Heaven
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4.8 • 8 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2022
From the bestselling author of Breasts and Eggs and international literary sensation Mieko Kawakami, comes a sharp and illuminating novel about a fourteen-year-old boy subjected to relentless bullying.
Hailed as a bold foray into new literary territory, Kawakami's novel is told in the voice of a fourteen-year-old student subjected to relentless torment for having a lazy eye. Instead of resisting, the boy suffers in complete resignation. The only person who understands what he is going through is a female classmate who suffers similar treatment at the hands of her tormenters.
The young friends meet in secret in the hopes of avoiding any further attention and take solace in each other's company, completely unaware that their relationship has not gone unnoticed by their bullies . . .
Kawakami's simple yet profound new work stands as a dazzling testament to her literary talent. Here, she asks us to question the fate of the meek in a society that favours the strong, and the lengths that even children will go in their learned cruelty. There can be little doubt that it has cemented her reputation as one of the most important young authors working to expand the boundaries of contemporary Japanese literature.
Translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd.
PRAISE FOR HEAVEN
'Mieko Kawakami is always ceaselessly growing and evolving' - Haruki Murakami, author of Norwegian Wood
'Mieko Kawakami is a genius' - Naoise Dolan, author of Exciting Times
'An expertly told, deeply unsettling tale of adolescent violence' - Vogue
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Kawakami (Breasts and Eggs) returns with a searing account of bullying and adolescent angst. In the vast, violent wasteland of middle school, the 14-year-old unnamed narrator endures horrific physical abuse from a group of sadistic classmates, assuming it's due to his lazy eye. In graphic detail, Kawakami describes the escalating harm brought to him, from his being made to ingest toilet water, a goldfish, and scraps of food from a pet rabbit's cage, to having chalk stuffed up his nose, being shoved into a locker, and an excruciatingly brutal confrontation in a gym, leaving him with the heartbreaking "desire to disappear." When he receives an anonymous note in his desk seeking friendship, he suspects it's a prank, but discovers it's from a female schoolmate who is also being humiliated. They meet in the school stairwell to share stories and later take summer excursions out of town, and suffer a stunning final encounter with their adversaries, during which one of the culprits explains the unexpected and startling reasons behind the attacks. This incident is particularly harrowing, and Kawakami unflinchingly takes the reader through the abyss of depraved, dehumanizing behavior with keen psychological insight, brilliant sensitivity, and compassionate understanding. With this, the author's star continues to rise.
Customer Reviews
Horrifically good
Many have said after reading Kawakami’s Heaven that they felt at times the novel could classify as ‘torture porn’. I feel the same way. This book is immersive to say the least and you will leave it, and think about it forever.