Thousand Cranes: A Review

I am a big fan of anything Japanese, being one of many westerners that struggle to resist the pull of something more exotic and different from our own life experience. This is why I picked up Thousand Cranes, I love Japanese literature having read through a number of Haruki Murakami, Ryu Murakami and Natsuo Kirino's novels I felt the need to travel further into a world laden with cultural fascination and enviable rigidity in tradition.

Kikuji has been recently orphaned due to the death of his adulterous father in post World War II Japan. He is invited to the tea ceremony of one of his father's meddling mistresses who intends to marry him off to one of her students, from here on in Kikuji begins to realise he may have inherited more than just his father's possessions.

Yasunari Kawabata penned this beautiful novel and has even earned the Nobel Prize for his contributions to literature, so I expected to be more than a little bit baffled by this novella as it sits rather far outside of my reading comfort zone. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this novel is incredibly readable and can be enjoyed on many levels, as I reader I found I could even enjoy it at face value without having to go too deep into the subtleties and metaphor rich prose with a fine toothed comb. This story reads incredibly well and I found myself getting swept into the plethora of extreme emotions put forward by the actions of the characters.

None of the people represented in this novel retain an air of innocence, even Kikuji himself is unable to tear himself away from his father's emotional legacy as he gets drawn into the unfinished drama between his father's mistresses. That these characters are driven more by their emotions than by logic is what makes this novel so beautiful, deserving of being re-read in order to delve further into this poetic world. If I was more informed about Japanese tradition I could offer a far more involved perspective on this novel, however, as I have already stated, you don't need to look too deep in order to enjoy it.

My favourite character by far was Chikako, just because I ended up hating her so much! She is a feisty forceful woman driven by envy, she spreads her spiteful poison exponentially as the plot develops. She has ties to every character in the novel and uses the tea ceremony to draw them into further levels of despair. It is because of her actions that decay, through hate, becomes a central theme to the novel, Kikuji allows for his father's tea house to fall into disrepair simply due to his dislike of Chikako. It becomes obvious very quickly that this woman is the reason behind Mrs. Ota's descent into depression and shame resulting in an action that can never be undone. Chikako forces Kikuji into his father's fate, as he continues the drama left by his father's death and to a degree becomes his father. She is an extraordinary character, no doubt about it.

The ending itself was perhaps the best part of the novel as it is left unresolved. I love ambiguous endings and as a reader I felt compelled to make my own mind up about Fumiko's mysterious fate. I shan't say any more, leastwise I ruin the journey of any reader wishing to give this story a crack.

A totally engrossing read that would suit just about anyone's taste, it's short and sweet so doesn't pose any sort of chore in reading. This novel was a true delight to read.

The Uninvited: A Review

I have tried, and failed, a few times to get my hands on this interesting looking book. I struggled to secure a reading copy from the publisher and the copy I got through as a digital proof was packed full of errors, so I was ecstatic when I saw it in the local library and as such snapped it up and ran off to read it snuggled under a blanket with a mug of hot Ribena. The Uninvited is Liz Jensen's eighth novel, and this is my first encounter with her writing. I am still not entirely sure what I thought of this novel, it leaves you feeling a touch mystified, maybe in keeping with the supernatural elements that this novel explores.

Terrible events are starting to occur all over the world, in short, children are killing their loved ones. At first cases seem to be isolated and under control, however, as time passes, more and more incidents indicate that the world is facing a terrible pandemic. Shortly after the first murder Hesketh is called out to investigate a mysterious business sabotage, a case which begins his journey into a more spiritual and terrifying world than he could have ever expected. Soon, parallels emerge between the murderous children and Hesketh's cases, parallels that force him to question the very basis of reality and how powerless human beings really are.

The first chapter of this novel is utterly compelling, it's fast paced and draws us straight into a vicious attack administered by a child with a nail gun. My jaw hit the floor and I couldn't help but feel I had discovered a disturbing gem of a novel. Sadly, however, the pace slows as soon as we are introduced to the narrator and the story unfolds a little less dramatically. This is not to say the pace doesn't pick up again, believe me it does, it just takes a while to establish the looming dread needed to push this novel along.

The story itself is brilliant, I couldn't wait to discover what happened next and it forced me to indulge in the darker side of humanity, a side we are not usually encouraged to explore, especially in children. I couldn't help but think I had been drawn into a world of creepy Japanese horror, one in which the kids are the ones you should be running from. I had flashbacks from The Ring and Dark Water....not pleasant. These children really do get mean, as soon as Jensen talks about cannibalism and ritualistic violence you know this novel is not going to have a happy ending.

I will admit, in spite of the excellent story, I was not particularly taken with Hesketh as a narrator. He serves his purpose well, nonetheless, documenting the goings on of the narrative with an organised and practical view. However, he is not very likeable as a character. His frequent mishaps in social encounters are attributed to his suffering from Asperger's Syndrome, but the way in which he treats the women in this novel are hard to overlook. He is, by all accounts, just mean. His saving grace is his love for Freddy and his willingness to do anything to pull the young boy back from the precipice, even to the detriment of those around him. What is interesting is watching Hesketh's understanding of the world around him change, as the order of reality shifts to become something entirely different. It is because of his honesty and frankness that other main protagonists take his observations seriously regardless of how bonkers they appear to be.

This novel's slow, spiralling descent into madness and disorder has a deeper meaning. I felt as though there was the implication that we, as a species, are destroying the world in which we live. These terrifying, time defying spirits are brought in to try and restore a type of order, to push humanity in a different direction. It is sad that violence is the only solution on the table, and this is perhaps a comment on how we solve real life problems. Jensen does not ram this down the readers throat, but we are encouraged to at least ponder these ideas.

The turning point in this novel, which takes it from average to good, is when Hesketh witnesses a suicide in Dubai. A young girl seems to disappear into the man as he falls, this is when I knew that this novel was going to take an unexpected and exciting turn, one that would keep me hooked until the very end.

The Uninvited is a good read, not one of the best books I have picked up but one I would recommend to anyone looking for something a little bit different, rich in imagery and thoughtful. If you get a bit queasy at the thought of a child shooting a nail-gun into someone's face, I would suggest that perhaps this book is not for you because this is not the only violent outburst in the novel. As I mentioned at the start, I was left feeling mystified with a small number of unanswered questions. In the answering of these questions I don't think that The Uninvited would have left it's mark, sometimes it is just better that you don't know and this novel is a great example of that.