Banana Yoshimoto: Kitchen (1993, Fukutake Shoten)
152 pages
English language
Published March 10, 1993 by Fukutake Shoten.
Kitchen (キッチン) is a novel written by Japanese author Banana Yoshimoto (吉本ばなな）in 1988 and translated into English in 1993 by Megan Backus. Although one may notice a certain Western influence in Yoshimoto's style, Kitchen is still critically recognized as an example of contemporary Japanese literature; The Independent, The Times, and The New Yorker have all reviewed the novel favorably. Most editions also include a novella entitled Moonlight Shadow, which is also a tragedy dealing with loss and love. There have been two films made of the story, a Japanese movie in 1989 and a more widely released version produced in Hong Kong by Yim Ho in 1997.
It’s two distinct stories and only one of them is about kitchens. But they are both tender stories of survivors and how they cope with the death around them. Big ole don’t read if you don’t want to think about death.
