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It might be unfair to rate this novel so low when I skipped most of it, and will probably toss it away before I could finish it. It is not necessarily boring, rather, not interesting. I did not find any appeal in the story or the author's approach to narration.

Banana Yoshimoto is a talented writer. She is very popular in her native Japan and has a loyal following. Her writings however seem to target young women. Her popular novels (at least the ones that I have read) were written in the 90s when Ms. Yoshimoto was in her twenties or early thirties. As such, they portray the turbulence, freethinking, and rebelliousness of the young of that era. Her novels are mostly about a group of well to do young people who are intimately connected and share difficult and sad experiences. The protagonist is usually a cool and confident young woman, who has experienced a death of a close relative or a young friend. Also common is to find the protagonist or someone close to her dating a much older man.

Reading Amrita feels as if you are reading the author's personal diary entries. There is no coherent story, just a talk about current and past events in her life. A major portion is recitation of the tedious dialogues the narrator has had with friends and family.

It takes patience and commitment to reading a Yoshimoto novel. They are not for the casual reader or those looking to be entertained. You need to be in the right mind set to really enjoy her writings. They will most probably appeal to the young in their teens and tweens, and particularly those who are in the midst of a relationship or contemplating the meaning of life.