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Dendera
When Kayu Saitoh wakes up, she is in an unfamiliar place. Taken to a snowy mountainside, she was left there by her family and her village according to the tradition of sacrificing the lives of the elderly for the benefit of the young. Kayu was supposed to have passed quickly into the afterlife. Instead, she finds herself in Dendera, a utopian community built over decades by old women who, like her, were abandoned. Together, they must now face a new a hungry mother bear.
“Dendera is riveting, hilarious, dark, gory, and absolutely brilliant...it’s as if Elena Ferrante and Stephen King collided on a Japanese mountaintop.”
—Jami Attenberg, New York Times best-selling author of The Middlesteins
“Dendera is riveting, hilarious, dark, gory, and absolutely brilliant...it’s as if Elena Ferrante and Stephen King collided on a Japanese mountaintop.”
—Jami Attenberg, New York Times best-selling author of The Middlesteins
322 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2009
25 people are currently reading
1610 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews
May 26, 2020
If I had written the setup of this novel, of old women abandoned by their society to die alone of exposure, and who, instead of dying, band together to create their own utopian community, I don't think I would have been able to avoid making the story arc to be one of triumph and redemption. Sato avoids triumph and redemption with a vengeance. The ruthlessness of his choices left me, hmm, "aghast" comes to mind. I always feel like cheering when I come across a ruthless book, though, and this one was no exception.
September 10, 2017
デンデラ is a book that gets its 4 stars from me with a round of applause, because it manages to be a one-of-its-kind book. As such, it's fresh, entertaining, gory as hell and you never know what it's going to happen next. The book surprised me many times with its choices. As another reviewer called it, it's ruthless.
What can you say about a story of 49 (?) women over 70 years old, left to die on the mountain, saved from death with the help of the leader (Mei Mitsuya, age 100), slowly accumulated into a form of society over the years. Resisting death, nature, plagues, famine, hardships and, lately, a starving bear. The bear even gets its own voice here, and I have to say I enjoyed these chapters inside the mind of the animal and found myself reading the "human" chapters fast to arrive again at a "bear" chapter. No silly anthropomorphic narration here, beautiful writing.
The main character, Kayu Saitoh, is unlikable and aggressive and very stubborn. And this is only the beginning, every one of the old women gets a character, they are never described en masse, and never trivialized or turned into cliches. Everyone is what life made of them. There are passages that every woman is named dropped in the scene and this is the only thing that made my life difficult. But, because each name has a character associated with it, and, as you advance in the reading of the book, you get a better mental image for each woman, the difficulty in name dropping diminishes.
The book is thought provoking, nature vs society, life vs death, anarchy vs organization, unit vs mass. All topics meld into the plot, left there for the reader to reflect on. The book has no answers to give you so that you can rest, there aren't any, just the questions. It artfully avoids redemption, easy solutions and smooth closures. This is not a mainstream man vs nature hollywood type story. It's genuine and unique.
PS-The blurb says the book is Elena Ferrante meets Stephen King, but I have to strongly disagree. King can't be abstract and symbolic and Ferrante can't be insightful and genuine. This book does.
What can you say about a story of 49 (?) women over 70 years old, left to die on the mountain, saved from death with the help of the leader (Mei Mitsuya, age 100), slowly accumulated into a form of society over the years. Resisting death, nature, plagues, famine, hardships and, lately, a starving bear. The bear even gets its own voice here, and I have to say I enjoyed these chapters inside the mind of the animal and found myself reading the "human" chapters fast to arrive again at a "bear" chapter. No silly anthropomorphic narration here, beautiful writing.
Absent in that beady orb was any tinge of pastoral kinship, not that such a thing was to be expected. Instead, the eye glittered with unmitigated rage. The beast opened its scarlet maw, sending out its sweet, acrid breath, and advanced one step. The women retreated one step. But the strides of bear and man were insurmountably different, and the only consequence was that they had allowed the bear to get closer.
The main character, Kayu Saitoh, is unlikable and aggressive and very stubborn. And this is only the beginning, every one of the old women gets a character, they are never described en masse, and never trivialized or turned into cliches. Everyone is what life made of them. There are passages that every woman is named dropped in the scene and this is the only thing that made my life difficult. But, because each name has a character associated with it, and, as you advance in the reading of the book, you get a better mental image for each woman, the difficulty in name dropping diminishes.
The book is thought provoking, nature vs society, life vs death, anarchy vs organization, unit vs mass. All topics meld into the plot, left there for the reader to reflect on. The book has no answers to give you so that you can rest, there aren't any, just the questions. It artfully avoids redemption, easy solutions and smooth closures. This is not a mainstream man vs nature hollywood type story. It's genuine and unique.
PS-The blurb says the book is Elena Ferrante meets Stephen King, but I have to strongly disagree. King can't be abstract and symbolic and Ferrante can't be insightful and genuine. This book does.
March 22, 2017
This book is bonkers. I don't know how else to describe it. This first came on my radar after it was mentioned a couple of times by this book review website/blog that I love. Naturally since it was by a Japanese author, I was intrigued. But I had practically zip knowledge or expectations for this book other than that.
This novel is a satire on a Japanese folklore about Obasute mountain (literally the mountain where grandmas are "thrown away"). I would suggest for anyone who is wanting to read this book to read the story about Obasute first. The initial premise of this novel might be a little more complicated or confusing otherwise... (Side note/fun fact: Obasute is an actual mountain in Nagano that I have visited on more than one occasion.)
I felt like this book was really refreshing in the fact that I have never quite read anything like it. It was entertaining with absolutely zip romance. It was from the viewpoint of an old Japanese lady. In fact, the only humans in this novel were old Japanese ladies. There are short interim chapters from the viewpoint of a bear.
But I have to warn you, it was GORY. Almost comically so. Think Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill series. Also, the writing/translation doesn't do it a ton of favors.
Other than that, I thought this story was fairly thought-provoking. I have been thinking a lot lately about society, human desire and nature because of it. I have been itching to read more modern Japanese literature, and this definitely helped fulfill that craving. I will be looking for more recommendations like this, to be sure.
This novel is a satire on a Japanese folklore about Obasute mountain (literally the mountain where grandmas are "thrown away"). I would suggest for anyone who is wanting to read this book to read the story about Obasute first. The initial premise of this novel might be a little more complicated or confusing otherwise... (Side note/fun fact: Obasute is an actual mountain in Nagano that I have visited on more than one occasion.)
I felt like this book was really refreshing in the fact that I have never quite read anything like it. It was entertaining with absolutely zip romance. It was from the viewpoint of an old Japanese lady. In fact, the only humans in this novel were old Japanese ladies. There are short interim chapters from the viewpoint of a bear.
But I have to warn you, it was GORY. Almost comically so. Think Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill series. Also, the writing/translation doesn't do it a ton of favors.
Other than that, I thought this story was fairly thought-provoking. I have been thinking a lot lately about society, human desire and nature because of it. I have been itching to read more modern Japanese literature, and this definitely helped fulfill that craving. I will be looking for more recommendations like this, to be sure.
May 24, 2023
DONNE VS NATURA
Abbandonata dal Villaggio al compimento dei settant'anni, Kayu Sato è pronta per ascendere la montagna e accogliere la morte come ha condotto la vita: in silenzio, accettando le rigide regole della società patriarcale.
Eppure, viene salvata da altre anziane che la portano nel loro villaggio, Dendera, una comunità che si sta barcamentando tra la fame e il freddo, formata da donne che hanno deciso di continuare a vivere a dispetto della Legge.
Sembra quasi un'utopia immersa nell'abbacinante bianco che pervade ogni descrizione, ma proseguendo oltre l'incipit, scoprirete che il rosso del sangue e il nero pece si inframezzano nella narrazione. Il motore portante di Dendera non è la redenzione, ma la vendetta, l'ostinazione, il rimpianto e una buona dose di violenza che va a pari passo con un'altra protagonista; la feroce orsa che cerca di far sopravvivere il suo cucciolo ai morsi dell'inverno.
"Dendera" di Yuya Sato è provocatorio, sanguinoso (sì, dettagli gore non sono risparmiati ma aggiungono un certo spessore) e si discosta dalla letteratura giapponese che sto leggendo ultimamente.
Non a caso è diventato uno dei miei libri preferiti del 2023: un libro che lascia con il fiato sospeso fino all'ultima pagina. Anche l'orsa antropomorfizzata di cui leggiamo i pensieri mantiene un certo rigore con la sua natura.
Ora, se mi confronto con le protagoniste di questo libro, tutta acciaccata già nei miei 30 e passa anni, mi sento più vecchia di loro che di anni sfiorano anche i 100. Le scene di azione sono al cardiopalma, robe che non penserei mai un'anziana possa fare, acciacate dal freddo e indebolite dalla fame, ma alla fine è un particolare che scende in secondo piano mentre si assiste alla lotta primordiale dell'uomo (o donna) contro la Natura.
Abbandonata dal Villaggio al compimento dei settant'anni, Kayu Sato è pronta per ascendere la montagna e accogliere la morte come ha condotto la vita: in silenzio, accettando le rigide regole della società patriarcale.
Eppure, viene salvata da altre anziane che la portano nel loro villaggio, Dendera, una comunità che si sta barcamentando tra la fame e il freddo, formata da donne che hanno deciso di continuare a vivere a dispetto della Legge.
Sembra quasi un'utopia immersa nell'abbacinante bianco che pervade ogni descrizione, ma proseguendo oltre l'incipit, scoprirete che il rosso del sangue e il nero pece si inframezzano nella narrazione. Il motore portante di Dendera non è la redenzione, ma la vendetta, l'ostinazione, il rimpianto e una buona dose di violenza che va a pari passo con un'altra protagonista; la feroce orsa che cerca di far sopravvivere il suo cucciolo ai morsi dell'inverno.
"Dendera" di Yuya Sato è provocatorio, sanguinoso (sì, dettagli gore non sono risparmiati ma aggiungono un certo spessore) e si discosta dalla letteratura giapponese che sto leggendo ultimamente.
Non a caso è diventato uno dei miei libri preferiti del 2023: un libro che lascia con il fiato sospeso fino all'ultima pagina. Anche l'orsa antropomorfizzata di cui leggiamo i pensieri mantiene un certo rigore con la sua natura.
Ora, se mi confronto con le protagoniste di questo libro, tutta acciaccata già nei miei 30 e passa anni, mi sento più vecchia di loro che di anni sfiorano anche i 100. Le scene di azione sono al cardiopalma, robe che non penserei mai un'anziana possa fare, acciacate dal freddo e indebolite dalla fame, ma alla fine è un particolare che scende in secondo piano mentre si assiste alla lotta primordiale dell'uomo (o donna) contro la Natura.
January 11, 2023
This book might have single handedly filled my gore quota for the year so, heads up, there's a lot of gore and blood and other bodily fluids in this. My understanding is also that it's based on a historical japanese concept of abandoning old people in mountains to die which might not actually have happened, but it takes the concept and runs with it so far and so grandiosely that I can't help but kind of be in awe of it. That said, I could never connect with it, I'm honestly not sure what it was trying to say other than when you're in a shitty situation like there's a plague or a bear has killed half your village, it might be a good idea to get the hell out, and maybe there are worse fates than dying of cold in a mountain top.
April 13, 2015
4.5 stars
In the Village, your family leaves you in the mountain to die when you turn 70, and this is how you enter Paradise. Kayu Saitoh wanted nothing more than to Climb the Mountain and rest in Paradise, but it was not to be. She's rescued and taken to Dendera, a place where other old women who had been left in the mountain now lived. Kayu, however, doesn't think of it as rescue--to her, it's an abomination, a sacrilege, and she wants nothing to do with it.
Dendera is split into two sects: the Hawks, who want to take revenge on the Village that abused them then left them to die, and the Doves, who want to make Dendera a sustainable, productive place. Before Kayu can decide where she belongs (or if she belongs at all), Dendera faces something new: a bear who threatens Dendera, Hawks and Doves and indifferents alike.
Sato is a man but manages to describe these women's experiences so genuinely. I typically prefer to read books about women by women, but Sato is masterful. This reads, at times, like a feminist manifesto.
This book is translated from the Japanese, and my only complaint is that sometimes the dialogue seems stilted, using words that didn't flow with the rest of the sentence.
I would recommend this to anyone with the warning that some parts are very graphic in their violence.
Note: some Goodreaders have shelved this book as fantasy. I would not.
In the Village, your family leaves you in the mountain to die when you turn 70, and this is how you enter Paradise. Kayu Saitoh wanted nothing more than to Climb the Mountain and rest in Paradise, but it was not to be. She's rescued and taken to Dendera, a place where other old women who had been left in the mountain now lived. Kayu, however, doesn't think of it as rescue--to her, it's an abomination, a sacrilege, and she wants nothing to do with it.
Dendera is split into two sects: the Hawks, who want to take revenge on the Village that abused them then left them to die, and the Doves, who want to make Dendera a sustainable, productive place. Before Kayu can decide where she belongs (or if she belongs at all), Dendera faces something new: a bear who threatens Dendera, Hawks and Doves and indifferents alike.
Sato is a man but manages to describe these women's experiences so genuinely. I typically prefer to read books about women by women, but Sato is masterful. This reads, at times, like a feminist manifesto.
This book is translated from the Japanese, and my only complaint is that sometimes the dialogue seems stilted, using words that didn't flow with the rest of the sentence.
I would recommend this to anyone with the warning that some parts are very graphic in their violence.
Note: some Goodreaders have shelved this book as fantasy. I would not.
May 25, 2025
Questo libro l'ho assorbito praticamente.
Le aspettative sorte dopo aver letto la trama non sono state disattese.
Offre molti spunti di riflessione: sulla condizione femminile, sul sacrificio degli interessi individuali per favorire quelli collettivi, sulle tradizioni culturali, sulle implicazioni personali nel dover assumere difficili decisioni, sulla spiritualità, sul rapporto tra l'uomo e la natura.
Ha praticamente 0 punti lenti.
Le aspettative sorte dopo aver letto la trama non sono state disattese.
Offre molti spunti di riflessione: sulla condizione femminile, sul sacrificio degli interessi individuali per favorire quelli collettivi, sulle tradizioni culturali, sulle implicazioni personali nel dover assumere difficili decisioni, sulla spiritualità, sul rapporto tra l'uomo e la natura.
Ha praticamente 0 punti lenti.
January 31, 2019
WOW. This book was fantastic. Probably one of my favorite books I've read in a long time.
It really kept me on my toes. I kept expecting things - noble sacrifice? Lord of the Flies style social breakdowns and violence? Scheming and power grabs? Some kind of moral message about abandoning people once they're no longer of use?
And I sort of got all of those, but never in the way I expected. And I also got bear POV chapters. And so much ridiculous gore. And chaos. And truly bonkers escalation on top of escalation until I had no idea what to expect at all. And to top it all off, there was even an extremely satisfying ending.
This is dark, and sometimes hilarious, and sometimes poignant, and really surprising. I loved it.
It really kept me on my toes. I kept expecting things - noble sacrifice? Lord of the Flies style social breakdowns and violence? Scheming and power grabs? Some kind of moral message about abandoning people once they're no longer of use?
And I sort of got all of those, but never in the way I expected. And I also got bear POV chapters. And so much ridiculous gore. And chaos. And truly bonkers escalation on top of escalation until I had no idea what to expect at all. And to top it all off, there was even an extremely satisfying ending.
This is dark, and sometimes hilarious, and sometimes poignant, and really surprising. I loved it.
May 26, 2023
C’erano tutte le carte in regola perché fosse un libro stupendo: folklore, una protagonista diversa dal solito, un setting che prometteva bene, violenza e gore.
Eppure ci sono vari problemi. Il principale è lo stile di scrittura e il pacing narrativo. Non funziona per niente. Le scene di violenza e di azione risultano piatte e statiche, i vocaboli scelti spesso non rispecchiano il tono della scena, spezzando il pathos, i dialoghi sono claudicanti e rendono la lettura difficoltosa. La struttura narrativa stessa poteva prendere varie strade interessanti, e in alcuni punti l’autore sembra fare foreshadowing di alcuni plot twist, senza mai arrivare a nessuno di questi nodi, deludendo molto il lettore. Sembra sia mancato completamente l’editing.
Una buona storia sprecata.
Eppure ci sono vari problemi. Il principale è lo stile di scrittura e il pacing narrativo. Non funziona per niente. Le scene di violenza e di azione risultano piatte e statiche, i vocaboli scelti spesso non rispecchiano il tono della scena, spezzando il pathos, i dialoghi sono claudicanti e rendono la lettura difficoltosa. La struttura narrativa stessa poteva prendere varie strade interessanti, e in alcuni punti l’autore sembra fare foreshadowing di alcuni plot twist, senza mai arrivare a nessuno di questi nodi, deludendo molto il lettore. Sembra sia mancato completamente l’editing.
Una buona storia sprecata.
December 20, 2017
This was the most gruesome book about fifty old women I’ve ever read.
June 1, 2023
Nel Villaggio, quando si raggiunge una certa età, gli anziani sono chiamati a sacrificarsi, ad attendere nel gelido bosco la morte per mano del freddo, offrendo così l'ultimo tributo al luogo che li ha visti nascere.
Quando giunge il momento di Kayu Satō, la donna anziana pensa di andare finalmente in pace, ma mentre sta affrontando il suo sacrificio, qualcuno la salva e si risveglia a Dendera.
Dendera è un villaggio segreto fondato dalle donne anziane del Villaggio stesso, sacrificate anni prima. Non soddisfatte di dover morire, queste donne hanno scelto di ribellarsi, dando vita a una comunità esclusivamente femminile immersa nelle profondità del bosco.
Sono donne che sono state abbandonate e che hanno deciso di cambiare il loro destino giá scritto per ribellarsi al Vilaggio.
Kayu riconosce volti familiari tra le sue compagne, donne che credeva morte ormai da tempo, scettica e inquieta inizia quindi la sua nuova vita a Dendera per sopravvivere insieme alle altre donne.
Tuttavia, una grande minaccia giunge a Dendera, un'orsa affamata e colma di rancore, pronta a tutto pur di vedere le anziane annientate.
Questo libro pone delle premesse interessanti, con un villaggio segreto tutto al femminile e una suggestiva atmosfera oscura nei boschi giapponesi... Peccato che molte parti non sono riuscite a entusiasmarmi: ho trovato alcune scene e frasi ripetitive e noiose.
Le scene con l'orsa sono indubbiamente violente, e sono quelle che mi hanno colpito di piú per la loro descrizione dettagliata, infatti l'autore è riuscito a tenermi con il fiato sospeso fino alla fine. Tuttavia, altre scene e alcuni personaggi mi sono parsi piatti, molte donne di Dendera potevano essere approfondite meglio per entrare ancora di piú in sintonia con loro.
Ho apprezzato il pov dal punto di vista dell'orso, l'ho trovato interessante e ben sviluppato, anche il finale mi é piaciuto ma nel complesso é un libro che poteva essere sviluppato meglio e soprattutto con meno pagine.
Lo consiglio se non vi danno fastidio le ripetizioni e vi interessa il tema della vecchiaia e della femminilità, come titolo é particolare e alquanto violento quindi potrebbe non essere adatto a tutt* e sopratutto all'inizio e molto lento e anche in questo caso potrebbe non piacere. Personalmente come dicevo mi aspettavo di piú, ho apprezzato alcune scene ma altre le ho trovate inutili.
Quando giunge il momento di Kayu Satō, la donna anziana pensa di andare finalmente in pace, ma mentre sta affrontando il suo sacrificio, qualcuno la salva e si risveglia a Dendera.
Dendera è un villaggio segreto fondato dalle donne anziane del Villaggio stesso, sacrificate anni prima. Non soddisfatte di dover morire, queste donne hanno scelto di ribellarsi, dando vita a una comunità esclusivamente femminile immersa nelle profondità del bosco.
Sono donne che sono state abbandonate e che hanno deciso di cambiare il loro destino giá scritto per ribellarsi al Vilaggio.
Kayu riconosce volti familiari tra le sue compagne, donne che credeva morte ormai da tempo, scettica e inquieta inizia quindi la sua nuova vita a Dendera per sopravvivere insieme alle altre donne.
Tuttavia, una grande minaccia giunge a Dendera, un'orsa affamata e colma di rancore, pronta a tutto pur di vedere le anziane annientate.
Questo libro pone delle premesse interessanti, con un villaggio segreto tutto al femminile e una suggestiva atmosfera oscura nei boschi giapponesi... Peccato che molte parti non sono riuscite a entusiasmarmi: ho trovato alcune scene e frasi ripetitive e noiose.
Le scene con l'orsa sono indubbiamente violente, e sono quelle che mi hanno colpito di piú per la loro descrizione dettagliata, infatti l'autore è riuscito a tenermi con il fiato sospeso fino alla fine. Tuttavia, altre scene e alcuni personaggi mi sono parsi piatti, molte donne di Dendera potevano essere approfondite meglio per entrare ancora di piú in sintonia con loro.
Ho apprezzato il pov dal punto di vista dell'orso, l'ho trovato interessante e ben sviluppato, anche il finale mi é piaciuto ma nel complesso é un libro che poteva essere sviluppato meglio e soprattutto con meno pagine.
Lo consiglio se non vi danno fastidio le ripetizioni e vi interessa il tema della vecchiaia e della femminilità, come titolo é particolare e alquanto violento quindi potrebbe non essere adatto a tutt* e sopratutto all'inizio e molto lento e anche in questo caso potrebbe non piacere. Personalmente come dicevo mi aspettavo di piú, ho apprezzato alcune scene ma altre le ho trovate inutili.
January 29, 2023
It’s brilliant. It’s also extremely dark and violent. You need a strong stomach and the ability to go through a bleak time with the characters. I’ve seen another reviewer call it funny and yes. That too.
Some books struggle for a lack of wants and desires driving the characters forward. This book has wants and desires that are so desperate that characters strain for them perhaps beyond reason.
I found it a little kooky when our point of view switched to that of the bear. But it was useful to understand it’s not an exceptional or magical or monstrous bear. It’s a bear. Just an animal. A formidable and frightening and strong opponent but essentially driven by the same instincts that drive the humans. Also, it meant the book could use a trick I associate with Korean movie director Bong Joon-Ho. The bear is made into a sympathetic character. It changes the emotions behind the plot to kill it.
The book was also quite deeply philosophical. What will happen to us after we die? Why die? Why live? What is life for, what does it mean? Why are some patriarchal communities in love with violence? What makes us humans any different from animals?
Some books struggle for a lack of wants and desires driving the characters forward. This book has wants and desires that are so desperate that characters strain for them perhaps beyond reason.
I found it a little kooky when our point of view switched to that of the bear. But it was useful to understand it’s not an exceptional or magical or monstrous bear. It’s a bear. Just an animal. A formidable and frightening and strong opponent but essentially driven by the same instincts that drive the humans. Also, it meant the book could use a trick I associate with Korean movie director Bong Joon-Ho. The bear is made into a sympathetic character. It changes the emotions behind the plot to kill it.
The book was also quite deeply philosophical. What will happen to us after we die? Why die? Why live? What is life for, what does it mean? Why are some patriarchal communities in love with violence? What makes us humans any different from animals?
January 22, 2020
This book was absolutely bonkers. I'm not even really sure what I think of it, really; it was like a slasher film, almost, but featuring fifty (at least at first) angry old women and a huge, equally angry bear. It's incredibly gory, and kind of dismal, but also sort of joyous at times(?) and I think I read the entire thing with my eyebrows raised as high as they would go... It's just like nothing else I've read. Every single human character is over 70 years old, for a start, and have I mentioned the gore? Literally, limbs and heads flying off, folk burning to death and dying of plague and being eviscerated... Proper schlocky horror madness jumbled up with a wilderness survival sort of thing.
If this review doesn't make sense it's because I'm still reeling. I think you all should read it..? I won't forget it in a hurry, that's for sure.
Edit to add: I really think it should be made into a film. Probably a B-movie called BEAR. It's very cinematic.
If this review doesn't make sense it's because I'm still reeling. I think you all should read it..? I won't forget it in a hurry, that's for sure.
Edit to add: I really think it should be made into a film. Probably a B-movie called BEAR. It's very cinematic.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 26, 2018
This book had such a promising premise, but the execution was seriously flawed. Events, thoughts, and motivations repeat themselves over and over again without any real sense of resolution or meaningful change. And I got really tired really fast of the main character having a thought or an idea, only to decide not to to anything about it as events play out around her anyway. She felt less like a character with her own agency and more of a placeholder. The story might have been a lot more gripping if we'd changed perspectives between women in the village and hadn't been stuck with a character that did next to nothing.
September 30, 2021
(I only read about around 30 pages before DNF-ing)
The plot synopsis had me intrigued. I had really enjoyed The Master Key by Masako Yugawa, another book that had a large cast of entirely elderly women. Unfortunately the writing and dialogue in the first chapter was so stiff that it left me with no desire to read any further. (I'm not sure if that's to be blamed on Yuya Sato or on the translators.)
The plot synopsis had me intrigued. I had really enjoyed The Master Key by Masako Yugawa, another book that had a large cast of entirely elderly women. Unfortunately the writing and dialogue in the first chapter was so stiff that it left me with no desire to read any further. (I'm not sure if that's to be blamed on Yuya Sato or on the translators.)
October 16, 2024
Grannies vs a bear - There is a lot of symbolism and analysis of what it means to live and what happens after death, but there are also a lot of gruesome attacks. Not a good book for mealtime but still a fun read and fast paced with some twists and turns. I grumbled about the gore but it was manageable and I enjoyed the book.
May 22, 2017
Fantastic premise, but booo-ooring to read. Oh and I hated the protagonist, Kayu Saitoh. Annoying character.
January 27, 2024
Bleak but beautiful. So brutal I had to put it down for days at a time.
April 4, 2025
Subito dalle prime pagine mi è piaciuto,anche se devo ammettere che lo scambio di dialoghi fra le varie protagoniste è molto basico,sempliciotto e molte volte surreale. Se penso all'età che hanno, per me,è impossibile che certi dialoghi possano avvenire o finire in tale maniera. Anche l'agilità fisica che hanno le protagoniste è un po' troppa per l'età che ognuna ha. A parte questi fattori,il racconto è riuscito a catturare la mia attenzione e curiosità.
November 17, 2015
Well, this book is really weird. I gave it three stars because I genuinely do not know how I feel about it. I started skimming toward the end, so I did get a bit impatient with it. But this is one of those books where I think that I never really knew what was going on.
The plot, seemingly, is this: an old woman is abandoned in the mountains to die once she reaches the age of 70, as is the way in her village. She's pretty cool with this, actually. Then she's rescued and brought to Dendera, a village composed of other old women who rescued themselves from the mountain. Our protagonist, Kayu Saitoh, is pretty pissed at the folk of Dendera, because she was all set to die. Now, she thinks, she's lost her chance at Paradise because she's been sullied by this rescue attempt.
But this is just one thread in a very strange book. The leader of the old ladies, one hundred years old (!) has been plotting her revenge against the Village for 30 years. She's just about ready to lead her squadron of old women armed with wooden spears over the mountain to slaughter all the villagers. This woman is PISSED! Admittedly, it's taken her a while to organize to this point, but all she wants to to kill some people and take vengeance before she dies. So there are political undercurrents in Dendera, the Hawks who want to stick the villagers full of spears, and the Doves, who want to make Dendera a more sustainable place (Dendera is a place where these women live in the most abject poverty possible).
THEN: a bear attacks Dendera! It swats off a couple of heads, destroys half their supplies, and shambles back off up the mountain. What to do about this new threat?
THEN: a plague!
THEN: a coup!
Every time I thought I had a handle on what was happening some other random thing happened that made everything worse. The book reminds me most of "The Terror" by Dan Simmons, a book in which sailors were trapped on the ice, running out of supplies, with a giant bear-thing picking them off one by one. That tale was undoubtedly horror, but I'm not sure that this one is. I felt like there was some allegory going on that I couldn't comprehend. Maybe it's because I don't have the cultural Japanese touchstones that a Japanese reader would have reading this author( who is Japanese; the book is translated). Is Dendera an analogy of the shadow world of Samsara in which we are all trapped in the Buddhist tradition? Maybe? I really have no idea.
While a lot of things happened in this book, I couldn't really say that it has a plot. Things happened and were strung together, but there was never a sense of building on anything or any sort of ebb and flow of climax and narrative. This meant I had an even harder time figuring out what I was supposed to think of this book. Or maybe it's one of those books that you bring your own experience to and your reaction to the book says something about you?
The whole book had a sort of surreal quality to it. I've got to say, though, that as surreal fiction it definitely beats Haruki Murakami in my book.
The plot, seemingly, is this: an old woman is abandoned in the mountains to die once she reaches the age of 70, as is the way in her village. She's pretty cool with this, actually. Then she's rescued and brought to Dendera, a village composed of other old women who rescued themselves from the mountain. Our protagonist, Kayu Saitoh, is pretty pissed at the folk of Dendera, because she was all set to die. Now, she thinks, she's lost her chance at Paradise because she's been sullied by this rescue attempt.
But this is just one thread in a very strange book. The leader of the old ladies, one hundred years old (!) has been plotting her revenge against the Village for 30 years. She's just about ready to lead her squadron of old women armed with wooden spears over the mountain to slaughter all the villagers. This woman is PISSED! Admittedly, it's taken her a while to organize to this point, but all she wants to to kill some people and take vengeance before she dies. So there are political undercurrents in Dendera, the Hawks who want to stick the villagers full of spears, and the Doves, who want to make Dendera a more sustainable place (Dendera is a place where these women live in the most abject poverty possible).
THEN: a bear attacks Dendera! It swats off a couple of heads, destroys half their supplies, and shambles back off up the mountain. What to do about this new threat?
THEN: a plague!
THEN: a coup!
Every time I thought I had a handle on what was happening some other random thing happened that made everything worse. The book reminds me most of "The Terror" by Dan Simmons, a book in which sailors were trapped on the ice, running out of supplies, with a giant bear-thing picking them off one by one. That tale was undoubtedly horror, but I'm not sure that this one is. I felt like there was some allegory going on that I couldn't comprehend. Maybe it's because I don't have the cultural Japanese touchstones that a Japanese reader would have reading this author( who is Japanese; the book is translated). Is Dendera an analogy of the shadow world of Samsara in which we are all trapped in the Buddhist tradition? Maybe? I really have no idea.
While a lot of things happened in this book, I couldn't really say that it has a plot. Things happened and were strung together, but there was never a sense of building on anything or any sort of ebb and flow of climax and narrative. This meant I had an even harder time figuring out what I was supposed to think of this book. Or maybe it's one of those books that you bring your own experience to and your reaction to the book says something about you?
The whole book had a sort of surreal quality to it. I've got to say, though, that as surreal fiction it definitely beats Haruki Murakami in my book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 22, 2022
An interesting premise that takes a couple of unexpected turns, but it suffered from a good deal of lag in the middle, and the inconclusive ending (one of those cases where the author cuts off the climactic scene seemingly 3-5 pages before the story is finished) really doesn't vibe with me.
Without giving too much away, the story starts with the premise of a hardscrabble mountain village that has a tradition of sending all its elders to 'Climb the Mountain' to Paradise (translation: be carried up to die of exposure) when they turn seventy. The main character, Kayu, goes up the mountain willingly, expecting Paradise, only to be rescued by a group of old women who, instead of dying, established a village made entirely of abandoned old women (women only - forget the men). There is room here for pondering on the misogyny and ageism these women endured back home, but like the 'no men' rule, these are only alluded to, left to the reader to think over themselves. What follows can be described as Lord of the Flies for grannies, when simple-witted Kayu soon learns about certain stark divisions and factions within the little village. Things get VERY gory (seriously, not for the squeamish) when a hungry bear appears, and soon more complications ensue, threatening the continued survival of the village.
There are a LOT of characters here--50 old women!--almost always referred to by their full names, which I couldn't keep track of, so most of them registered in my brain basically as faceless numbers unless/until they developed a significant distinguishing trait or role.
One plausibility-criticism I have is that these little old ladies are insanely resilient--getting thrown/knocked around violently without taking much injury (does no-one from this hungry background have osteoporosis?), running long distances as if arthritis isn't a thing, etc. There are a lot of sturdy 70-year-old peasants, but even the 90- to 100-year-old women? It stretched credulity very thin.
It was an interesting premise, but could have been a lot better if conversation had less repetition of the same arguments over and over and more talking about/figuring out what got them there and why, and which reasons WHY the factions felt as they did or had the goals they did.
Without giving too much away, the story starts with the premise of a hardscrabble mountain village that has a tradition of sending all its elders to 'Climb the Mountain' to Paradise (translation: be carried up to die of exposure) when they turn seventy. The main character, Kayu, goes up the mountain willingly, expecting Paradise, only to be rescued by a group of old women who, instead of dying, established a village made entirely of abandoned old women (women only - forget the men). There is room here for pondering on the misogyny and ageism these women endured back home, but like the 'no men' rule, these are only alluded to, left to the reader to think over themselves. What follows can be described as Lord of the Flies for grannies, when simple-witted Kayu soon learns about certain stark divisions and factions within the little village. Things get VERY gory (seriously, not for the squeamish) when a hungry bear appears, and soon more complications ensue, threatening the continued survival of the village.
There are a LOT of characters here--50 old women!--almost always referred to by their full names, which I couldn't keep track of, so most of them registered in my brain basically as faceless numbers unless/until they developed a significant distinguishing trait or role.
One plausibility-criticism I have is that these little old ladies are insanely resilient--getting thrown/knocked around violently without taking much injury (does no-one from this hungry background have osteoporosis?), running long distances as if arthritis isn't a thing, etc. There are a lot of sturdy 70-year-old peasants, but even the 90- to 100-year-old women? It stretched credulity very thin.
It was an interesting premise, but could have been a lot better if conversation had less repetition of the same arguments over and over and more talking about/figuring out what got them there and why, and which reasons WHY the factions felt as they did or had the goals they did.
July 21, 2022
I was in love with the concept of this book, I so wanted to love it, but I found it a chore and a slog. In fairness, how much of this was because of the writing and how much of this was because of the translation I wouldn’t like to say. The tone was painfully functional and dispassionate, with an almost grocery list quality. Rambling, circling dialogue, like walking through snow, frustrated and numbed me. Kayu Saitoh aside, the denizens of Dendera I found largely shapeless and empty, I just couldn’t keep track of them and I had little memorable impression of their values and politics.
It certainly made me feel something; there are many moments of frigid beauty (I had over 100 highlights), and I do applaud the author for committing and writing so fully and unflinchingly. I also enjoyed the interplay between personal ideas of utopia and dystopia, and it did promote reflection on societal mechanisms, function, agency, individual purpose, and self-determination.
The ending sent me into a furious rage, but also a state of deep joy at the authors admirable intransigence, for me a pleasurable sensation. However, all told, my experience of Dendera was like eating a British supermarket salad where the ratio of eggs, feta cheese, or perhaps sun-dried tomatoes to tasteless leaves was a little off.
It certainly made me feel something; there are many moments of frigid beauty (I had over 100 highlights), and I do applaud the author for committing and writing so fully and unflinchingly. I also enjoyed the interplay between personal ideas of utopia and dystopia, and it did promote reflection on societal mechanisms, function, agency, individual purpose, and self-determination.
The ending sent me into a furious rage, but also a state of deep joy at the authors admirable intransigence, for me a pleasurable sensation. However, all told, my experience of Dendera was like eating a British supermarket salad where the ratio of eggs, feta cheese, or perhaps sun-dried tomatoes to tasteless leaves was a little off.
November 3, 2016
So, in some ways I hated this book (the awkward translation, the main character, the weird avalanche of events), but in others I really liked this.
Life in Dendera...
I pretty much hated Kayu, but if you take a step back from the awkward, the story arc and plot here are amazing and intense. And there's a lot of filth and gore. Blood everywhere!
These old women, a lot of them, are badasses.
Like I said, simultaneously hated and kind of loved.
Life in Dendera...
I pretty much hated Kayu, but if you take a step back from the awkward, the story arc and plot here are amazing and intense. And there's a lot of filth and gore. Blood everywhere!
These old women, a lot of them, are badasses.
Like I said, simultaneously hated and kind of loved.
October 3, 2015
Interesting from a cultural perspective, but boring to read.
September 25, 2021
3.5 - battle royale but with grandmas against a bear
I cannot wait to watch the movie.
I cannot wait to watch the movie.
January 6, 2020
What did I just read? What a bizarre way to start my year. I don't regret it.
Dendera has a great premise. I didn't know the Japanese cultural links to "ubasute" and had no idea about the homage to the film "The Ballad of Narayama" until after I finished the book and read interviews with the author. I don't think it detracts from understanding the themes of the novel, because I think our poor treatment of the elderly is sadly universal. But go ahead and give it a quick Google, if you want. It won't spoil anything.
I personally struggle with books in translation, particularly Japanese, but this one is pretty good. I found the language stilted, which wasn't a surprise. I read that the author was going for a fairly tale narrator tone. I can see that.
Kayu Saitoh is a frustrating character and perhaps what keeps me from bumping my review up a star. Sato doesn't give us much insight into her internal monologue and, as a result, it makes her sudden decision making seem abrupt. She would waffle between opinions suddenly and I wouldn't understand why or how she got there. Maybe that's the draw back to using a fairy tale voice.
I loved that the main characters are all old ladies. I love that any thought of the men, or even motherhood, is an afterthought. It's mentioned here and there, sure. It's part of their experience as women in The Village. But it isn't a motivator.
"Would you save your husband if you saw him Climbing the Mountain?"
"....yeah? Sure? I guess. Let's go hunt a bear now."
"Are you worried the Hawks are going to kill your sons?"
"...probably? Meh. Pass a potato."
I also love that the world build is alluded to in snippets but we never get the full picture. The Village is brutal but effective. But there's talk of other villages in the world that are good and kind. How true is it? We never find out.
A major drawback, and a distraction or me, is that I wish their age was more of a storytelling device. The women in Dendera are as nimble, spry and strong as teenagers. I think this was intentional. The book relies on over the top visuals. The gore is INSANE, with heads flying through the hair, intestines spilling into the snow, people on fire left and right... And why not make them old ladies with spears and fist fighting? Visually, that's cool. It adds to the totally bonkers nature of the book.
But it didn't seem to matter that they were old. There's brief mention of hip pain, missing teeth, grey hair... but not much else. But when a 70 year old is out running a bear in the snow, in sandals, and rolls her ankle... only to bounce right back up... meh. I don't know. I want there to be more stakes to their age, but still keep them bad ass.
I'd love to see this as a stage play.
Dendera has a great premise. I didn't know the Japanese cultural links to "ubasute" and had no idea about the homage to the film "The Ballad of Narayama" until after I finished the book and read interviews with the author. I don't think it detracts from understanding the themes of the novel, because I think our poor treatment of the elderly is sadly universal. But go ahead and give it a quick Google, if you want. It won't spoil anything.
I personally struggle with books in translation, particularly Japanese, but this one is pretty good. I found the language stilted, which wasn't a surprise. I read that the author was going for a fairly tale narrator tone. I can see that.
Kayu Saitoh is a frustrating character and perhaps what keeps me from bumping my review up a star. Sato doesn't give us much insight into her internal monologue and, as a result, it makes her sudden decision making seem abrupt. She would waffle between opinions suddenly and I wouldn't understand why or how she got there. Maybe that's the draw back to using a fairy tale voice.
I loved that the main characters are all old ladies. I love that any thought of the men, or even motherhood, is an afterthought. It's mentioned here and there, sure. It's part of their experience as women in The Village. But it isn't a motivator.
"Would you save your husband if you saw him Climbing the Mountain?"
"....yeah? Sure? I guess. Let's go hunt a bear now."
"Are you worried the Hawks are going to kill your sons?"
"...probably? Meh. Pass a potato."
I also love that the world build is alluded to in snippets but we never get the full picture. The Village is brutal but effective. But there's talk of other villages in the world that are good and kind. How true is it? We never find out.
A major drawback, and a distraction or me, is that I wish their age was more of a storytelling device. The women in Dendera are as nimble, spry and strong as teenagers. I think this was intentional. The book relies on over the top visuals. The gore is INSANE, with heads flying through the hair, intestines spilling into the snow, people on fire left and right... And why not make them old ladies with spears and fist fighting? Visually, that's cool. It adds to the totally bonkers nature of the book.
But it didn't seem to matter that they were old. There's brief mention of hip pain, missing teeth, grey hair... but not much else. But when a 70 year old is out running a bear in the snow, in sandals, and rolls her ankle... only to bounce right back up... meh. I don't know. I want there to be more stakes to their age, but still keep them bad ass.
I'd love to see this as a stage play.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 26, 2020
Yūya Satō
Whether or not the Japanese ever did practise ubasute Satō's macabre novel makes for a diverting read. Ubasute, stuff of legends more likely, was a type of senicide, where an aged relative was carried by family to a remote mountain and left to die.
But Satō gives the legend a twist as he allows a group of these elderly ladies (all 70+), not to lie still and expire, but to gang together and fight back; it becomes a Lord Of The Flies style survival story - only it gets worse, as the old women manage to antagonise a huge, Dan-Simmons-esque bear. Its not long before the gore spills and the body count builds.
Similar to LOTF its a bleak fable on human nature, modernised though in its message that people go on the attack when they are oppressed or otherwise marginalized by society - like the residents of the Village (who sent the women to the mountain) its common that violence is used as a way to convey their ideas.
It may sound allegorical for the treatment of aging populations, but it falls short of this, and lacks the profundity.
Its extremely bizarre, and often humorous amidst the carnage, but it could have been so much better.
Translated by Nathan Collins and Edwin Hawkes.
Whether or not the Japanese ever did practise ubasute Satō's macabre novel makes for a diverting read. Ubasute, stuff of legends more likely, was a type of senicide, where an aged relative was carried by family to a remote mountain and left to die.
But Satō gives the legend a twist as he allows a group of these elderly ladies (all 70+), not to lie still and expire, but to gang together and fight back; it becomes a Lord Of The Flies style survival story - only it gets worse, as the old women manage to antagonise a huge, Dan-Simmons-esque bear. Its not long before the gore spills and the body count builds.
Similar to LOTF its a bleak fable on human nature, modernised though in its message that people go on the attack when they are oppressed or otherwise marginalized by society - like the residents of the Village (who sent the women to the mountain) its common that violence is used as a way to convey their ideas.
It may sound allegorical for the treatment of aging populations, but it falls short of this, and lacks the profundity.
Its extremely bizarre, and often humorous amidst the carnage, but it could have been so much better.
Translated by Nathan Collins and Edwin Hawkes.
July 17, 2023
Mie aspettative: ritratto antropologico di un'immaginaria neosocietà composta da sole donne anziane in montagna, rivendicazioni e critiche sociali sulla marginalità (con la messa in discussione della violenza del villaggio), riflessioni sulla natura e sull'impatto umano sulle specie animali più o meno a rischio...
Realtà: un thriller atipico molto scorrevole ma superficiale che non si pone nessuna domanda, senza introspezione psicologica in alcun personaggio (sono tutte sovrapponibili e poco caratterizzate) e che non dà nessuno spunto di riflessione.
Conclusione:
Come thriller è più che valido: tiene l'attenzione di chi legge sempre alta e ci si chiede come andrà avanti, chi saranno le prossime vittime (tw: le descrizioni delle morti sono dettagliate e cruente) e quali saranno i prossimi segreti svelati, quindi lo consiglio a chi ama il modo di narrare tipico giapponese ed è in cerca di una storia dark e originale.
Preparatevi, invece, a non trovare nulla di più se, come me, vi siete lasciatə catturare dalla trama, aspettandovi una narrazione complessa in grado di lasciare qualcosa di nuovo o di più.
Realtà: un thriller atipico molto scorrevole ma superficiale che non si pone nessuna domanda, senza introspezione psicologica in alcun personaggio (sono tutte sovrapponibili e poco caratterizzate) e che non dà nessuno spunto di riflessione.
Conclusione:
Come thriller è più che valido: tiene l'attenzione di chi legge sempre alta e ci si chiede come andrà avanti, chi saranno le prossime vittime (tw: le descrizioni delle morti sono dettagliate e cruente) e quali saranno i prossimi segreti svelati, quindi lo consiglio a chi ama il modo di narrare tipico giapponese ed è in cerca di una storia dark e originale.
Preparatevi, invece, a non trovare nulla di più se, come me, vi siete lasciatə catturare dalla trama, aspettandovi una narrazione complessa in grado di lasciare qualcosa di nuovo o di più.
January 27, 2025
I was really interested to read this based on the concept, but man this was sloooow. It picked up slightly in the second half, but not by much, and that was mostly due to suggestions that things were going to happen that never actually did. I was most engaged when reading the very brief snippets of what life in the Village was like – I’d be interested to read a story set there. The writing wasn’t amazing, but this is a translation so I’m mostly judging it on plot here as I’m not able to read it in Sato’s own words. The thing that baffles me most is the lack of any kind of meaningful relationships between the characters. These are women abandoned by their families, left to die, who have built a community together, and yet there’s absolutely no friendships or bonds between any of the characters. There were so many names constantly thrown about that it was hard to even keep track of who was where. There were only a handful of fleeting mentions of the extremely patriarchal nature of the Village and the struggles these women have faced due to their gender, which I assumed would naturally be part of the narrative. It’s a shame, since I had high hopes for this!
December 1, 2021
I have always had this idea that it would be cool to spend my aging crone years in a matriarchal commune. After reading this book … maybe not so much? Unless my crone sisters and I develop some better Bear Defense skills?
A deprived Japanese village sends all its 70 year olds to die in the mountain, to preserve more food from the young. But, a group of old women survive and rescue others, creating their own parallel village, but one that is even more on the knife’s edge of survival than the village. They have only the most basic food and technology, almost like the “old believers” in Agafya’s Story.
This book was unique. It’s definitely gory and includes a lot of ways to die but written in a spare style, so it doesn’t seem gratuitous. A lot of things to ponder: Utopianism, being a “burden,” courage, sacrifice, death’s inevitablity, inevitable factions, revenge, survival.
Also, given the invisibility of older women in society and culture, it was interesting to read a book where all of the main characters are old women.
A deprived Japanese village sends all its 70 year olds to die in the mountain, to preserve more food from the young. But, a group of old women survive and rescue others, creating their own parallel village, but one that is even more on the knife’s edge of survival than the village. They have only the most basic food and technology, almost like the “old believers” in Agafya’s Story.
This book was unique. It’s definitely gory and includes a lot of ways to die but written in a spare style, so it doesn’t seem gratuitous. A lot of things to ponder: Utopianism, being a “burden,” courage, sacrifice, death’s inevitablity, inevitable factions, revenge, survival.
Also, given the invisibility of older women in society and culture, it was interesting to read a book where all of the main characters are old women.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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