ウエハースの椅子 [Uehāsu No Isu]

by Kaori Ekuni, 江國 香織

205 pages, Paperback Bunko

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Is a Japanese author, dubbed the 'female Murakami'. She is the daughter of the Haiku poet and essayist Shigeru Ekuni.

See 江國 香織.

Reviews

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea what I was in for... The titles translates as 'chair of wafers'.
It's a bittersweet story about love, family and depression. I had always associated the word 絶望 with despair and most online dictionaries suggest that as the top word. Here, it's used a lot and I've come to realize that it's depression. Our protagonist suffers from depression: it comes and go, sometimes unexpectedly (e.g. immediately following moments of happiness). It's definitely not a heavy read though, it's just after a while that you notice symptoms of depression. Or maybe I'm not a very keen reader ;P

I read Twinkle Twinkle in English a while ago and I wrote about it that the slice-of-life writing style was refreshing and modern and that I wasn't sure whether it was thanks to the author or thanks to the translator. This one settles it. She writes in a modern voice that I've haven't heard or seen yet in Japanese media (admittedly, it's not like I'm an expert...yet)

[Tsubasa · Rating 4 out of 5]

「私が品がないと思っているもの。携帯電話、愚痴、ゴルフ、恋。携帯電話も愚痴もゴルフも避けて通れるのに、恋だけは避けては通れない。」