Book Review; Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami

The premise of the book

(No danger here, spoiler-free zone.)

The book starts with a utopian, serene scene where women, who called themselves mothers, are walking down to a stream on a stone garden path. They are dressed in white gauze robes. As they start to have a conversation with each other step by step we start to get a feeling that something is a little bit off. One of them has more than 50 children, and she only remembers 15 of them. People seem to live in enclosed small tribes. Living off of the land, but still having access to computers and all the human knowledge stored in them. It has a little bit of a Silo feeling to it, but soon turns into something else. 

Children are being born with their career choices already set, while mothers seem to not have human emotions while being caring and loving. If you are confused reading this, don’t worry, it gets worse. Before it gets better.

We are following many characters and trying to unravel the past of this world. Where humanity is dancing at the edge of extinction. Trying hard to survive and live again in harmony with nature. So much so that there are children being born (in factories) to human and animal parents.  Thousands of years later nature took its turn and tried to give humans a chance by letting them experience what it is to be green and photosynthesising.

Can humans outlive themselves?

Artist’s Corner

The Author

Hiromi Kawakami, is a Japanese author who has won the Tanizaki Prize in 2001 for her novel, Strange Weather in Tokyo*. Her novel was also shortlisted for both Man Asian Literary Prize in 2012. the tile is translated as The Briefcase in this case. And the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, 2014.

Her other works include; (not all of her books just a selection of mine)

Under The Eye of the Big Bird – Hardback* (Bookshop, UK), Hardback* (Bookshop, US), Ebook* (Bookshop, US), Ebook** (Kobo, US), Ebook** (Kobo, Canada)

The Nakano Thrift Shop* (UK Bookshop), Ebook version (US Bookshop)*, Paperback (US Bookshop)*, Ebook (Kobo US)**, Ebook (Kobo Canada)**

The Ten Loves of Mr. Nishino* (Paperback Bookshop, UK), Paperback* (Bookshop, US), Ebook* (Bookshop, US), Ebook** (Kobo, US), Ebook** (Kobo, Canada)

People from my Neighbourhood* (Paperback, UK), Paperback* (Bookshop, US), Ebook* (Bookshop, US), Ebook** (Kobo, US), Ebook** (Kobo, Canada)

The Third Love* – Hardback (Bookshop, UK), Paperback Pre-Order* (Bookshop, UK), Hardcover Pre-order* (Bookshop, US), Ebook Pre-order* (Bookshop, US), Ebook** (Kobo, US), Ebook** (Kobo, Canada)

If you are interested in the original Japanese editions, please have a look at the links below.

The Nakano Thrift Shop – 古道具 中野商店 (Ebook, Kadokawa, Japan)

The Ten Loves of Mr. Nishino – ニシノユキヒコの恋と冒険 (Ebook, Kadokawa, Japan)

The Third Love* – Paperback, Backorder (Bookshop, US)

All the existing books by Hiromi Kawakami at Kadokawa

The Translator

Under the Eye of the Big Bird was translated from Japanese to English by Asa Yoneda.

She was born in Osaka and currently teaches literary translation at the University of North Carolina. She has been nominated for many prizes, including the PEN and the Otherwise.

Her other translational works include (not all just a selection of mine):

The Premonition by Banana Yoshimoto – Paperback*, (Bookshop, UK), Paperback* (Bookshop, US), Ebook* (Bookshop, US), Ebook** (Kobo, US), Ebook** (Kobo, Canada)

Dead-End Memories by Banana Yoshimoto*– Paperback (Bookshop, UK),Paperback* (Bookshop, US), Ebook (Bookshop, US), Ebook** (Kobo, US), Ebook** (Kobo, Canada)

Idol, Burning by Rin Usami – Paperback*, (Bookshop, UK), Hardcover* (Bookshop, US), Ebook* (Bookshop, US), Ebook** (Kobo, US), Ebook** (Kobo, Canada)

Moshi, Moshi by Banana Yoshimoto – Paperback* (Bookshop, UK) , Paperback* (Bookshop, US), Ebook* (Bookshop, US), Ebook** (Kobo, US), Ebook** (Kobo, Canada)

Picnic in the Storm by Yukiko Motoya* – Paperback* (Bookshop, UK) , The Lonesome Bodybuilder (same book, different titles) – paperback* (Bookshop, US), Ebook* (Bookshop, US), Ebook** (Kobo, US),   Ebook** (Kobo, Canada)

They Understand what things Mean, but they don’t Know what It Is

(May contain spoilers!!!)

I have probably written the most amount of notes for Under The Eye of The Big Bird. The only one that came close was How I Killed The Universal Man by Thomas Kendall, a book similar in a way to Kawakami’s novel. The notes most of the time contained jotted down thoughts on trying to decipher what I was actually reading, and how the pieces fit together.

I can’t be hundred percent sure that I did understand everything that the author and the translator intended for me as a reader to get out of the prose. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that I don’t have my own conclusions, answers and questions. Nevertheless, I did enjoy this book quite a lot. It made me think in a different way in a different pattern than how I usually go about these subjects. One of the reasons why I love Japanese literature so much. Just the way they not just convey but think in general is so different and full of compassion that I absolutely adore and respect. Another resurfacing pattern that I seem to excavate in these novels, is the secret connection that characters have, that most often only the reader knows about. It has this very interesting effect of a fake-god syndrome as I like to call it. As it gives the reader the illusion that it has a secret knowledge that no one else does. It is so mind-blowing that it makes the whole story elevate into a fate-like state. I hope this makes sense. Basically, characters and their life stories are always connected to each other in some way. Most of the time in some small, tiny detail and it makes the reading experience just much more magical. Like you really are part of something bigger and universal.

Questions

I can’t help but ask this the whole time I was reading the novel. What happened to humankind? What actually happened? Why did we not become a space-faring species over thousands of years? I had so many of these questions just floating around in my head. Usually took form at the same time when the characters were also asking these types of questions. This is not in any shape or form a criticism of the book, as it is a fiction, none of this had happened. However, I can’t help myself asking these questions. Maybe a more appropriate way to phrase it would be; What made the author think to give this fate to humankind? I don’t mean like what we see when we look around. Let’s be honest, it doesn’t look good at the moment. Although I think it is important to keep being positive and not to give in to the pressure of the notion, ‘it is what it is’. I’m very curious as to what made the author decide on these ideas and outcomes.

Feelings

My favourite all-in-one, universal characters were the mothers. I loved how Kawakami pictured the marriage of AI, robotics and human organics. How they understand everything that ever to be understood on the level of human beings as it is not a universal hive brain. How it has its limitations, and knows very little about complex feelings, like sadness, jealousy etc… actually IS. Since they can’t experience it as they are only dutifully trying to keep the human race from going extinct. I also found it interesting how the mothers state that they don’t have an agenda, they don’t want to win, but they do decide not to tell certain things to humans. Which made me think that they are more chaotic than what they actually think about themselves. Which shows how the Great Mother, a ‘glitch in the system’, could actually exist.

Prose

I also loved how the prose changed from jumping character to character. At times it was like medicine for my injured brain trying to understand what’s happening in the plot. It was refreshing and helped my attention to stay in focus throughout the novel. It is a small book with 288 pages, easily readable in one or two sittings. Definitely can be prolonged if you are having trouble deciphering or just want to deep dive into it a little bit more. The translation was as immaculate as I can tell. I haven’t read the original and probably won’t. As my japanese is nowhere near to that level that I would need to grasp the tone, prose and style changes. Nevertheless, it was beautiful how it was translated. I became a huge fan of Asa Yoneda.

Overall

This book had an interesting amount of messages for me. One of them was that humans can’t be anything other than humans. Regardless how many eons it’s fighting through. We only love the things that are similar to us, anything that brings diversity we instinctively try to erase or manipulate it in some way. Our control-freak nature trying to dominate over everything, even the things that do not benefit from it. We are part of nature, and in nature there is diversity, there is randomness, there is chaos and it is measurable even. It’s called entropy. And still, we, humans for whatever reason can’t seem to welcome and cherish this part of the universe. 

Another one includes the age-old concept of; instead of fighting the short span of time we are given, we should just live. And decide what we do with the time given to us. Such a simple, often repeated line of thought. That just doesn’t enter our minds until it enters for real. Especially, when the external factors are doing everything in their power to disrupt our hard-earned inner peace. Regardless, we should keep fighting for it and just try our best to be inspired by nature’s philosophy and just BE.

Nothing meant to live forever, not even the universe or our thoughts. Maybe we never meant to outlive ourselves.