N. P.

There is not a book that has been written by either Ryu Murakami or Banana Yoshimoto that would let you down. Both are unbelievable authors with remarkable writing powers that draws you into the book of the time.

I discovered Banana Yoshimoto's work quite by accident when I had 5 minutes to spare in the Waterstone's between Leicester Square and Covent Garden and was drawn to the beautiful, stark cover of the UK edition of  Kitchen . I loved the book so much I was back within a day or so to pick up N.P. which is, quite simply, the best book I've ever read. The sinmplicity of Yoshimoto's prose is the perfect, unassuming wrapping for the complex, terrifying, slap to the solar plexus emotioal layering her stories contain. There is a dignity and simplicity to her prose that is utterly heartbreaking.To give an idea of who may enjoy Yoshimoto's work, the closest parallels I can think of are  When I Forgot  by Elina Hirvonen and  Damage  by Josephine Hart, though I suspect anyone who, like me, loves Murakami, will find Yoshimoto if anything even better than the master.

Being a huge fan of Banana Yoshimoto's this book definitely did not disappoint. This was the story of Kazami who is connected to three other people because of a mysterious book that seems to have a hold over those who come into contact with it. Kazami's boyfriend had committed suicide some years ago and it was believed by Kazami that this book somehow had a hold over him that he could get rid of which caused him to take such drastic measures. Kazami also comes to know the son and daughters of the author of the book who have also become `victims' of the book. While I don't want to give too much of the book away, Yoshimoto touches on a number of different themes in this book, many of which are very obscure and diverse. She touches on ideas of love and loss, suicide, and incest. Although these may seem quite perverse, Yoshimoto writes in such a way that these topics do not come across in a negative fashion but instead she explores the other side of them. The way in which this book is delivered hooks you until the end, and I would definitely recommend this book to anyone.

There's something so simple with Banana Yoshimoto's books, yet I feel that it'd be impossible to write the way she does. To tell a complete story and create a whole universe with such short scenes. You understand all the characters without having to go back to long winded accounts about their childhoods.In this book. N.P. everything evolves around a collection of stories by a writer who committed suicide. He has left behind three children and the main character, or the narrator of the story, gets involved with all the three of these children. What makes it complicated is that the brother has a relationship with his stepsister - but they met without knowing they were related. This stepsister is one of these remarkable unpredictable characters who you can't help loving.Sometimes it gets a little bit too dreamy and naive for my liking and I also seem to forget certain facts. The whole story is a bit like a scattered dream. Fragmented, but yet whole.

This book is so sad that after I had put it away (because I could not bare it) a friend offered me to write a new end for it, so I could read that. I picked it up a week later and was so amazed by the end, that I wrote a letter to the author (never sent).It is the story of the girlfriend of a writer of short stories who dies. She gets in contact with his two children who are about her age....