Asleep

3:

Midway through reading this I got an ear infection and it was so awful, I'll forever and always relate this book to that. Maybe that's why I feel like I didn't appreciate this as much as the works of Banana that I've already gone through. I certainly experienced the familiar, out-of-body sensation that her writing evokes on me, but I didn't connect with these stories in the way I was hoping.

My biggest let down was for sure the last story in this short collection, Asleep, which gives the book its name. Terako's listlessness and her going through life as if disconnected from it, her escapism through sleep, they are feelings and states of mind I know really well. And I'd love if they'd been navigated differently, but it was all tied to a relationship to a man blander than flour; I just couldn't buy it. As for the other two stories, they were okay. They all had Banana's charm, and as usual it is a delight to read through her characters' internal monologues, but this is a story I feel I won't be revisiting.

These stories were recommended to me over 10 years ago, but I'm a little relieved that I hadn't gotten my hands on a physical copy sooner. I feel as though I wouldn't have liked them as much back then as I do now.

I love the soothing, calm but strange and sorrowful atmosphere the author crafts. The way the characters talk to eachother is a bit dull sometimes, but that might just be a translation/culture thing.