the nakano thrift shop by Hiromi Kawakami

28th book of 2021

Reading period: Mar 24th 2021 – Mar 28th 2021

Summary

Among the jumble of paperweights, plates, typewriters and general bric-a-brac in Mr Nakano’s thrift store, there are treasures to be found. Each piece carries its own story of love and loss – or so it seems to Hitomi, when she takes a job there working behind the till. Nor are her fellow employees any less curious or weatherworn than the items they sell. There’s the store’s owner, Mr Nakano, an enigmatic ladies’ man with several ex-wives; Sakiko, his sensuous, unreadable lover; his sister, Masayo, an artist whose free-spirited creations mask hidden sorrows. And finally there’s Hitomi’s fellow employee, Takeo, whose abrupt and taciturn manner Hitomi finds, to her consternation, increasingly disarming.

Rating

Review

I enjoy reading this book; it’s in the same line as Strange Weather in Tokyo.

I like how the events of the book are told through objects of the thrift shop. Every time I was waiting to see how the objects will enter the story.

The characters are all interesting, and even if you know a lot about them, I wanted to learn more. They are like all the characters in Japanese literature: humans. They have flaws, and it’s the most enjoyable.

I had two minor problems; the first one is the way dialogues are written. Sometimes, I didn’t know if it was narrative or conversations. The second is the “romance” between the main character and her colleague. I didn’t understand it throughout the book, but I like how everything ends in the last chapter.

Even if I don’t give a high rating, I still like her books, and I will continue to read her stories.

Liz.