivem?te.

Vel, uansett. Hadde store forh?pninger til tematikken, men ble litt let down av hvor kaotisk alt ble fremstilt. Har litt vansker med ? sette fingeren p? hvorfor 95% av boka handler om pupp, og hvorfor boka plutselig f?r en vending p? seg og begynner ? spille rundt p? sex, polyforhold og vold?

Ja, det er bare tre karakterer, men jeg har absolutt null kjennskap til dem p? et dypere plan. Ogs?.. hele boken dreier seg om Mikos ?nskede brystforst?rrelse-operasjon, men vi F?R ALDRI VITE ?RSAKEN som visstnok skal v?re s? sabla viktig.
Profile Image for Cobertizo.
337 reviews19 followers
January 17, 2019
"Este mes tampoco ha habido fecundaci¨®n. Tampoco el que viene hay nada previsto. Hablo en voz baja. Creo que deber¨ªa buscar un l¨¢piz rojo gigante, tan alto como un pilar, m¨¢s alto que yo, y hacer una cruz en un papel inmenso. Mi conciencia se hunde lentamente en una pesadez l¨¢nguida mientras el proceso de renovaci¨®n de la vida se repite en silencio en el interior de mi cuerpo. Mi voz d¨¦bil se extingue poco a poco, hasta que dejo de o¨ªrla por completo"
Profile Image for Kevin.
311 reviews40 followers
August 6, 2016


Mieko Kawakami parvient dans ce roman ¨¤ nous plonger dans la t¨ºte de Japonaises de deux g¨¦n¨¦rations diff¨¦rentes, toutes deux insatisfaites de leurs corps. Elle aborde avec brio les relations conflictuelles que peuvent exister entre une m¨¨re et sa fille, et le tout, bien qu¡¯il semble en apparence superficiel, est en r¨¦alit¨¦ tr¨¨s profond.
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