Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)As there is only one, useless, review at the time of this writing, I will write a more detailed review of this product than I otherwise would.
As with most anthologies, this one is marked by variation in quality. Unless you are a slavishly devoted fanboy, you will find varying quality in any anthology that you read. The only exceptions to this is if you put it together yourself, or if you get really, really lucky.
That said, there are commonalities amongst the stories in this collection. First, they are obviously all written by Tokyoites. This may explain some of the lack of familiarity amongst American readers of the five authors here. This explains why Murakami Haruki (arguably the most widely-known, contemporary translated Japanese author in the United States) is absent, although the absence of Yoshimoto Banana is somewhat mysterious. Perhaps this is intended to portray up-and-coming authors.
Second, and more importantly, all of the stories take place in different districts of Tokyo, and are intended to showcase aspects of life in these cities. This book is part of a series wherein a city will be chosen and resident authors will be asked to write a short story that portrays life in this city. Other cities in this collection apparently include Vienna, Paris, and others.
Third, none of the stories have an ending. This is perhaps something to be keenly aware of when you purchase, or don't purchase, this collection. The writing is mostly quite good, but all of the stories essentially stop in the middle of nowhere. In some cases, this is a bit fitting, such as in Shiina Makoto's "The Yellow Tent on the Roof", while in other cases it is rather egregious, such as in Fujino Chiva's "The Housewife and the Policebox". In general, however, it almost feels as though the stories don't really end, they just stop. While this is not particularly uncommon with contemporary Japanese literature (see Murakami Haruki's "1Q84", the novellas in Ogawa Yoko's "The Diving Pool", and others), these are mainly cases of unresolved elements, not stories without a conventional plot climax. In at least two of the stories in this collection, it seemed dubious as to whether the conclusion could be considered a climax or not.
Individually, I will mention each of the stories here.
Morita Ryuji's "Fruits of Shinjuku" is one of these. Featuring two college-age students who were, in a former life, preparing for the infamous college entrance examinations (before they got tired and gave up), along with a young prostitute named Maria, this is a story of the desire we can feel for someone we have never met, and the consequences that it can have on our lives. Well written, although lacking any real climax and resolution of the plot elements that are most crucial to the story, it is a nice vignette.
Muramatsu Tomomi's "Yumeko" is one of, if not THE, most self-contained stories in this collection. This story features a small-town bar, where four or five men have gathered to discuss the mysterious 'Yumeko', who has entered their lives without so much as a word, and without so much as another, disappears.
Hayashi Makoto's "One Year Later" is the story of a young woman who relentlessly pursues her goals, be they career, personal, social, etc. The story is not particularly compelling, and represents one of the two that I did not particularly like.
Shiina Makoto's "The Yellow Tent on the Roof" is an interesting story about a man whose apartment burns down and his means for solving the problem. Perhaps more than the others, this story illuminates differences between the US and Japan. For example, if you didn't have a home in the US, where would you bathe? Japan has public baths available, so the protagonist's solution of simply living on the roof at his work is a practical, and viable, solution. This was perhaps my favorite story because, unlike the others, it felt as if it had a normal story arc, with a beginning, a middle, and an ending. This one didn't feel as though it was cut short in the middle of the story.
Fujino Chiva's "The Housewife and the Police Box", on the other hand, is much, much less resolved. While this story had great potential, it was squandered in this format. It features a woman who is afraid of trains, and becomes interested in the lack of women in the police boxes in Tokyo. The story has a lot of potential but it is curtailed with a lack of depth, conflict, and resolution that made it seem almost meaningless. This was even worse in this story than it was in any of the others.
If you can get past the variations in quality and the fifth story, than this may be worthwhile for you. Just don't expect much in the way of conflict resolution, because you will be disappointed.
Grade: B-
Harkius
Click Here to see more reviews about: Tokyo Fragments: Short Stories of Modern Tokyo by Five of Japan's Leading Contemporary Writers
"Restraint, sensitivity, and generous humor."—The Japan Times
Tokyo is far more than streets and skyscrapers full of gray-suited businessmen, super-trendy teenagers, and schoolgirls in sailor-suit uniforms. Five of Japan's most popular contemporary fiction writers—Ryuji Morita, Tomomi Muramatsu, Mariko Hayashi, Makoto Shiina, and Chiya Fujino—present their vision of life in different quarters of Japan's capital. From Tokyo's mean streets to its bars and elegant cafes, here are stories that measure the pulse of the city while dissecting its heart. These five stories break down the metropolis into fragments of experience that anyone can relate to and enjoy. It is also the chance to sample these leading Japanese authors whose work has never before appeared in English.
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