ヘヴン（2009）／川上未映子 "Heaven" (2009) by Mieko Kawakami

Mieko Kawakami's "Heaven" was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2022. In several ways it is the most profound work of the trilogy. The story is about school bullying and the actions are described in bloody detail throughout the book - it can be distressing to read if you are easily triggered. Picking on somebody is one thing, but the events in the story are so elaborate that it reaches a point where the reader will ask, "do these bullies have nothing better to do in life than to spend so much time and effort just to pick on somebody?" - and that is the central objective here. Kawakami has a background in philosophy and she states that "Heaven" is inspired by Nietzsche's "Thus spake Zarathustra". The story of bullying is used as a platform to explore master and slave morality, and nihilism. In the latter half of the book, there is a couple of discussions about why bullies bully and why victims let that happen. The title "Heaven" refers to a painting that one of the victims adore and she considers being bullied her role in the world and it purifies her - she is tied to "moral ideals". One of the bullies believes that there is no reason for what they do and they do so just because they can. The main character is philosophically torn for the majority of the book but in the end breaks the dichotomy and pursues the third path. He chooses to overcome a physical condition in hope for a brighter future and to avoid further bullying, which in a way is a manifestation of the will to power. "Heaven" is a finely crafted allegorical story if one appreciates the underlying philosophy, but there are also themes of friendship, self-awareness and overcoming hardship which make it a great general read. Powerful work.

乳と卵（2007）／川上未映子 "Breasts and Eggs" (2007, original novella version) by Mieko Kawakami

Mieko Kawakami won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize in 2007 for her novella "Breasts and Eggs" (the original novella version, not to be confused with the longer novel "Natsu monogatari 夏物語" which is the expanded version that was translated and published under the same title internationally). Despite its short length, it is very challenging for language learners to read because it is entirely written in Osaka-ben and the prose is always in one long stretch with no breaks in between at all. As the title suggests, this is a feminist novel examining the challenges concerning the body that women face on a daily basis. Three characters - a mother, a daughter and the mother's sister. The single mother is a hostess from Osaka and wants to get breast implants in Tokyo; the daughter starts to experience changes in her body and discusses them in a series of notes; and the aunt wants to conceive a child. These are some brutal and at times literally bloody discussions on body image, child bearing and why a woman should or should not conform to social expectations - real issues that affect directly half of the population and indirectly the other half. It is remarkable that, almost 20 years on, society still remains highly polarised on these subjects, with liberal minds openly discussing them and conservative circles avoiding them altogether. Regardless, the writing is still as fresh and explosive (even uncompromising) as ever and it must have made quite a big impact in the male-dominated world in 2007. It is certainly very progressive compared to the traditional testosterone-driven Japanese literature or softer female writings of the past. As a male reader, while none of them are particularly new concepts in this day and age, it is still a rewarding and enriching read. The novella is accompanied by a short story about a woman browsing cosmetics in a store and musing on casual sex, to further the discussion on the position of the modern woman.

すべて真夜中の恋人たち（2011）／川上未映子 "All the Lovers in the Night" (2011) by Mieko Kawakami

A lot of commentators like to compare Mieko Kawakami with Haruki Murakami. One can see why - Kawakami confessed to have been influenced by Murakami and they published a collection of conversations together. "All the Lovers in the Night" has all the Murakamian qualities - mood-driven narratives describing the lives of lonely people in a cosmopolitan setting; classical music decorating the scenes, which, in this case, Chopin's "Berceuse" is the recurring theme; and the slow burn. Fuyuko Irie is a 34-year-old freelance proof-reader who works remotely, lives alone, has almost no social interactions with anybody, has no goals, interests or purpose in life and starts to develop a habit of heavy drinking. One day she meets a 58-year-old man at a community centre and starts to develop romantic feelings towards him. Because ultimately it is a story of little plot and no resolution, a lot of online reviews dismiss this book as a mere "sad girl book". This was the first Kawakami book that I read and I only appreciated it more retrospectively after reading her other works. I think the primary focus of her works are people who quietly suffer in society, those who might not be able to articulate their suffering or even recognise that they are suffering at all. The protagonist obviously falls into this category, but the limited number of characters she interacts with, no matter how outwardly confident or supportive they are, with or without family life (as women), knowledgeable or not (referring to the single male character here), they are insecure one way or another, and some people are even suffering from long term traumas. They bluff, they lie, they put on masks to socialise and it forms an intriguing contrast with the protagonist - are any of these actually better than living a quiet life alone (a question of personality, I'd think)? It's too real a novel and I can immediately think of a couple of friends who might be devastated by it. It might be more rewarding to read as part of a(n unrelated) trilogy. A winter book, definitely, if you enjoy that solitude feeling.

Wagner: Die Walküre (ROH / Kosky / Pappano)

Die Walküre
Music Drama in Three Acts
4th May 2025
Royal Opera House, London, United Kingdom

Composer Richard Wagner
Libretto Richard Wagner
Director Barrie Kosky
Orchestra Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Conductor Antonio Pappano

Cast list at the bottom of post.



Let's talk about incest. For a long time I have wondered why this is a major theme in one of the most important operas in history. Seeing "Die Walkürie" live at the ROH forced me to pay close attention to the libretto, then I realised how it is a crucial plot device to show the conflict of morals, the struggles of defining the "free" hero (will), how even the gods reek of, and rule by, hypocrisy and fear, and the perennial fight between the love of power and the power of love. One needs to process the Ring cycle like a deep neural network - forward propagation gives you the story, backward propagation explains the philosophy - and we are currently processing the weights into and out of the second layer. Having read Nietzsche is incredibly important and useful at this point as all the themes can be cross-referenced. The Yggdrasil fragment from "Das Rheingold" returned in Act 2 as a backdrop for the deadly duel. Now blood flowed out from the same source where gold used to flow, again perpetually looked on by Erda - providing continuity from two years ago and setting up the theme of decay for the next two operas. It was also an artistic statement to highlight the destruction of Nature both in context and as a reflection of our current world. Costume choice was specific too - the ill-fated and backstabbed Siegmund, victim of multiple levels of toxic masculinity, was dressed in the colour of the Ukrainian flag. The Valkyries dressed as zombies trolleying out (literally) heaps of ash remains of fallen heroes was definitely a bold modern artistic take. Singing - sensational all round, Sieglinge and Siegmund in particular, very moving exchanges in Act 1; powerful father-daughter struggles between Brünnhilde and Wotan in Act 3. Antonio Pappano's musical direction was pure perfection - supporting the voices at the right level, dramatic when needed, layers and leitmotifs always transparent - for me it was a winning realisation of Wagner's vision of the total integration of music and drama. If you want to understand the appeal of Wagner, this was as good a live experience as it could get. Standing for 5.5 h was totally worth it.



Wotan - Christopher Maltman
Brünnhilde - Elisabet Strid
Sieglinde - Natalya Romaniw (replaces Lise Davidsen)
Siegmund - Stanislas de Barbeyrac
Fricka - Marina Prudenskaya
Hunding - Soloman Howard
Helmwige - Maida Hundeling
Ortlinde - Katie Lowe
Gerhilde - Lee Bisset
Waltraute - Claire Barnett-Jones
Siegrune - Catherine Carby
Rossweisse - Alison Kettlewell
Grimgerde - Monika-Evelin Liiv
Schwertleite - Rhonda Browne
Erda - Clare Almond
Concert Master - Magnus Johnston