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The Paradise Bird Tattoo
Ikushima lives as a drone, slaving away for an advertising company that neither values him nor cares about his existence. He flees the city to become a vagabond, catching local trains to anywhere, eventually finding a miserable job skewering refuse animal organs for a local restaurant in Amagasaki, a town riddled with gangs and miscreants. He settles into a routine in the city, and through his brief and accidental encounters with his deeply troubled neighbors—the evil-worshipping tattoo artist, his former-prostitute-cum-Madame employer, an unclaimed child, and the fleetingly striking Ayako—he bridges the gaps in his social world and inadvertently begins to live. With this newfound, yet unacknowledged, passion for life, Ikushima embarks on a love affair with Ayako, which leads to dangerous consequences and threatens to tear through the barriers he has partitioned around his existence for so long.
At once quietly reflective and bitterly gritty, The Paradise Bird Tattoo (or, Attempted Double-Suicide) explores a new generation of worker bees who possess a candid fear of living with an inexplicable sense that they must go on for the sake of going on. Choukitsu Kurumatani artfully illustrates a world where not even love can provide salvation for those who are weary of life.
At once quietly reflective and bitterly gritty, The Paradise Bird Tattoo (or, Attempted Double-Suicide) explores a new generation of worker bees who possess a candid fear of living with an inexplicable sense that they must go on for the sake of going on. Choukitsu Kurumatani artfully illustrates a world where not even love can provide salvation for those who are weary of life.
232 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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About the author
Choukitsu Kurumatani
3 books3 followersCHOUKITSU KURUMATANI graduated from the German Literature Department of Keio University. He began writing fiction on the side while working at an advertising agency. His official debut as a writer came with Shiotsubo no saji (Salt Spoon), in 1992. Kurumatani has carved out a special niche as a writer of the now-rare “I-novel,” an autobiographical genre of Japanese fiction.
(from Wikipedia)
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 1, 2013
i never heard of Kurumatani before I picked this book up at the Downtown Kinokuniya Bookstore here in Los Angeles (excellent bookstore by the way). I wanted to read something new by a Japanese writer, and I didn't want to go down the thriller or horror route - which now seems to be new trend in contemporary translated-into-English Japanese literature.
"The Paradise Bird Tattoo" is very much of a quiet modern noir novel that deals with an individual who is slowly losing it in contemporary Japan. He's an office bee worker, where he gets no pleasure, and decides to go on to a world that has no beginning or ending. A vagrant of sorts. Most of the narrative takes place in a low-rent apartment building where the leading character gets involved with the neighbors. All either a little bit off or criminal minded.
Kurumatani captures the quiet despair of the little guy who is sort of floating on the tide of human waste and disappointment. While reading the book I thought of the films by Jim Jarmusch, because the characters float in and out of the narrative, while having one main figure staying there for the whole ride (narrative). There is also a touch of Kafka, but without the humor. Interesting writer, and I will keep him in mind for the future.
"The Paradise Bird Tattoo" is very much of a quiet modern noir novel that deals with an individual who is slowly losing it in contemporary Japan. He's an office bee worker, where he gets no pleasure, and decides to go on to a world that has no beginning or ending. A vagrant of sorts. Most of the narrative takes place in a low-rent apartment building where the leading character gets involved with the neighbors. All either a little bit off or criminal minded.
Kurumatani captures the quiet despair of the little guy who is sort of floating on the tide of human waste and disappointment. While reading the book I thought of the films by Jim Jarmusch, because the characters float in and out of the narrative, while having one main figure staying there for the whole ride (narrative). There is also a touch of Kafka, but without the humor. Interesting writer, and I will keep him in mind for the future.
October 5, 2011
what would happen to raskolnikov if he hadn't killed the old woman? kurumatani seems to ask that question in this grim tale about a young japanese man who decides to opt as far out of life as he can. if not wholly unique in tone and content, a very good book on a great theme: the isolato in both the noir-y tradition of philip marlowe and the devastatingly pure refusnik 'tude of bartleby. like his literary predecessors, our man here is an individual who rejects the prescribed ambitions of life, judging them as ultimately disappointing and petty.
reminiscent of recent down-and-out memoirs like TRAVELS WITH LIZBETH or GRAND CENTRAL WINTER this contemporary take on the autobiographical watashi shosetsu genre, or "I-novel," is grimly poetic and sweatily spiritual. like the tales of the marginalized burakumin of nakagami but less macho, more philosophical -- something akin to the depressed soul of perec's A MAN ASLEEP except ikushima's no student and he has no rent money.
pick it up at the library or your local independent bookstore.
a review of kurumatani and keizo hino in the quarterly conversation here.
watch the trailer of the movie based on it (in japanese) here.
____________________
[found this one browsing a bookstore's shelves, that encounter with chance and fuzzy curating now increasingly rare and endangered. but how else to find that book not clamoring by tweet and hype but just by consistent work on the page? o well.]
reminiscent of recent down-and-out memoirs like TRAVELS WITH LIZBETH or GRAND CENTRAL WINTER this contemporary take on the autobiographical watashi shosetsu genre, or "I-novel," is grimly poetic and sweatily spiritual. like the tales of the marginalized burakumin of nakagami but less macho, more philosophical -- something akin to the depressed soul of perec's A MAN ASLEEP except ikushima's no student and he has no rent money.
I was about to visit somebody I had never met. A complete stranger. My only hope was to talk this stranger into giving me a job so that I could keep on living. I had lost everything, thrown everything away. I had already been made to understand, all too well, that I was a loser. Whoever I was about to meet was probably used to being tough toward people as unworldly as me. No matter; whether it turned out to be some guy I couldn't get anywhere with, or a woman with a heart of stone, I had no other choice; I was at the end of my rope (10).
pick it up at the library or your local independent bookstore.
a review of kurumatani and keizo hino in the quarterly conversation here.
watch the trailer of the movie based on it (in japanese) here.
____________________
[found this one browsing a bookstore's shelves, that encounter with chance and fuzzy curating now increasingly rare and endangered. but how else to find that book not clamoring by tweet and hype but just by consistent work on the page? o well.]
October 2, 2021
The author, Choukitsu Kurumatani, has managed to create a deeply reflective monologue of sorts; and the speaker Ikushima Yoicho. This book I picked up at a book sale for 50 cents has found a way to make me question what it really means to exist. Much like, our main character. If you enjoy more of a thought provoking, somber type of read, I assure you this is story for for you. This book has now become a treasure that I will hold dear for many years to come. Thank you Choukitsu Kurumatani for your heart spilled on these pages.
October 3, 2016
Disclaimer: make sure you are at a good place and mental state when you read the last five or so chapters of this book.
This novel was a haunting view of parts of my own story. How does it feel when you have lost sight of the path ahead? Or when you don't have a path at all?
When you are no longer living, but still alive, what do you do?
Featuring a score of vagabonds and unfortunate souls as a cast, Choukitsu pulls the darkest, loneliest part of your mind into his somber setting of the town of "Ame." He describes beautifully and painfully so how those with nothing to live for do their best to go on living, whether that be as a punishment for some wrong they believe they've committed, or just in the pursuit to feel again.
Choukitsu fully outlines how these lost wanderers interact with the other people in their lives. People who want to feel, like a tattoo artist, carve their stifled emotions into those around them. They try to feel through others, or bring those around them down to their level of pain. Misery breeds company in many ways.
This book left me incredibly sad, yet inspired. There is a lot of heart and resilience in then human spirit to keep going, even when there isn't a reason to. We live just to stay alive, hurt just to feel at all, and find the tiniest spots of beauty to hold on to - crayons, bonsai trees, satchels, waterfalls.
We as humans learn to go on, even when there is nothing left. Choukitsu's story didn't end happily, and much of life doesn't turn out the way it should. The human experience isn't a fairy tale, but we must keep on living it anyway.
This novel was a haunting view of parts of my own story. How does it feel when you have lost sight of the path ahead? Or when you don't have a path at all?
When you are no longer living, but still alive, what do you do?
Featuring a score of vagabonds and unfortunate souls as a cast, Choukitsu pulls the darkest, loneliest part of your mind into his somber setting of the town of "Ame." He describes beautifully and painfully so how those with nothing to live for do their best to go on living, whether that be as a punishment for some wrong they believe they've committed, or just in the pursuit to feel again.
Choukitsu fully outlines how these lost wanderers interact with the other people in their lives. People who want to feel, like a tattoo artist, carve their stifled emotions into those around them. They try to feel through others, or bring those around them down to their level of pain. Misery breeds company in many ways.
This book left me incredibly sad, yet inspired. There is a lot of heart and resilience in then human spirit to keep going, even when there isn't a reason to. We live just to stay alive, hurt just to feel at all, and find the tiniest spots of beauty to hold on to - crayons, bonsai trees, satchels, waterfalls.
We as humans learn to go on, even when there is nothing left. Choukitsu's story didn't end happily, and much of life doesn't turn out the way it should. The human experience isn't a fairy tale, but we must keep on living it anyway.
March 10, 2012
Whenever someone starts to question the meaning of their life, it seems that grey clouds start to drift towards and settle all around him. The answer could be found easily (just buy all those self-help books to be a positive thinking person and how to make tons of money without lifting a finger), or in hard way- look into your heart and be honest with yourself.
The hard way is hard (doh!). You may never find the answer. You could end up in the gutter. But I don't think that anyone who chose the hard way ever regretted their choice.
The hard way is hard (doh!). You may never find the answer. You could end up in the gutter. But I don't think that anyone who chose the hard way ever regretted their choice.
July 19, 2011
Finished reading the last page of this i-novel just before the train stopped at my station this morning. Highly recommended, autobiographical elements in it make the story so real. Very vivid descriptions. The image of rotten meats on skewers seems to float throughout the book. Not your usual picture of Japan and its people. Haunting ending too.
July 30, 2012
in lieu of a review, I'm going to copy down one of many of my favorite pieces of the book:
There's no fundamental meaning or value in human existence, however. In that respect, there's no difference between us and birds or beasts, insects or fish. It's just that people have made up stories to make it sound as though human life has meaning or value."
There's no fundamental meaning or value in human existence, however. In that respect, there's no difference between us and birds or beasts, insects or fish. It's just that people have made up stories to make it sound as though human life has meaning or value."
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March 13, 2013Very good. Despite lack of context and psychological explanation. Introspective -typical Japanese- good characters. None of themare fleshed-out. Highlights downfall of modern Jap. society. No different from underside of all societies.
December 6, 2011
Word missing on page 178....
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews