New Japanese stories about a spoilt lord and a dystopian world ravaged by capitalism<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/p>\n3.Tokyo Performance by Roger Pulvers<\/h2>\n
A chef chats away on a live TV show, and his personal tragedies and insecurities leak into the cooking monologue. I really enjoyed this book. The chef and host, Norimasa Inomata has not been able to accept his divorce gracefully. He has regrets; he has an ego. He exposes his vulnerabilities and toxic masculinity on his live TV show. The prep instructions for the dish are generously interjected with his personal tid-bits. A paragraph would look something like this \u2014 \u201cI\u2019ll peel the aubergines for you while I talk\u2026 she (wife), I mean always reads books to the kids at bed time, after all I was too busy making a name for myself in the weekly magazines\u2026 and make sure you slice up your aubergines right away after peeling them and sprinkle salt on them to degorge them otherwise they\u2019re bitter\u2026and, you know, I had to stay up late because you don\u2019t build a popular career overnight, but we always made up in the morning,\u2026 and there you have it, four beautifully sliced Kamigamo aubergines, sitting in salt, waiting for the excess harsh liquid to be drawn out of them.\u201d
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As we read, we have absolutely no idea what kind of a man Inomata is. We are introduced to his perspective only, a mix of disconnected talk, whining and urging his ex wife to call him on the live show. But we connect to his character and listen to him in solidarity. If you ask me, this book reads like a transcript of the TV show, leaving ample room for the reader to form their own opinions. The best part was the abrupt end that made me go ‘Wait, tell me more. What happens?’
\nI was thrilled to get acquainted with contemporary writers from Japan. Each book was different from the other, so it is safe to assume that the future titles would also fascinate and intrigue the reader. I want to pick a favourite among the three, but I am at a loss. I loved Stand-in Companion<\/em> for the emotional aspect of an android heavy world, Backlight<\/em> for the psychological dissections and Tokyo Performance<\/em> for the way it seemed like an actual TV show. In short, they are a cry to modern lives; about relationships, abuse of power and letting go.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
A word about the design of the Minis \u00ad\u00ad\u2014 they are as elegant as they look. Minimal, pocket sized and short (These are perfect for lunch break reading as they are less than 50 pages). I liked the description of the cover design process and the names of colours used (torinoko-iro, haiume, minatonezumi). The mark on the cover incorporates the Japanese character for bean, which covers all things miniature and adorable. In short, great design and great fiction juxtapose in the Red Circle Minis.<\/p>\n
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