Breasts and Eggs

Breasts and Eggs (Japanese: 乳と卵, Hepburn: Chichi to Ran) is a short novel by Mieko Kawakami, published by Bungeishunjū in February 2008. It was awarded the 138th Akutagawa Prize.[1] The original work has not been translated into English.

Breasts and Eggs
First edition cover (Bungeishunjū, 2008) of the original novel
AuthorMieko Kawakami
Original titleChichi to Ran (乳と卵)
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
Set inTokyo
PublishedDecember 2007 in Bungakukai
PublisherBungeishunjū
Publication date
25 February 2008 (hardcover)
10 September 2010 (paperback)
Media typePrint (hardcover and paperback)
Pages138 (hardcover)
133 (paperback)
Awards138th Akutagawa Prize
ISBN978-4-16-327010-4 (hardcover)
978-4-16-779101-8 (paperback)
OCLC213298983
LC ClassPL872.5.A89 C55 2008

In 2019, Kawakami published the novel Natsu Monogatari (夏物語). It features a completely rewritten version of the original 2008 novella, but uses the same characters and settings. An English translation of Natsu Monogatari was published in 2020, under the original title of Breasts and Eggs. It is a completely different work from the original 2008 novella. The novella is part of a "loosely connected trilogy," including Heaven and All the Lovers in the Night.[2]

Background and publication

Chichi to Ran (乳と卵) is Kawakami's second novel. Her debut novel, Watakushi Ritsuin Hā, Mata wa Sekai (わたくし率 イン 歯ー、または世界), was published in 2007 and was a candidate for the Akutagawa Prize.[3] Kawakami first found literary success as a blogger, with her blog later reaching 200,000 hits per day. Chichi to Ran was first written in blog form in the mid-2000s.[4] It was first published in the December 2007 issue of Bungakukai.[5] It won the 138th Akutagawa Prize for the second half of 2007, which was announced on 16 January 2008.[6][5] It was published as a hardcover book on 25 February 2008 by Bungeishunjū.[7] It is characterized by a writing style that is separated by commas and continues endlessly without line breaks.[8] It is written in the Kansai dialect of western Japan.[5] Specifically, it is typified by Kawakami's use of the regional dialect Osaka-ben.[9] It was reprinted in the March 2008 special issue of the Bungeishunjū magazine.[10] A paperback edition was published by Bungei Bunko on 10 September 2010.[11] The original 2008 novel has not been translated into English.[12]

Natsu Monogatari

In 2019, Kawakami published the two-part novel Natsu Monogatari (夏物語) 'Summer Stories'. The first half of Natsu Monogatari is a completely rewritten version of the original 2008 novella. The second half is a continuation of the narrative. It is considered a sequel to the original novella, using the same characters and settings.[13][14]

English translation

The sequel novel was translated into English by Sam Bett and David Boyd,[15] but kept the original title of Breasts and Eggs.[13] The translation was published in the United States by Europa Editions on 7 April 2020.[16] It was published in the United Kingdom by Picador on 20 August 2020.[17][18]

The English translation is divided in two parts and is narrated by Natsuko Natsume (夏子 Natsuko), an aspiring writer in Tokyo. In the first part, Natsuko's sister, Makiko (巻子), and her 12-year-old daughter, Midoriko (緑子), arrive in Tokyo from Osaka. Makiko has come to Tokyo seeking a clinic for breast augmentation. Midoriko has not spoken to her mother in six months. Midoriko's journal entries are interspersed and contain her thoughts about becoming a woman and recognizing the changes in her body. In the second part, set years later, Natsuko contemplates becoming a mother and the options open to her as an older single woman in Japan.

Reception

Writer and then-governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, who himself won the Akutagawa Prize in 1955 and was a sitting member of its selection committee, criticized the selection of Kawakami's novel for the prize. In Bungeishunjū he wrote, "The egocentric, self-absorbed rambling of the work is unpleasant and intolerable."[19]

English translation

Kirkus Reviews criticized the "flat" English translation, writing that Kawakami's writing style is "lost on Anglophone readers, and her frank talk about class and sexism and reproductive choice is noteworthy primarily within the context of Japanese literary culture."[20]

Publishers Weekly praised the "bracing and evocative" narrative of the novel's first part, but felt the second part faltered into an "overlong and chatty" narrative.[21]

References
  1. "Akutagawa, Naoki prizes awarded". The Japan Times. 17 January 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  2. "Best Books 2022: Publishers Weekly". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  3. "作家・川上未映子のおかあちゃん 利江さん：１ 文学と無縁「芥川賞って何？」". The Asahi Shimbun. 8 April 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  4. Canfield, David (13 April 2020). "A literary star in Japan, Mieko Kawakami is ready for her American debut". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  5. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. (1 March 2009). Britannica Book of the Year 2009. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. p. 269. ISBN 978-1-59339-232-1.
  6. 酒井潤 (17 January 2008). "芥川賞に川上未映子さん 直木賞が桜庭一樹さん". Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  7. "『乳と卵』川上未映子". books.bunshun.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  8. "（対談）多和田 葉子氏 x 川上 未映子氏「母語の内へ、外へ―表現としての言葉の可能性」". IHJ Programs (in Japanese). Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  9. Kitamura, Katie (7 April 2020). "A Japanese Literary Star Joins Her Peers on Western Bookshelves". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  10. "新榮堂書店". www.shineido.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  11. "文春文庫『乳と卵』川上未映子". books.bunshun.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  12. "Breasts and Eggs by Kawakami Mieko". Complete Review. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  13. "Kawakami Mieko: Amplifying the Voices of Japanese Women Through Fiction". Nippon.com. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  14. ""このように書かれなければならない"ものを 書くために──作家 川上未映子". Lexus.jp (in Japanese). 12 July 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  15. Braden, Allison (1 April 2020). "Translation as an Exercise in Letting Go: An Interview with Sam Bett and David Boyd on Translating Mieko Kawakami". Asymptote Journal. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  16. "Breasts and Eggs - Mieko Kawakami". Europa Editions. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  17. "Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami". Pan Macmillan. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  18. McNeill, David (18 August 2020). "Mieko Kawakami: 'Women are no longer content to shut up'". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  19. Kageyama, Yuri (25 March 2008). "Writer blogs her way to top literary prize". The Japan Times. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  20. "Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami ; translated by Sam Bett & David Boyd". Kirkus Reviews. 26 January 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  21. "Fiction Book Review: Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami, trans. from the Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd". Publishers Weekly. 19 March 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
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