The Nakano Thrift Shop by Hiromi Kawakami

Somewhere amongst the pages of The Nakano Thrift Shop it's lead character, Hitomi, surmises her observations of her on/off relationship with her colleague, Takeo, with the phrase 'the scrutiny of love', it could be said that this forms the central plot of contention and theme of the novel that was published by Portobello Books last year in a translation from Allison Markin Powell. The novel is made up of chapters which at times resemble installments, giving the impression of being diary entries, perhaps. Hitomi's observations carry a certain fragility to them, and there's some slight uses of poetical imagery, when kissing Takeo, perhaps for the first time?, Hitomi hears in the distance the sound of an engine start and then stop, which seems to mirror the progress of their relationship. It's refreshing to read Kawakami, she has her characters break and question conventional thought in subtle ways, Takeo feels quite a feminine character, for an initial portion of the book you wonder if he is asexual, the notion of sexual desire and relationships is a subject brokered again later in the novel by Masayo, (Mr Nakano's unmarried sister), who Hitomi confides her  inner most thoughts to through various points in the novel.

Being set in the confines of a thrift store, sometimes the novel has the feel of being a play, there are not that many characters to the book, perhaps the reader might imagine a stage, despite the women Mr Nakano is having affairs with. There are a number of subplots that arise through the characters that frequent the shop and through the objects they peruse, perhaps rather subtly, did one of these other story lines spill across a couple of chapters?. Kawakami's prose has a pensive quality to it, incidences can sometimes feel subdued however eventful they are, in one chapter Mr Nakano is stabbed, but things seem to carry rather glacially on to all degrees unaffected, maybe the prompt for his potential exit in his attempt to extrapolate himself from the escalating predicament of his affairs.

The prose of The Nakano Thrift Shop has a softly quintessential feel, an engaging episode of the drama of an encounter of the heart, like the customers of the shop who drift in and out we too, as does it's central protagonists, drift in and out of their lives and loves, tinted with their subtle eccentricities, alienations and lives subtly, sometimes temporarily, sometimes permanently, knocked out of joint by modern life and it's pulling, the drama plays out combining both introspective reflection and an ending coda.  


The Nakano Thrift Shop at Portobello Books

Human Acts by Han Kang

Firstly I'd have to mention a massive debt of thanks to Portobello Books for providing an ARC of Human Acts by Han Kang, the book is due next month and it feels more than fitting that my reading in 2015 that began with The Vegetarian is now ending with Human Acts both of which are translated by Deborah Smith. A first observation between the two books is that where The Vegetarian feels on the whole a largely character driven work, Human Acts takes it's cue from historical event, one that is close to it's author, Han Kang. Human Acts comes to us through six installments and an epilogue, Deborah Smith also provides an introduction which connects the author to the presented novel and offers insights and backgrounds in the translation of the novel, and of the nuances of it's original Korean title, the book has courted controversy since it's publication in 2014.

Throughout the six narratives a resurfacing character, who comes into focus through the varying perspectives is Dong-ho, a young student who becomes caught up in the violent repression of a demonstration in the South Korean city of Gwangju in 1980, and through the chapters a number of other orbiting characters resurface subtly linking the narratives together, interestingly the chapters start out from 1980 and as the novel progresses each chapter advances closer towards us to the present day, the last chapter, or epilogue entitled The Writer is dated 2013. Given that Gwangju is Han Kang's native city there are a number of instances and scenes within the book and chapters that feel have a biographical element to them, in one chapter an editor for a publisher who is about to publish a work from a playwright but encounters the censor, this chapter is presented on the occasions of seven slaps the narrator receives, as with all of the chapters as well as linking to Gwangju they offer nuanced glimpses and recollections into each of their narrators personal histories. Another chapter entitled The Prisoner from 1990 is told in the form of the events being recollected to an enquiring Professor who it appears is researching the events of Gwangju, the narrator recounts his treatment after being rounded up and his relationship with another prisoner, Jin-su, the narrative continues on after they meet again years later, the evidence of the indelible scarring of their treatment whilst being incarcerated remains as the men endeavour to reconcile the events of their pasts.

Deborah Smith points out that the book is not a simple chronology of Gwangju, Human Acts feels very much that it is a testament of the horrific events seen from differing perspectives and characters as well as from differing points in time, but at the same time there are lines laid within the novel that link from the initial event through time past and into the present day, a major one is Dong-ho, one of the chapters is narrated from his mother who recalls the point of last seeing him alive and dated from 2010, although despite being one of the central figures to the novel the character of Dong-ho carries a certain amount of anonymity, it feels that Han Kang has presented us with a sketch of him, although it feels that we see the barest outlines of him he remains highly tangible, his premature fate and snuffed out innocence highly and deeply poignant, and this anonymity carries with it a  certain sense that he is an everyman, Dong-ho could be anyone. Reading Human Acts is an often deeply moving and harrowing read and to be presented with the violence and brutality of it's events is to wonder again at the depths of man's inhumanity.


Human Acts at Portobello Books