Strange Weather in Tokyo: A Novel
By: Hiromi Kawakami / Translated By: Allison Markin Powell / Narrated by: Allison Hiroto
Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins
Refreshingly engaging… -BUT- …
…I have a feeling this little Not Quite 6-hour audiobook is one o’ those Love It (Or, in m’ own case: Like it quite a bit) Or Hate It Listens.
Me? I was coming off nearly a week of starting Listens, being quite pleased with each… and then? Falling DEAD ASLEEP several times throughout each. and every. attempted audiobook. Like, HOURS wasted. Not even aware I was dozing dead off until kinda sorta noticing that I’d no earthly idea as to how we got to wherever in each story. So when I started Strange Weather in Tokyo, I really wasn’t all that hopeful, assuming it wasn’t each of those audiobooks, but Meeeee! at fault. Imagine my (Relieved!) surprise as I realized that I was still sitting there, listening raptly, engaged in the story, in the characters, in the sloooow unfolding of a veritable Lack O’ Any Real Plot. Yay yay yay and HUZZAH, ya know?
Now Big Sis? She was coming off finishing Doomsday Book by Connie Willis, what with THAT being quite possibly the best, most lovingly and brilliantly crafted novel, like, EVER! A stunner of a book, drop dead beautifully done. And then? Big Sis wandered in to Strange Weather in Tokyo… so Uh-Oh for sure! She haaaaated it. So, like, Boooooo! ya know?
I didn’t read the Publisher’s Summary, so I was able to kinda ease into the story wherein a Not So Young Any Longer Woman, Tsukiko, meets up with her high school Japanese teacher (A class she found unbearably dull) at a local pub. The two order the exact same thing, look at each other in amazement, and then join up for a nice long chat wherein they seem to complement each other quite well. They’ll be running across each other, or meeting up, hitting the sake and the beer, and whiling away hours deep in conversation, poetry, baseball, contemplations on Life. And such-all.
Now keep in mind that her old teacher whom she refers to only as Sensei, is upwards of 30 some-odd years older than she is, so theirs is the odd little friendship. But as Tsukiko comes to realize that Sensei is pretty much always there for her, pretty much always challenging her to be just a taaaad more than her squirrelly Yeh I’m 38 but I’m Going On 15 sense of self usually allows, she starts finding comfort, stability, and a certain sense of grounding with him. Soon? Oh my, she’s realized that she’s actually fond of Sensei, like, reeeeally fond of him, like maybe she loves him. In a romantic way that she’s never been able to feel for any other man.
And so, this is a story chockfull o’ conversation, excursions, and oh yeh: LOTS and LOTS of sake/beer/alcohol-swilling. And that’s it. You know, the quietness of tone, the sparse language of the writing, that I’m learning is part and parcel of Japanese novel-crafting.
Going on to what Big Sis haaaaated about this: Tsukiko is beYONd immature. And where I found a certain growth that happened by the end, based on the evolution of her relationship with Sensei, Big Sis found a trilly, silly woman. For the entirety of the story. Then too, Sis posited that the CONstant refrain of, “Sensei! Sensei! Sensei!” over and over and over could indeed be offered as the latest new drinking game: Take a slug of sake each time Tsukiko cries Sensei! out. As she does this aaaaallll the time, a jocular evening is guaranteed for one and all… (My take: Tsukiko is not a grounded individual. Her constant refrains were her attempts to find Sensei, to seek the reassurance of his affection and attention. That might’ve been just me, but there you are).
Finally, a couple o’ actions Sensei takes infuriated Big Sis beyond measure. Sensei gently pats Tsukiko on the head, lovingly I thought. But to Sis it was like a patronizing Dog Pat On The Head. Also? Whenever Tsukiko is startled and confounded, jaw dropped in amazement, Sensei pops a finger in her mouth to make her aware that she’s catching flies. Need I tell you that Big Sis would chomp the beJESus outta such an offending finger were any wretch to attempt this with her? CHOMP! and GRIIIIIIND!!!
Ouch.
So here’s the thing: If you like this, you’ll appreciate Allison Markin Powell’s translation; you’ll enjoy Allison Hiroto’s narration. The language will have flowed through lovely word choices; Tsukiko and Sensei and their bar friends will have been performed in a manner wherein their personalities came through. If you haaaated this? Then you’ll wonder if maybe the translation was at fault, and you’ll think Hiroto’s voice for Tsukiko is grossly youthful until you realize that Tsukiko IS ridiculously immature for her years. Sensei will be vague and condescending, and you’ll realize it’s because, dude! the guy was a Japanese teacher for, like, EVER, and that’s his style. You’ll come to realize that Yup, Hiroto’s narration was spot-on, so loathing the book canNOT be laid at her feet since she was properly conveying each character and situation.
One more thing…
This ends really really reeeeally abruptly after sooo much time and so many words are used in the slow unfolding of events, in the (Sometimes) plodding conversations or poetical ponderings. I know I know, this is a really short audiobook, so it’s odd to posit that any of it could be slooooowly methodical. But it is, really it is. Enough so that one wonders if author Hiromi Kawakami quite simply ran outta story development, ideas, words. A point.
Still, even tho’ the ending left much to be desired, and notwithstanding the merit of some o’ Big Sis’ reservations (Uhm, ravings…?), I found this to be a charming little ditty of a story, and I found there to be a sweetness to Tsukiko’s finding a sense of grounding, remarkable especially given a lifetime of emotional detachment and a penchant for living in her head. I saw Sensei make peace with his past, with his life. And I found their growing attachment to each other warmly, sweetly done.
Yeh yeh yeh, old enough to be her dad. Kinda creepy even.
But I found the writing flowed easily enough, with enough activities like fights about baseball games thrown in to make it humorous at points, to keep me from dwelling on creepiness.
Take away? Short listen, but not short enough for Big Sis. So p’raps do NOT attempt this if you’ve just listened to the best audiobook on the planet.
-BUT- if you’ve tried FOUR audiobooks, and you’ve dozed your way through MULtiple scenes and plot points of each of those?
Then, dude! this little ditty might just ring all the right bells…!
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