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If Orpheus Was a Carp: A Novel
Norwegian Wood
meets
Perfect Blue
in a contemporary evocation of the classical Greek myth. Brutal and haunting. Tender and intimate. A debut novel about a young musician's collision with rage and grief.
The Yoshida family is dysfunctional. The father, Kiichiro, is a leading member of the Miyajima-gumi crime syndicate, while the mother, Miyuki, works long hours as the commissioner of police. With the matriarch and patriarch of the household habitually absent, their oldest, George, must take care of his little brother, Naoyuki. After a revelation in the form of a letter, Naoyuki confirms his his birth may have exacerbated the frigid loneliness and hidden hostility their family occupies. Determined to make amends, Naoyuki concocts a plan. He'll gather everyone together for his birthday party, and once there, he'll play a song—in this song, communicating his sincere longing for connection and love.
Everything goes as he hopes. George agrees to it, putting aside his disdain for their parents, and helping Naoyuki prepare for the performance. But when the day arrives, tragedy strikes in the form of a blood-splattered crime scene.
Years later, despite his recent success as a musician, Naoyuki still senses a debilitating self-hate from within himself. When his father—fresh from prison—appears at his doorstep, Naoyuki is offered an opportunity for atonement. And so, Orpheus braves the underworld for his revenge.
Devastatingly beautiful, If Orpheus Was a Carp is a lyrical reckoning with and voyage through connection, legacy, and the elusive nature of memory. It marks the sincere and poignant entry of a young literary voice.
The Yoshida family is dysfunctional. The father, Kiichiro, is a leading member of the Miyajima-gumi crime syndicate, while the mother, Miyuki, works long hours as the commissioner of police. With the matriarch and patriarch of the household habitually absent, their oldest, George, must take care of his little brother, Naoyuki. After a revelation in the form of a letter, Naoyuki confirms his his birth may have exacerbated the frigid loneliness and hidden hostility their family occupies. Determined to make amends, Naoyuki concocts a plan. He'll gather everyone together for his birthday party, and once there, he'll play a song—in this song, communicating his sincere longing for connection and love.
Everything goes as he hopes. George agrees to it, putting aside his disdain for their parents, and helping Naoyuki prepare for the performance. But when the day arrives, tragedy strikes in the form of a blood-splattered crime scene.
Years later, despite his recent success as a musician, Naoyuki still senses a debilitating self-hate from within himself. When his father—fresh from prison—appears at his doorstep, Naoyuki is offered an opportunity for atonement. And so, Orpheus braves the underworld for his revenge.
Devastatingly beautiful, If Orpheus Was a Carp is a lyrical reckoning with and voyage through connection, legacy, and the elusive nature of memory. It marks the sincere and poignant entry of a young literary voice.
380 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 21, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 22, 2025
RTC.
I'm honored to be the fifth person rating this book.
I'm honored to be the fifth person rating this book.
November 8, 2025
i understand the author wanted to make a statement and portray the discrimination in the art world, but... i found the story so forced and cliche. there were many references to greek myths and i kinda get how they related to the overall story, but it didnt work for me. beautiful cover tho~
September 14, 2025
No words can express the sheer amount of beauty that this novel is. The author has such an amazing understanding of language and literary devices. The story was wonderful and meant so much. The description, detail, characters, relationships, ALL so beautiful. I sobbed so much. Naoyuki is such a good character and George 🥹🥹 and Midori 🥹. I cannot believe this is a debut novel and I haven’t seen anyone talk about it anywhere! Genuinely incredible, one of the best written books I have ever read.
April 21, 2026
Overall, I didn't hate it, but it felt like the blurb sold me on a different book.
What I liked.
Kiichiro.
What I didn't like.
That it's not haunting me, I signed up to be haunted.
This was described as "Norwegian Wood" meets "Perfect Blue" but I was only tasting the Murakami influence while I was hoping for more Satoshi Kon.
Not enough Yakuza.
The prose was so thick in places, and it was as if each sentence was clamoring for your attention but unable to stand out.
The pacing was very slow in places, and I almost DNF.
What I liked.
Kiichiro.
What I didn't like.
That it's not haunting me, I signed up to be haunted.
This was described as "Norwegian Wood" meets "Perfect Blue" but I was only tasting the Murakami influence while I was hoping for more Satoshi Kon.
Not enough Yakuza.
The prose was so thick in places, and it was as if each sentence was clamoring for your attention but unable to stand out.
The pacing was very slow in places, and I almost DNF.
April 13, 2026
the prospect of reading ‘If Orpheus Is A Carp’ is much better than the experience of reading it.
albeit a beautiful novel—it is pretty clunky, and I think the author went into each scene wanting to write beautifully (which they did! some of the best descriptive writing I’ve seen) but not actually fixating on /navigating the actual scene/.
not the most pleasant to read sorry. really wanted to enjoy but it was just so painstakingly turgid. I like the idea of readers not having every idea explicitly stated for them but the author was generally really vague, at least to what I observed. hope to see improvement in readability for kamau’s future work :) also the cover art is really beautiful.
albeit a beautiful novel—it is pretty clunky, and I think the author went into each scene wanting to write beautifully (which they did! some of the best descriptive writing I’ve seen) but not actually fixating on /navigating the actual scene/.
not the most pleasant to read sorry. really wanted to enjoy but it was just so painstakingly turgid. I like the idea of readers not having every idea explicitly stated for them but the author was generally really vague, at least to what I observed. hope to see improvement in readability for kamau’s future work :) also the cover art is really beautiful.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews