Hardboiled & Hardluck

Living as an aficionado of Japanese literary works, I ought to share a book from Banana Yoshimoto entitled Hardboiled & Hardluck, translated by Michael Emmerick. This book covers two intriguing stories about two different Japanese women, and their stirring experiences out of life’s paradox.

Hardboiled, which I find very moving, is a story about a young one-time lesbian being haunted by her ex-lover (she’s not actually a lesbian until she met her ex-girlfriend, but went back being straight after they were apart). The narrative begins with the first person hiking on the mountains, and along her travel, signs of eeriness started to summon her. She was not a believer of ghosts or of anything supernatural until she had met Chizuru, her late girlfriend. They had a splendid relationship which ended when the unnamed narrator decided to move out from Chizuru’s apartment. The next thing she knew, Chizuru had died. After a year, memories of Chizuru crept on her on the death anniversary. Dreams, inauspicious events, feelings of reverence and ghostly figures ventured her on the very same day. It seemed that guilt had finally come to her. She tries to sympathize with her former lover for the least she can do, but as the seemingly endless hours pass, her grief continuously grew stronger. The Chizuru she had met in her dreams frightened her. In addition to her horror, a woman who haunted her by the next room made her realize how she had once been harsh on her ex, which led her to echo her past. These experiences she encountered in the hotel she stayed in gave her reasons to finally reconcile with her heartbreaking loss. The whole series of occurrences eventually resulted in helping her make peace with her experience with Chizuru.

            Hard luck, however, is another narrative by Yoshimoto. It is about a woman whose sister (Kuni) lies dying in a coma. Kuni’s fiancé had earlier left her after an accident, but his brother Sakai continues to visit. The story revolves around Kuni’s sister and her struggle to accept her family’s tragic lost, as well as moving on. On the contrary, she has this unexpected feeling of admiration for Sakai whom she had only met when the tragedy happened to her sister. Having these mixed yet overpowering emotions of sorrow and cacoethes that she is dealing with, she exquisitely opted for what is best for her for the time being.

Yoshimoto’s style of writing powerfully captivates young adults like me. Making use of the first persons’ voices to narrate the two stories gives readers the feeling of empathy with the narrators. The two fiction stories in this book speak of pondering over subtle layers of emotions and things which affect our lives. One lesson I learned is watching over and carefully planning our actions before doing anything is very important, so there will be no regrets later on.

This finely-written book also taught me a lot about life and relationships, because it discusses different situations of moving on after losing a loved one. Given that my father’s second death anniversary was just around the corner, I have had dreams of him, making me miss him even more. With the help of this book, I have learned how to accept the sad reality of his passing.

This riveting and very fascinating book of two stories showcase the talented writer’s deft use of symbolism that convey all kinds of emotions and meanings. This book is an example of first-class storytelling and artistic originality. If my life were a book, I would consider it to be a meaningful novel authored by Banana Yoshimoto. I want my life to be like an elegantly-written saga of overpowering pathos, understated sorrows, richly-textured emotions and non-stop triumphs over life’s adversities. This book I chose as one of my favorite books is not only entertaining to read, but it also teaches how to cope with the indescribable grief of losing a special someone and also how to move on with our lives unscarred but inspired by the fond bittersweet memories of the past.