Snakes and Earrings by Hitomi Kanehara(translated from the Japanese by David James Karashima)
Winner of the Akutagawa Prize 2003
Rating: 3/5
From the Publisher (Vintage): "A shocking and explicit story of obsessive love and Japanese youth counter-culture." This pretty much sums it up. A disturbing read but a perhaps rare glimpse into the dark side of a subculture of Tokyo youth, a world very foreign to me, of body modification, sex and violence.
Also reviewed at:
Book Haven
booklit
2 Comments:
It's certainly a fun little book. But it felt more like it was out to shock than actually say anything about, well, anything. You can see my thoughts on the book here.
I'm not letting it put me off future works as she'll no doubt mellow with age. I've been thinkin about buying her latest Autofiction, but havent' made up my mind yet.
Stewart- It certainly seemed like it was out to shock, and that it did! I haven't felt particularly eager to try Autofiction but may at some point. You're right that she'll probably mellow with age so it'll be interesting to see where her writing takes her.
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