NP

by Banana Yoshimoto

Book Overview

Bananamania" has returned in an enchanting new novel of uncanny sulbtlety, style, magic, and mystery that Frank Ramirez of theSouth Bend Tribunedeclares is "every bit as good as Yoskimoto's first book ... perhaps better."A celebrated Japanese writer has committed suicide, leaving behind a collection of stories written in English,N.P.But the book may never be published in his native Japan: each translator who takes up the ninety-eighth story chooses...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671898264
• ISBN13: 9780671898267
• Release Date: March 1995
• Publisher: Washington Square Press
• Length: 194 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 4.8" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Not Banana's Best

I loved Banana Yoshimoto for Kitchen. Her writing captures the everyday mundane and imbues it with a spiritual melancholy. It's like a comfortable sadness that you need to sit with for a time. And while this book captures those feelings as well, I just didn't get much out of the plot either emotionally or philosophically.

If melancholy were a book (in the best way).

This was my first read by this author and I loved it. I could feel the aches, I could see the visuals, and overall be immersed in the flow of the story.

Another Winner for a Brilliant Writer

Again, Yoshimoto Banana captivated me with her clean style and unique take on everything. It's interesting that she questions some feelings of her characters--for example, they wonder why they feel depressed or happy at a certain time. She really takes time out to look at things we take for granted. That's definitely part of her charm.As for N.P. my only wish is that she would have delved further into the topic by perhaps having the characters translate the entire novel and to figure out WHY these people all were driven to suicide. Another hit. I'll be sure to buy the last three--Lizard, Amrita, and Asleep.

Thought-provoking and intense

I have read "Kitchen" -- it is actually one of my favorite novels. I simply love Banana's descriptions and eccentric characters, and she managed to impress me one more time with "NP."This quirky novel left a funny taste in my mouth. It dealt with such controversial issues such as incest and suicide -- but it is done with such humanity and vulnerability that you can't help but adore the characters and wish them the best. The translation was done nicely, although I'm sure that the original Japanese version (and Banana's actual words) is much better. I'm looking forward to her new novel, "Asleep" -- I will buy it on the first day of release.

Eerie and Engaging

I have read other books by Banana - Kitchen and Lizard. She always makes me feel as if I'm being followed, though I'm not sure by whom. Her remarkable stories of transvestities, lost love and in the case of NP, incest, awaken a surpressed sense of guilt inside of me. Though my morals, scruples, or just plain common sense tells me it is wrong, I can't help but feel oddly touched by the posioness, romantic love of Otohiko and his sister, Sui. Yoshimoto's stories defy logic, they are about a more spiritual and accepting way of life, they force me to try to strive for such honesty in my own life. My only criticizm lies in the fact that it is a translation of Japanese into English. It pains me that I cannot read and understand this book as it was actually written. At times the words seem overly simplistic, I'm sure it has lost some of the poetry of Banana's style in the translation. Perhaps this is just the kind of inspiration I need to go out and learn Japanese.

Banana Rocks!!!

I've only read two Japanese authors: Yoshimoto & this guy who the Japanese really revere but who's name I can't remember. His book I remember mostly because it was totally depressing, and I understand he killed himself while still fairly young. After reading *his* famous book, I wasn't surprised to find that out.Yoshimoto's books are paradoxically quite the opposite - lots of death but when I finished reading them I felt completely excellent and refreshed and positive. I'd say her stories talk at leastt in part about finding ways out of really bad situations - finding hope or life or... I have no idea if Yoshimoto will ever win the Nobel Prize. If it takes a real understanding of the soul to write something worthy of a Nobel, then IMHO she's made a good start.

somehow this book creeps under your skin

i love yoshimoto's writing... just when i think i am not going to get into a book at all, i find myself carrying with me, to do laundry, to run errands, restaurants. I wonder the whole time how she manages to put me in a trance, but her writing is very cool. i have read many of her books, and truthfully i wouldn't recommend her to everyone, but those who like her writing, love her writing.