JLC #19 - Book Review - Sisters in Yellow

 

Well, I finally made it to the end of my Japanese Literature Challenge list! I'm way late on this, but for my own sense of completion, I wanted to close out this series. Thanks to Dolce Bellezza for hosting the JLC for the 19th time! 

This book was actually on my first list, but it wasn't available in paper version when I first went looking for it, so I've read and reviewed it since the Challenge, after it became available locally.  I'm glad I waited for it although it was a difficult one to get into at the beginning. 

Mieko Kawakami isn't a new author to me. In previous JLC's,  I read her "Breasts and Eggs" (2008), which I recall being quirky but quite human. 'Sisters in Yellow' was 'outside' my experience of life, and I could describe the writing style as a bit quirky, but it was a deep and complex storyline. 

Other's in the JLC #19  reviewed this book also. Dolce Bellezza wrote a moving tribute to this book, and the main character, Hana.  

For me, reading this took me back to other stories I've read about the Korean migrant communities in Japan. Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee, provided me with a new understanding of the place of Koreans in the Japanese community. So when Hana (the main character in Sisters in Yellow), was setting the scene for herself and her mother, and the criminal elements of her community, I was reminded of the complexities of living in a country where you have no ID or no name. 

Hana's version of her life's journey is told as she see's it in the moment, however it's not until the end that another version of the story is revealed. 

This is a heart wrenching story of a young person navigating her life with friends, but very little adult intervention. She's a brave young lady, taking on the weight of the world, wanting nothing but to ensure the people around her are safe and cared for. But sometimes the adults aren't capable, or prepared, to protect young people as we might hope. 

I admire that Hana could stay strong, and her internal 'North Star' was for Good... she survived. 

Another JLC closed for now - and I'm reminded that this genre teaches me a lot - about life values, nature, relationship with beliefs and a sense of spirituality, and humanity in different contexts.