Um Dia Sonhei que Voava

by Taichi Yamada

Taura, um director de vendas de 48 anos, é colocado numa sucursal dasua empresa no Norte do Japão, longe da família. Sucumbindo à solidão eàs pressões do seu cargo, é vítima de um acidente que provocainvoluntariamente e é hospitalizado.

No hospital, conhece Mutsuko, uma mulher de 67 anos, e os doisapaixonam-se.Mais tarde, já após ter alta, Taura reencontra Mutsuko e fica a saber queela vive uma existência de regressão, que se manifesta a nível físico. Aolongo de uma série de encontros, Mutsuko aparecerá cada vez mais jovem,alterando por completo a vida de Taura e a relação de ambos.

Genres: Japan, Fiction, Japanese Literature, Romance, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Horror

188 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Taichi Yamada was one of the most famous and highly respected writers in Japan. Winner of many awards for literary excellence from private organizations and from the Japanese government, he is best known for his scripts for TV dramas, but has also written many novels and plays. He was born in Tokyo in 1934, and graduated from Waseda University in 1958 after having studied Japanese Language and Literature in the Department of Education. That same year he entered the Shochiku Film Company and began to work at the Ofuna Studio Production Department. In 1965, he left Shochiku and established himself as an independent scenario writer.

Japanese profile : 山田 太一

Reviews

[Tessa Nadir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Junot Diaz spunea despre roman ca i-a placut atat de mult "incat mi-as dori sa o pot citi din nou pentru prima oara." M-am gandit cum ar fi daca am putea sa ne recitim romanele preferate ca pentru prima data, fara prejudecati, fara ideile si impresiile pe care ni le-am format si fara sa fim indragostiti de ele. Oare ne-ar placea din nou la fel de mult? Oare am mai putea sa retraim aceleasi senzatii iar si iar? La fel si in cazul oamenilor.
Cartea poate fi considerata o replica erotica la "Strania poveste a lui Benjamin Button" de Scott F. Fitzgerald si are ca tematica obsesia intineririi, fuga de moarte, a doua sansa in dragoste.
In ceea ce priveste actiunea, Taura este directorul adjunct al unei firme de prefabricate si fiind coplesit de responsabilitatile sale familiale si profesionale simte ca la 48 de ani este terminat ca om. Decide sa sara de la etajul intai al unui restaurant si rupandu-si piciorul ajunge sa imparta salonul din spital cu o femeie care il intriga. Ascunsa fiind de un paravan, intre ei are loc o 'interactiune sexuala verbala', amandoi fiind imobilizati la pat. Dimineata, cand el este mutat din salon si paravanul cade are ocazia s-o vada pe femeia cu care a impartit acea fantezie sexuala. In mod socant ea este foarte batrana la infatisare.
Dupa ce este externat din spital si se intoarce la viata si la slujba sa, ea il cauta si doreste sa se intalneasca cu el. Jenat de tot ce s-a intamplat intre ei, Taura incearca s-o evite, insa, cand intr-un final o intalneste constata ca ea a intinerit foarte mult, aratand acum de 40 de ani si fiind foarte frumoasa. Pe numele ei Mutsuko, ii marturiseste ca a intinerit dupa ce s-a despartit de sotul sau. Asemenea miracole vin insa si cu un pret pe masura.
Romanul are secvente erotice, insa nu sunt explicit descrise, desi sugereaza anumite perversiuni, mai ales atunci cand Mutsuko intinereste atat de mult incat ajunge o fetita si aici avem un deja vu din "Lolita".
Concluzia romanului ar fi ca desi ea intinereste din dragoste pentru el, timpul este o sabie cu dublu tais, fiind un dusman si atunci cand curge inainte si atunci cand curge inapoi. Cel mai bine este sa traiesti in prezent, sa-i accepti pe ceilalti asa cum sunt si sa constientizezi ca dragostea nu are obstacole precum varsta.
Ca incheiere am selectat cateva citate care sunt reprezentative pentru imaginea de ansamblu a cartii:
"Probabil ca asta inseamna sa fii innebunit dupa o femeie, m-am gandit eu. Nimic nu mi se parea mai dulce decat sa ma las absorbit de frumusetea ei si sa uit de restul lumii."
"Aveam impresia ca nu eram singurul care-i admira tineretea, sorbind cu lacomie din ea, regretand-o totodata, ci ca, odata cu mine, se bucura de toate aceste senzatii o entitate ascunsa inauntrul meu, care-mi insufla forta.
"Cu o sensibilitate ca a ta, n-o sa rezisti intr-o casatorie, pentru ca o sa ai mereu asteptari prea mari."
"Daca s-ar stii ca o femeie poate intineri asa de mult cu conditia sa se desparta de sotul ei, toate nevestele de varsta mijlocie ar face-o fara sa stea la discutie."
"Pic, pic. Dorinta care ti se trezeste la gandul ca o femeie aude zgomotul asta... Era oare o forma de sadism? Sau poate o forma de masochism?"

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love sometimes lasts a lifetime. Sometimes it’s just an illusion. And sometimes it’s so sudden and powerful that it burns out quickly; how is it best: to live it or to leave it? I guess each of us has its own answer to this question.

This story is a combination between the feminine version of Benjamin Button and Lolita. The supernatural phenomena, the anguished-depressed-workaholic-in-middle-aged-crises Taura and young-ethereal-sixty-seven-years-old Mutsuko are at least odd. However, the density of emotions in it compensates the weirdness of the background. In the end, it is a story about the power of love and how it changes us.

[Gabi Morozov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Taichi Yamada este unul din autorii japonezi preferaţi, iar cartea "N-am mai visat de mult că zbor" este a treia pe care am citit-o de acest autor şi care mi-a plăcut cel mai mult. Amestecul de supranatural cu viaţa de zi cu zi a japonezilor creează un efect de surpriză şi de aşteptare, care te face să nu poţi lăsa cartea din mână. Autorul sondează temele actuale ale japonezilor de azi, cum ar fi singurătatea, depresia, lipsa de comunicare cu cei apropiaţi, înstrăinarea, erotismul şi chiar atmosfera oraşelor, ce amintesc de un coşmar hiperbolizat. Subiectul acestei cărţi urmăreşte destinul oarecum înfricoşător al unei femei care trăieşte viaţa în sens invers, devenind tot mai tânără şi mai tânără. Autorul descrie frământările şi spaimele femeii, dar şi ale partenerului său care, pe măsură ce femeia întinereşte, devine tot mai îndrăgostit şi disperat să petreacă mai mult timp cu ea, să trăiască cât mai intens clipele împreună. Romanul este un fel de poveste a lui Benjamin Button de sex feminin, însă mult mai senzual şi sensibil. Scris parcă cu economie de mijloace, însă poate de aceea dând impresia unui iureş al întâmplărilor care te aleargă până îţi iese sufletul, romanul te lasă melancolic şi fără astâmpar. Este, neîndoielnic, o carte ce te îndeamnă la introspecţie şi care nu se termină cu întoarcerea ultimei file.

[Hh · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm still not sure if this book was poorly written or poorly translated, but the narrative was inconsistent, the narrator was flat, and the plot was disturbing but not purposefully so (or at least not with a discernible purpose).

Literary critique aside, a creepy book where I felt I was supposed to identify with a shallow and creepy protagonist. Lots of potential, no follow-through.

[Dipkamal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Has love ever felt like an illusion, like it's not there even though you see it, touch it or sense it every day? Have you ever fallen in love knowing that this love will soon melt away from your life, leaving a cold ache in your heart? Have you ever fought for your love even when you know that your story will end any day soon?

These are few things the male protagonist Taura, a 48-year-old man, contemplates as he falls in love with a person who's never really there.

This novel is a sad beautiful story of love and passion. Set in a fashion similar to the story of Benjamin Button, the female protagonist Mutsuko ages backward from her late sixties, thanks to a failed suicide attempt. An ordinary middle-aged man, Taura, exhausted of his life, encounters her at a hospital room, both undergoing a treatment. An unforgettable journey of passion, excitement, and thrill starts right there, their lives taking paths they'd never imagined.

Taichi Yamada is the second Japanese author I have read after Haruki Murakami and I absolutely
fell in love with the way he narrated the story. He has the power to write even the smallest day-to-day virtue, our subtle emotions, and our unfathomable fears in a magical manner and it sucked me in, right from the start of the story.

Loved the book. Those who love Haruki Murakami's stories will love the book even more.

4/5.

Looking forward to reading other novels of him.

[Mohamed Ashraf · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 🌟

With feeling his career going nowhere but deadends (after all, he jumped out of a window in frenzy of a mental breakdown not too long after becoming a deputy director), and a distant wife who didn't even visit him in the hospital, a 48-old year old Taura felt like he couldn't assign much value to his life.

He unfairly thought terribly of women around him on account of his wife's coldness—or that's what he came to, analyzing himself and his thoughts. He's quite aware he's in wrong and it's all his own fault.
With little value he can assign to himself, his career, or his life—he started to experience some "incomprehensible" events, from reciting poems he read in his school days, speaking French which he should have forgotten, to having a premonition of a train accident right before it.

Then, he met Matsuko who felt like she lived her sixty years (or slightly more) of living in vain and every time he saw her, she just kept getting younger.
"Everything is connected, like some sort of destiny tied to her", or that's what he kept thinking. Maybe, he just wanted a reason or narrative.

With Mutsuko having too little time as her age kept decreasing every few months, she's in hurry to live a youthful life where she would have no regret unlike the life she already lived, so she escaped with Taura to their own nonsensical world filled with whims and desire, one that adults left behind when they joined society.

Is it a story about regrets, is it a story about escaping, is it a story about living your life to fullest, or even one about two old people going crazy and juvenile in love like no young couple ever did?
Maybe, it's simply nonsensical story about two people derailing their life off the tracks in hope of some meaning....

Nonetheless, regardless of any meaning or lack of it, it's a story that managed to touch me, or part of me who is stuck between aspirations—and the desire to run and leave it all.
It's not something I can call beautiful readily, as it's about nothing admirable but it has a lot of heart.
A heart that I can't deny.
Hence, I recommend it.

(Reading it on balcony in early light of the morning, wrapped by refreshing breeze of daybreak accompanied with music of Takenaka and Joe Hisaishi, it felt like complementary experience.)

[Al · Rating 2 out of 5]

(2/5) stars

'I Haven't Dreamed of Flying for a While' by Taichi Yamada, beautiful title for a book. The title caught my eyes across so many books and I managed to notice it even though it laid at the lower shelves. I just wish the content of the story was as good as the title or even the blurb. The only time I found myself enjoying this book, is towards the last few pages.

The issues I came across the books are:
1. Arrogant male lead.
3. Airheaded female lead.
4. Sexism & pedophilia (or pedophilic undertones)

Going into to this novel, I knew it was a romance; however, I didn't know it was some perverted unemployed middle aged guy's sex fantasies. The entire story is of the two leads banging each other every time they met. They just meet to sleep together, and each time they met the female lead was younger. At some point she becomes a child and he still sleeps with her, casual pedophilia.

This felt like a waste for an interesting premise. The story could have been deep or maybe tried to be deep, but the author didn't even try to brush the effects of what is happening to the female lead (she was away for most of the book). The male lead didn't really start thinking that she might die, until later on in the book.

So many questions were left unanswered.

This was supposed to be a ghost story and a heartbreaking love story. Did I get either? No.

[Gertrude & Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Master of the modern Japanese ghost story, Yamada Taichi's narratives blend the supernatural with modern urban life. Although his fiction is regarded as a type of "ghost story," this acts only as a background for his tragedies. In his most recently translated novel I Haven't Dreamed of Flying for a While, we get another opportunity to relish in these beautifully sad stories, where the passionate ties of love are renewed and then lost forever.

The main character Taura, a middle-aged company man struggling with, what it seems, a mid-life crisis finds love all over again when he meets an odd and lonely woman, Mutsuko, in the hospital. This love affair is an unusual one however, since she is sixty-seven years old. He is disgusted at first when he realizes that he was deceived by the old lady, but later, upon discovery of her youth and beauty, which become more noticeable with every encounter, he turns to his manly instincts and pursues an illict love affair. Their second chance at happiness is shattered when they come to understand that little time is left together before Mutsuko dies, as she declines into a nothingness, due to an inexplicable reverse-aging disorder.

The character of Taura is an interesting one. He becomes another man entirely, with a powerful vitality, after the arrival of Mutsuko. He is a man of many roles: a passionate lover, caring father, sympathetic confidant, but mostly a dreamer, held in the enchanting illusion of love.

[Tom A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great title btw.

Sometimes you are just looking for that certain book to fill your emotional needs; something that dime-store romances are unable to give or identify. Loss? Enjoyment of Life? Love? What book can encapsulate those perfectly? Perhaps none, but this book did it for me. In its relatively short length it provided no easy answers; just more staring at that emptiness you feel when you lose something "magical" in life.

[Jack John · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘God, or whatever it is that’s making me go through this experience, may be devoid of reason, goodwill, ill will, or any will at all. Whatever is doing this may be capricious, merciless, or kind. It may even just be toying with me, but I have both reason and will, so all I can do is use that to counter it in what small way I can.’

[Tras · Rating 4 out of 5]

An odd little book that inspired vastly conflicting emotions.

While I enjoyed the premise of a 67 year old woman (Mutsuko) becoming progressively younger as the story advanced, the narrator, a 48 year old male (Mr Taura), is more or less an asshole. An asshole that repeatedly cheats on his wife, while peppering the text with deeply misogynistic utterances:

- But owing to the way my hatred was always directed at women, I felt such feelings stemmed from my relationship with my wife.

- It had been a long time since I had last been able to see a woman simply as lovable and beautiful. A long time since I’d got past my jaded view of all women as self-centred, fickle, stubborn, unworldly, shallow people.

- Mutsuko and the people around us started walking. Falling one step behind, I quickly followed. I was feeling a little overcome by her assertiveness and by my willingness to go along with it. Up until now, I’d been tolerant of her ego and had made an exception of her in terms of my usual cynicism and general dislike of women. But now as I stared at her back, I sensed the same selfishness I saw in my wife; I didn’t want our relationship to become like that.

I'm unsure whether this is a 'cultural' issue? I've never visited Japan so am not au fait with the ins and outs of Japanese culture, or the general nature of interactions between Japanese males and Japanese females. However, I sincerely want to believe that Mr Taura's views are not some kind of cultural 'norm', but, instead, are a result of the bitterness that surfaces in one man when his career implodes, as his wife's career goes from strength to strength.

Essentially, this is the story of what happens when a man's mid-life crisis collides with a woman's end-life crisis, with some magical realism dropped into the mix for good measure. At times it is poignant and affecting, at other times it just grates. It does sometimes read like the fantasies of a middle-aged author but, being middle-aged myself, a part of me can relate to some of those elements.

Ultimately, I thought the good outweighed (some of) the bad, and I found it both interesting and intriguing.

[Robin Guest · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going to avoid spoilers, but this is part Japanese ghost story, part tragic love story, part psychological character study, and (I have to say) part middle-aged male sex fantasy.

As a character study and sociological portrait it's quite chilling, being a depiction of salaryman alienation and mental breakdown and how this is typically handled by society, and which I think may be key to reading the novel slightly deeper than at plot-level or as a paranormal genre piece.

Bear with the seedy scenes when you get to them, as I think the final luminous chapter makes it all worthwhile.

My favourite of the three English-translated Yamadas I've read (one of which is also a tacky movie). This one is a movie too, I believe, but I wasn't able to find an English-subtitled version when I looked (admittedly a while ago, just after I'd read it the first time).

[Victor Morosoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Am citit-o destul de uşor, dar fără îndoială o voi uita greu... 4,6/5

[Denisa Arsene · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded to 4
It was a fast reading, but the first half was a bit unclear. The love story between Mutsuko and Taura is a strange one. They meet each other in an hospital, both of them unable to move because of their hip and leg injury. Being forced (by a train accident) to share the room for one night, they have a strange meeting during they have a sexual experience. Taura is shocked to find out that Mutsuko is an old woman (they were separated by a partition).
After the hospitalization, Mutsuko goes home and gets a divorce. And from now on the story begins... She is just getting young - from an old lady she becomes a woman of forties. She tries to find Taura - who didn't want to met her ever again. But when they meet again - her younger than him this time and very beautiful - he can't resist. And their story goes on with some meetings and share feelings: about life and death.
I didn't know what to believe when they met and she was just a girl (almost fourteen or fifteen) and they had sex. I mean, she was an old woman kept inside a teenage body... And her, at age of four (?), she asks him to have sexual relation.
I was sad for her fate - being alone, as - maybe - a little baby and have nobody to take care of you... I think I would let him stay with me and take care of me till the end...

[Tessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

You Japanese people are just plain weird. With me Japanese literature can go only 2 ways: hit or miss. This one was a total miss.

Taura is a 40 something failure and after trying to kill himself he is sent in a fictional department where he continues to develop even more his sense of uselessness. After an accident he ends up in an overcrowded hospital and is required to spend the night in the same room with Mutsuko, who is hidden from view by a screen. They had some sort of phone sex and it's the first time in a while when he managed to feel like that.

In the morning he finds out the woman is actually old, much older than her voice suggested and feels he has been cheated. Why? Did she claim to be younger? No. But Taura is superficial like that even though he's not that young himself.

Anyway, after a few days he's contacted by this woman and refuses to meet her, just to be stalked later on by her in a beautiful kimono. When he finally decides to look at her face he's shocked to see that she is now much younger. She can't explain it either, but feels it is related to their chance meeting. After that he, of course, has sex with her and is crushed when he doesn't find her again in the morning. Then he starts to develop an obsession for her and tries to find her in any way he can.

When she meets him again she's even younger than she was last time they saw each other. It's clearly now that Mutsuko is not only getting younger, but she's also getting out of existence by doing so. After this the story fails to be meaningful and it's just a series of them talking about nothing and him slowly getting into pedophilia as she grows younger and younger. Yup, if reading about a 5 years old trying to make a 40 years old to ejaculate is not in your comfort zone, don't read this. I wish I didn't read this.

Underneath this, the story has a deeper meaning. It is so well buried under the self depreciation of Taura and his pedophilia that I never manage to grasp it. But it's there. It must be, right?

[Bernadett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Government Housing Loan Corporation's salary man, Taura, after a mental breakdown switched to the rehabilitation department of his company, gets injured and hospitalized. While resting he encounters a train wreck nearby and due to overflowing patients in short notice he is rolled into a small room sharing it with another woman. That night the they talk and since there's a separating cloth between them the woman initializes to talk out an affair between them, and since the woman is bedridden but her voice sounds young, or at least near Taura's own age he obliges and after the nights shared passion, the curtain is pulled and he seed a 67 year old woman bashfully turning away from him. He is switched rooms again and they lose contact after.

However the woman searches for him and finds his company phone and location calling him out. he avoids meeting her again like wildfire but stops dead in his tracks when the woman who has the same voice as in the hospital follows him, but has the face and body of a 40 year old woman.

She explains her body is changing over and over again within time repainting her younger features. They start an affair, which grows into more than just an affair, making Taura loose all sense of his own reality...

the writing is extremely similar to Yamada Taichi's other novel called Strangers. the supernatural elements entwined into the real life happenings and how the everyday person tries to deal with surreal situations. The plot was gripping and it was fast paced and action packed thorough the entire book. The characters were relatable and life-like with completely everyday problems.

[Elif · Rating 4 out of 5]

This made me fall in love with Japanese literature again.

English: https://elifthereader.com/books/i-hav...
Türkçe: http://kitaplikkedisi.com/2013/02/tai...

[Neele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually I'm unsure what to say or think of this book. It's neither bad or good.
Basically the story is like 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' but in Japan. And you get a glimpse of the japanese mindset.
Overall it's easy to read and I just had to finish it.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting story marred by an unlikable protagonist.

[Coral Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cried.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I talked about how I hadn't dreamed of flying for a while,
And that very night, for the first time in a while,
I dreamt I was flying.
- 'Dream' by Sachiko Yoshihara

But before the balloons. . .
Are you sure we can move freely in Space? Right and left we can go, backward and forward freely enough, and men always have done so. I admit we move freely in two dimensions. But how about up and down? Gravitation limits us there.
Men can go up against gravitation in a balloon, and why should he not hope that ultimately he may be able to stop or accelerate his drift along the Time-Dimension, or even turn about and travel the other way?
- The Time Machine, H.G. Wells

If the universe, which is currently expanding, reaches its contraction stage, the flow of time will be reversed.
- Stephen Hawking

A variation on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. There is a lot of references to leaves in this sexually explicit story of breaking down age and language barriers. I have also enjoyed All of Us Strangers and In Search of a Distant Voice, both by the same author.
I Haven't Dreamed of Flying for a While, was not a readily available title, but I was able to borrow a copy through inter-library loan.
Related Works: The Time Machine, The Arrow of Time

Favorite Passages:
There I was, confined to my hospital bed with a fractured thigh, when suddenly I realized I was becoming detached from this world.
______

. . . when you spend most of your time staring up at a white ceiling, you can soon start to feel like you're floating further and further away.
_______

Determined not to let my guard down and grab at silk, only to find a sharp metal item hidden underneath.
_______

"I don't," I said to the blue sheet, "want to impose."
_______

I found phone calls to be a nuisance.
_______

How suave of her. How incredible. I was already within reach of her mysterious energy.
_______

I found a bathroom, went in and looked in the mirror - only to find the flushed face of a forty-eight-year-old staring back at me. What a sight. I looked drunk. I needed to calm down. If only I didn't appear so ugly. If only I were a little younger. If only I was forty, at least.
_______

It had been a long time since I had last been able to see a woman simply as lovable and beautiful. A long time since I'd got past my jaded view of all women as self-centered, fickle, stubborn, unworldly, shallow people.
_______

It goes to show just how strongly people's impressions can be colored by preconceptions.
_______

. . . I wasn't endowed with an entirely new ability but reacquainted with a long-forgotten one instead.
_______

I never usually pick up discarded newspapers, but this one came flying towards the bench I was sitting at and got tangled around my legs. I felt something radiating from the paper (sorry to put it in a way that sounds, well . . . paranormal, but I don't know how else to put it) and I picked it up.
_______

"I do, I want to shoot it. I want to blast away my worries. Want to really do something. Will you join me?"
"In what?"
"Armed robbery and extortion."
_______

There was something on the other side of me, or more precisely, inside of me. I looked harder and saw someone standing on the other side of my reflection.
_______

"I want words," said Mutsuko, out of the blue.
"Words?"
"Some kinds of words. Encouraging words. Words that will help me come to terms with this incomprehensible destiny, words that will cheer me up, words that will make me laugh, words that will move me. Say anything. Say anything that comes to your mind."
_______

"In the end, only death wins."
_______

"Well, maybe I'm not normal."
_______

There's a dusty road lined with shops in front of Ebisu station. It leads to a hilly residential area blending old houses with new concrete homes. Here and there it reminds you of twenty, thirty years ago, and you'd never think you were only a twelve, - or thirteen-minute walk from Shibuya. In a forgotten corner of this area compromising old wooden homes, there was a dirty concrete apartment building. And in there was a small, two-bedroom apartment facing east on the second floor. That was the place that became our home.
_______

"We've been informed."
"About what?"
"That you two aren't normal."
"Do we have to be normal?"
_______

A single fallen leaf sat on top of the table. It was mid November. The table was outside, between two buildings, and a small ray of light had found its way through the high-rises, the trees, the poles and other obstacles to shine down on its surface. The different colors of the leaf - the deep yellow-brown of the narrow, oval tip, the vivid yellow int he middle and the little bit of green that remained at the stem - were all sparkling in the late-autumn morning sun. This ragged-edged leaf also had a couple of insect holes, and I admired it as I sat with my paper cup of self-serve coffee in front of me.
_______

I felt that everyone had sealed off their emotions. As if we were all playing a game of not being human.
_______

I gently moved my hand along the table towards the leaf. I touched the yellow of it with the tip of my finger and it made me want to embrace its beauty. But I couldn't. It would be impossible. It being so small and fragile, there was no way I could impose myself upon it.
_______

Our relationship had been one based on miracles. One in which I'd been made to feel my own powerlessness. I'd known we were dealing with destiny. Dealing with something that couldn't be controlled by people. That's how I felt. Or was it merely how I was being made to feel? It seemed the only thing I could do was to make peace with and accept this. And as these thoughts went through my mind, I could feel my body being drained of all strength and going limp, like a marionette released from the hands of a puppeteer.

[Mihai Savu · Rating 5 out of 5]

O carte senzationala, care captiveaza de la primele pagini. Un director adjunct la o firma de prefabricate este internat in spital. Viata i se schimba radical cand are premonitia unui accident de tren in apropiere. Ranitii sunt adusi in acelasi spital si el este mutat in aceeasi rezerva cu o femeie misterioasa, ambii fiind imobilizati si separati de un paravan. Dupa prima noapte in care fac sex "la distanta", el reuseste sa o vada o fractiune de secunda: era o batrana ridata cu par alb.

Aceeasi femeie misterioasa il cauta doua luni mai tarziu, dar este mult mai tanara. De aici incepe lupta continua a celor doi cu timpul implacabil. El are alaturi o amanta senzuala langa care se simte tot mai tanar si in putere, dar ea intinereste de-a binelea la fiecare doua-trei luni.

Romanul are ca teme de lucru efectul curgerii inverse a timpului, problemele unei femei care devine tot mai tanara in loc de mai batrana, disperarea de a petrece cat mai mult timp cu o amanta, singuratatea, erotismul, abandonul, dorinta de a trai cat mai intens. Toate acestea sunt bine echilibrate si dozate, imbinate cu suspans si introspectie, formand o carte care atinge puncte sensibile si te urmareste mult timp.

[Aurora Shele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange, bittersweet.. this is above all a book about love.. in whatever shape, time or space it might be.

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐

[Socrate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peste două luni şi câteva zile urma să împlinesc patruzeci şi opt de ani. Întruna din acele zile de iarnă în care eram complet imobilizat – şi nu vorbesc la figurat, căci îmi fracturasem femurul drept şi eram ţintuit la pat undeva în adâncul sufletului meu începusem să simt o ruptură faţă de lumea reală.
(Ei bine, vă rog să mă iertaţi pentru acest început pretenţios. Dar ceea ce am să vă povestesc e ceva ce nu s-a mai auzit. Chiar şi acum, când totul a luat sfârşit, nu ştiu cum aş fi putut eu, un om obişnuit, să înţeleg lucrurile incredibile care mi s-au întâmplat – ceva ce cu greu i-ar putea trece cuiva prin minte. Uneori le atribui diverse interpretări doar pentru a le nega apoi pe rând pe fiecare, alteori mă concentrez asupra uneia singure, dar de cele mai multe ori renunţ pur şi simplu să le mai caut vreo semnificaţie.)
Aşadar vorbeam despre ce însemna realitatea pentru mine.
Aceasta era alcătuită din mai multe aspecte legate de postul meu de director adjunct al departamentului de vânzări la filiala din Hokuriku a unei firme de prefabricate. Avea de-a face cu munca mea departe de familie, cu abilităţile mele de conducere, cu rezultatele în vânzări, cu directorul de filială care urla în gura mare ca un meşteşugar, cu nepăsarea şefului meu faţă de cei din jur şi cu dorinţa lui de a se proteja numai pe sine, cu rata dobânzii la împrumuturile de la o companie de credite pentru locuinţe şi cu bravada mea în faţa subalternilor, pe care de fapt nu-i puteam ajuta cu nimic. Dar şi cu soţia mea care rămăsese la Tokyo, cu fiica mea care se măritase, cu fiul meu care era student în anul al doilea la facultate (şi că tot veni vorba, mai era şi distanţarea afectivă dintre mine şi el), cu insomniile mele, cu ulcerul gastrointestinal căpătat pe fond nervos, cu urinatul frecvent…
Nu mi-am închipuit că vreo zece zile de zăcut la pat m-ar putea face să mă distanţez de toate acestea, dar, după ce-a trecut un timp în care n-am făcut altceva decât să privesc tavanul alb, totul a început să mi se pară din ce în ce mai îndepărtat, pierdut undeva în zare.
Probabil că renunţasem să mai lupt. Încă din momentul în care îmi rupsesem piciorul, cu toate că pe jumătate refuzasem să îl accept, gândul că viaţa mea în cadrul companiei luase sfârşit mi se strecurase insinuant în conştiinţă, aidoma apei care îmbibă puţin câte puţin o ţesătură de mătase. La un moment dat m-am simţit copleşit de greutatea acestui gând, dar probabil că tocmai el mă ajutase să mă detaşez de toate câte mi se întâmplaseră.

[Nicoleta-Cătălina Gal · Rating 3 out of 5]

3+
Cred că e mai bine să intri în poveste știind doar atât cât spune introducerea de pe Goodreads. Și în loc de rezumat, o sa îți spun alte lucruri care cred că ar trebui să te convingă că merită să dai câteva ore acestei cărți cu elemente magice care sunt acolo doar pentru a confirma morala: viața trebuie trăită.

"this miracle had been nothing short of pathetic. I’d derived no revelation from it. All I’d done was felt desire for Mutsuko, become useless, then ended up staring at a dead leaf on a table."

Cartea este despre viață, despre a trăi momentele fericite la maxim indiferent de vârstă și de multe ori, indiferent de alții. Dar fiind spusă din perspectiva unui bărbat, o să te surprindă unele reflecții.

"This made the egos of women in general look enlarged to me. It made me feel that, though they may put on a friendly face, they were in fact all egomaniacs who would never devote their hearts to anything other than themselves (though I knew very well that I myself didn’t devote my heart to my wife, so such thinking was selfish)."

Povestea e o amețitoare combinație de moralitate, sexualitate și regăsire, de împăcare cu vârsta, viața și dorința.


"Wanting to escape the trappings of my middle-aged life, I allowed myself to regress."

"If anything, I felt something like a distinct sorrow arising from something large and unknown."


Parte Lolita, parte Benjamin Button și parte simplitate încărcată de sens, specific japoneză, o sa îți placă dacă ai gustat și alte lecturi mai mature, ca Strange weather in Tokyo.

‘Their Tokyo is probably very different from our Tokyo.’ ‘Yes.’

E și o plimbare prin Tokyo, o lecție despre moralitatea slujbei și relația cu copiii, dar în principal este despre iubire obsesivă si lupta contra tinereții. Am aflat că azi, komonourile sunt asociate cu lucrul in baruri și joburile pot distruge oameni.

People promoted to managerial positions, then just falling apart.’

În final, e o scurtă poveste magică despre What if, cu o schimbare de paradigmă șocantă pe alocuri, dar în definitiv, luată ca un moment de reflecție.

"I knew I wasn’t witnessing the powerlessness of people against ageing. I was watching the futility of a person against the onslaught of youth."

[Iris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taura is shocked. The woman he had just spent the night with is 20 years his senior, and he already considers himself old at 48. Hidden behind the screen of the hospital room, both unable to move, they shared a night full of talk and erotic passion. When Mutsuko appears in Tokyo a few months later, Taura is surprised at her looks. Without timidity, Mutsuko tells him that she is getting younger, in painful attacks that can last for days. Taura, all but dumped by his entrepreneur wife and grown-up children, and transferred to the department for “special projects” in his company where he cannot do any harm, starts an affair with Mutsuko. She, aware of what her journey must inevitable lead to, attempts to live her newfound youth to the fullest, drawing Taura into a maelstrom of sex, adventure, and lies, that even gets him into prison for child abuse. And yet, he cannot let go of Mutsuko, and she keeps getting younger and younger…

The story is written from Taura’s perspective, and he tells it rather matter-of-factly, almost without emotion. Except for Mutsuko’s reverse ageing, everything is realistic, but we also hear very early on about Taura’s mental instabilities. Is Mutsuko real, or does she just exist in Taura’s imagination?

What an interesting idea this story is! An old woman, at the end of her life, gets a chance to relive it and, literally, be young again. And this time she is prepared to live it to the fullest! Mutsuko’s affair with Taura seems to be the only thing that is stable in this new life of hers, and while at the beginning they meet irregularly, later on, when Mutsuko turns into a child, she must rely on him more and more.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this intriguing story.

Book Summary
A man has a romantic fling with his random roommate - an old woman in a hospital. Upon his release from the hospital, the old woman confronts the man - but there is something different. The old woman is miraculously much younger. A tale of youth, age, and life, this peculiar book has parallels to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

What I Liked
I thought this book was very interesting. I enjoyed how the author spun in lots of Christian elements too (faith, responsibility, and monologue).

I like to think of it as a female Curious Case of Benjamin Button and a bit of Lolita too.
This book also had some special powers in it - such as when he was with her, he was able to do things like learn French very quickly.

Final Thoughts
A very intriguing story. Would recommend for fans of mysterious happenings. Great Japanese writer - would read more from Yamada.

4.4/5

[Rita Ricardo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not sure what to think of this book. There's an interesting premise about age and a body aging backwards, but then it's mostly wasted because we don't get to follow her throughout the book. We do follow the middle aged man (her lover), which was just boring and actually unconfortable since he's a bad husband, dad, and mysoginist. And then we always get long descriptions of these two caracteres encounters that focus on sex, including on a weird age.
It's interesting that two persons who are going through some sort of personal crisis get to know each other and share out-of-the ordinary moments together, as if when they are together they can feel different, happy - they discover a new sense in living.
But this doesn't feel like the goal of the story somehow, since it's never directly, or even deeply, adressed.
Fast read, but just kind of a waste tbh. I did wanted to know how it would end and develope, which wasn't good afterall.
Honestly, this could be so good, if the way the Story was written had a different perspective. The summary made me imagine something so different when I bought it, makes me sad even.

[Lauretta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un uomo, di mezza età, in crisi con il lavoro e la famiglia, condivide una camera d'ospedale per una notte con una donna anziana. I due si reincontrano tempo dopo, ma la donna non è più anziana, bensì una affascinante quarantenne. Nasce una tormentata storia tra i due, che però sarà condizionata dalla strana malattia di lei, condannata misteriosamente a ringiovanire. E' un racconto molto originale, piacevole da seguire, a cui fa da sfondo Tokyo e le frustrazioni della vita in Giappone.