愛の夢とか [Ai no yume toka]

by Mieko Kawakami, 川上未映子

あのとき、ふたりが世界のすべてになった。なにげない日常がゆらいで光を放つ瞬間をとらえた、心ゆさぶる7ストーリーズ。

Genres: Short Stories

194 pages, Hardcover

First published March 29, 2013

About the author

Mieko Kawakami (川上未映子, born in August 29, 1976) is a Japanese singer and writer from Osaka.

She was awarded the 138th Akutagawa Prize for promising new writers of serious fiction (2007) for her novel Chichi to Ran (乳と卵) (Breasts and Eggs).

Kawakami has released three albums and three singles as a singer.

Reviews

[Dave Minehan]

"Dreams of Love, etc." is the translation (by Hitomi Yoshio) of the 13 page titular short story of this book, itself a compilation. I read the story as part of a seperate compilation, contained within The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories.

While I plan to review the book as a whole, this piece deserves special highlight as a poetic and hugely contemplative slice of life. I'm not sure where you can find the translation outside of The Penguin Compilation, but if you get the chance to read it you should.

[Craig]

English translations of stories in this collection:
* アイスクリーム熱（『真夜中』2011 Early Spring）= "Ice Cream Fever", tr. David Boyd - English translation read Dec. 2022 as part of NHK World’s program, "Reading Japan"
* 愛の夢とか（『モンキービジネス』2011　Summer）= “Dreams of Love, Etc.”, tr. Hitomi Yoshio, in The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories
* いちご畑が永遠につづいてゆくのだから（『アスペクト』2007年5月号） = “Strawberry Fields Forever and Ever”, tr.Hitomi Yoshio.in Pleiades: Literature in Context, 2016.1.
* 日曜日はどこへ（『yom yom』2011年第23号）= "Where Have All the Sundays Gone?", tr. Hitomi Yoshio in Words without Borders, 2015.3, Special Issue: On Memory: New Japanese Writing,
* 三月の毛糸（『早稲田文学』2012年4月）= "March Yarn" tr. Michael Emmerich, in March Was Made of Yarn: Writers respond to Japan's Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Meltdown
* お花畑自身（『群像』2012年4月号）= “The Flower Garden”, tr.  in Freeman’s The Best New Writing on Love
* 十三月怪談（『新潮』2012年6月号）= "The Thirteenth Month", tr. Hitomi Yoshio, in Monkey Business: New Writing from Japan - Volume 5

[Jie Hui]

最后两篇短篇的铺陈长得有些没必要，而且作者开始探索没有标点符号和分段，和啰啰嗦嗦的自言自语来展现人物的心理活动（后来夏物语就是这种风格）。

[Joe Cahill]

That's why she's the GOAT