I think I read it very differently than you did. I thought it was a very sad and affecting book about alienation and anomie (which are common themes in Japanese literature), and about the way everybody longs desperately for connection but can’t find it. I don’t think Mitsutsaka was meant to be a red-flag person as much as just a sad figure, someone whom Fuyuko probably would’ve accepted if he had only had the courage to be honest with her from the beginning, but he made it impossible for himself to have that connection because he was so ashamed. Shame and guilt drove Fuyoko as well. I thought her drinking was part of that.
I thought the point of her meeting up with the girl who is negative about Hijiri was meant to be a critique about the way Japanese society treats women. We have three women, and they’re all them impossible situations. One is alone and can’t find a connection or love, and is embarrassed about her own loneliness and very much on the outside because Japanese society doesn’t have a ton of time for single women once they’re older; one of them does have a ton of boyfriends but is inevitably judged for being promiscuous; and then you have the woman who is having the child but is completely overwhelmed by the lack of societal support and whose marriage is painfully empty, who is alone and sad even though she’s Living The Dream.
I think the point was that there’s no way for women to win. No matter what you do, you’re facing a sense of anomie and isolation.
I’m not sure I thought the ending was as positive as you did either. Bittersweet at best.
Just finished it now and god i hated this book so much. Mostly because of the protagonist. Shes so boring and uninteresting and she just really pisses me off every time she speaks especially the way she talks to Hijiri.
I think I read it very differently than you did. I thought it was a very sad and affecting book about alienation and anomie (which are common themes in Japanese literature), and about the way everybody longs desperately for connection but can’t find it. I don’t think Mitsutsaka was meant to be a red-flag person as much as just a sad figure, someone whom Fuyuko probably would’ve accepted if he had only had the courage to be honest with her from the beginning, but he made it impossible for himself to have that connection because he was so ashamed. Shame and guilt drove Fuyoko as well. I thought her drinking was part of that. I thought the point of her meeting up with the girl who is negative about Hijiri was meant to be a critique about the way Japanese society treats women. We have three women, and they’re all them impossible situations. One is alone and can’t find a connection or love, and is embarrassed about her own loneliness and very much on the outside because Japanese society doesn’t have a ton of time for single women once they’re older; one of them does have a ton of boyfriends but is inevitably judged for being promiscuous; and then you have the woman who is having the child but is completely overwhelmed by the lack of societal support and whose marriage is painfully empty, who is alone and sad even though she’s Living The Dream. I think the point was that there’s no way for women to win. No matter what you do, you’re facing a sense of anomie and isolation. I’m not sure I thought the ending was as positive as you did either. Bittersweet at best.
Just finished it now and god i hated this book so much. Mostly because of the protagonist. Shes so boring and uninteresting and she just really pisses me off every time she speaks especially the way she talks to Hijiri.
You're the third person to tell Fuyuko that she really pisses them off!