Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

Today's Featured Book: 

Kitchen

by Banana Yoshimoto

Genre: Translated Fiction

Published: 1988

Page Count: 164 pages

Why Now? Japanese Literature Challenge

Summary: 

Banana Yoshimoto’s Kitchen is an enchantingly original and deeply affecting book that tells about mothers, love, tragedy, and the power of the kitchen and home in the life of a free-spirited young woman in contemporary Japan. Mikage is an orphan raised by her grandmother, who has passed away. Grieving, Mikaga is taken in by her friend Yoichi and his mother Eriko. As the three of them form an improvised family that soon weathers its own tragic losses, Yoshimoto spins a lovely, evocative tale with the kitchen and the comforts of home at its heart. 

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY is hosted by Rose City Reader. What book are you happy about reading this week? Please share the opening sentence (or so) on BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY! Add the link to your blog or social media post and visit other blogs to see what others are reading.

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

The place I like best in this world is the kitchen.

Yoshimoto, Banana. Kitchen, p. 1. Kindle Edition. 

Mikage's grandmother dies, and she is all alone in the world. Her friend Yoichi invites Mikage to come stay with him and his mother. Together the three of them cook and eat and talk and heal. And then death strikes again.

This novella is a story of grief and found families and the power of relationships and cooking to heal. Like many of the stories I've read that were originally written in Japanese, there is an element of surrealism in the tale, dreams that feel like reality, reality that feels like dreams, and a mysterious power that can be found in good food and people and nature.

THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Anne of Head Full of Books. To play, open a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on your e-reader). Find a sentence or two and post them, along with the book title and author. Then link up on Head Full of Books and visit others in the linky. 

It looked to me like the kitchen had not been used in quite a while. It was somewhat dirty and dark. I began to clean. I scrubbed the sink with scouring powder, wiped off the burners, washed the dishes, sharpened the knives. I washed and bleached all the dish towels, and while watching them go round and round in the dryer I realized that I had become calmer.

Yoshimoto, Banana. Kitchen, p. 56. Kindle Edition. 

The purpose of THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, and befriend other bloggers. THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.    

Is there a book or series so precious to you that you wouldn’t want it adapted for screen, fearing it might be ruined? If it did happen, would you still find yourself watching it? (submitted by Mark @ Carstairs Considers)

I wish my favorite books would never be adapted for screen. Something is always lost.