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Strange Weather in Tokyo

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Strange Weather in Tokyo

By: Hiromi Kawakami
Narrated by: Clare Corbett
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About this listen

Shortlisted for the 2014 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.

Tsukiko is in her late 30s and living alone when one night she happens to meet one of her former high school teachers, 'Sensei', in a bar. He is at least 30 years her senior, retired and, she presumes, a widower. After this initial encounter, the pair continue to meet occasionally to share food and drink sake, and as the seasons pass - from spring cherry blossom to autumnal mushrooms - Tsukiko and Sensei come to develop a hesitant intimacy which tilts awkwardly and poignantly into love.

Perfectly constructed, funny and moving, Strange Weather in Tokyo is a tale of modern Japan and old-fashioned romance.

©2014 Hiromi Kawakami (P)2017 Audible, Ltd Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction

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Critic reviews

"True love is celebrated with humour, grace and pathos as the wary narrator recalls her unusual approach to dealing with an overwhelming passion." (Book of the Year, Irish Times)
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An exercise in restraint and respect but a fulfilling read. Memories are made for and from books such as these. I can imagine an author sitting amongst a million pieces of paper bearing crossed out text otherwise how could perfection be approached so noiselessly

Truly excellent

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I have loved the Japanese stories I've read so far. The style is succinct and rather like what I've heard of Japanese poetry.
I found the characters most engaging and funny - and above all utterly charming.
The narrator's voice is lovely: it is quite clipped and still really highlights the humour well - humour that is all the better for being underplayed.
The basic premise of the couple's relationship seems so unlikely but I'm sure all who read or listen will find it very touching.

Charming

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It felt so strange at first, not knowing anything about Japanese customs and culture but slowly I adapted to this foreign information and really tuned in and thoroughly enjoyed the small details and rituals I learnt about Japanese culture. I loved the detail in the section of the forest and discussions and information on mushrooms, my mouth watered at the descriptions of the food. Although the emotions on the surface appeared very controlled, within each character there was deep passion for all things. It was a truly beautiful story and has ignited in me an interest in Japanese food, not so much alcohol as it was truly staggering the amount of alcohol consumed.

Japanese views and customs

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A satisfying and meandering story! Good for long evenings and good for falling asleep to.

Wonderful!

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This novel is really sweet and yet simultaneously heartbreaking, and a fantastic read. However, it was completely ruined by the narrator, whose voice took away entirely from the story. A more melodious and deeper female voice, I feel, would have lent itself to the tragedy of it more. However, if you're into literature in translation, this is a fab novel, with an interesting storyline, which I'd never encountered before!

Shockingly Tragic Novel!

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Fantastic story and narration. Thoroughly recommend. Anyone who enjoys the descriptive element of many Japanese novels will really enjoy this.

Excellent.

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I enjoyed listening to this story, although I was unable to listen to it in the car, due to the low volume. I listened at home and enjoyed the voice of the narrator and the unfolding love story. There was a lot of drinking in the story - beer and sake, but I think this was the only way they were able to speak and be with each other in the beginning. Overall, a wonderful story!

Strange Weather in Tokyo - an unexpected love story, beautifully written.

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This was recommended to me by a Murakami fan group as a good option for something of a similar style. I really found the story to be lack luster and overall dull. Narration is also bad which doesn't help. If you're looking for a story where a girl basically fawns over her old school teacher go for it but it felt very pointless and shallow. sorry!

Overall a dull story

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Not sentimental but it has one of the most beautiful final paragraph images ever in a novel, like a Haiku's

May Dec romance

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I found this to be a beautiful touching story with moments of humour and sadness.

A really charming story

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