平民之宴

by Mariko Hayashi, 王秀娟 (Translator), 林真理子

Yumiko, who insists that people are of high or low birth, Kana, who does her utmost to marry a rich man, Tamao, who studies hard in order to be admitted to a medical college, and Sho, who is so oppressed by her mother's expectation that she gives up the so-called perfect life...Everyone wants to prove that he/she is right, and tries very hard to tear off the original label on him/her and stick a new one that he/she wants.

Genres: Domestic

369 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 25, 2010

About the author

HAYASHI Mariko (林真理子) is a Japanese novel and essay writer.

Reviews

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an interestig novel! This book is a slice-of-life following the lives of a middle-class family in Japan in post=economic bubble era. It explores what life is like for two generations of people, one who grew up believing that the only path to success is to work hard and get a job in a big company, and the second generation where the beginnings of the "lie flat" movement are already taking shape.

The most interesting character is 由美子, the mother. You can really see how she is torn between the times. On one hand, all she really wants is the best for her children (although more so for her son than her daughter because *cough*sexism*cough*). On the other, she was brough up in an era where education was viewed as the only way to elevate to elevate social status and become successful. Throughout this novel, she is constantly conflicted between just letting her son live the life he wants versus trying to force him to conform to her idea of the ideal life. And - I really appreciate that there is no nice gift-wrapped ending to this conflict. At the end of the novel, just like in real-life, she is still conflicted. Her view has more nuance now, but she doesn't magically transform from being wholly against the lifestyle to wholly for it.

可奈 is also an interesting character to delve into. She embodies another type of the "lie flat" movement, where she doesn't believe she can succeed through her own hard work and believes the only path to the life she wants is to marry a successful man. To achieve this, she picks a school which is known for educating socialites and participates in all sorts of social gatherings in order to meet the right man. It's also interesting that the author doesn't stop there, but instead shows what happens after the happily-ever-after.

Overall, a fascinating way to get a peek behind the curtains at what a Japanese family might be like behind the idyllic surface. The female characters really stand out, and you can tell each was lovingly crafted by the author to show some facet of the everyday woman in Japanese society. Highly recommended.

[Annatasha Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

humourous story.