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elfbiterYoshimoto Banana - Amrita
Amrita is a tale of a young woman in modern Japan who lives in a family of five - four women and one small boy. It starts with the death of her older sister Mayu, who possibly committed suicide.
How she hits her head and loses most of her memory (that looks to me as a sort of a excuse for flashbacks but done nicely). How she begins to date boyfriend of her dead sister. How her younger brother Yoshi begins to see strange things and knows too much. How one of her friends ends up dating older, married ex-coworker. And getting involved with a friend of the boyfriend, strange man with even stranger wife with mysterious influence to others.
If you expect an anime plot, you are likely to be disappointed (none of the main characters are orphans, for one). It has no narrative arc to speak of - the fact that the author readily admits in the afterword. Lots of the novel is narrator's thoughts and pondering about mysteries of life and death, what to do with this author boyfriend and getting to know his friends.
English translator ends up explaining things that probably would not have to be explained to the Japanese (and I knew most of them myself) but that is understandable.
Amrita is a tale of a young woman in modern Japan who lives in a family of five - four women and one small boy. It starts with the death of her older sister Mayu, who possibly committed suicide.
How she hits her head and loses most of her memory (that looks to me as a sort of a excuse for flashbacks but done nicely). How she begins to date boyfriend of her dead sister. How her younger brother Yoshi begins to see strange things and knows too much. How one of her friends ends up dating older, married ex-coworker. And getting involved with a friend of the boyfriend, strange man with even stranger wife with mysterious influence to others.
If you expect an anime plot, you are likely to be disappointed (none of the main characters are orphans, for one). It has no narrative arc to speak of - the fact that the author readily admits in the afterword. Lots of the novel is narrator's thoughts and pondering about mysteries of life and death, what to do with this author boyfriend and getting to know his friends.
English translator ends up explaining things that probably would not have to be explained to the Japanese (and I knew most of them myself) but that is understandable.
