Name: Heaven
Rating: 3.826819407008086 (371 reviews)
ISBN: 9782330060749

Mieko Kawakami

À travers l'amitié de deux adolescents confrontés à l'exclusion, «Heaven» est un roman puissant sur la question de l'identité et du rapport de soi au monde extérieur. Thèmes d'une grande richesse portés ici par des valeurs japonaises qui déplacent fortement l'interprétation intellectuelle occidentale.

Heaven

Caridee Huang

Roos

There are all kinds of things in the world I don't understand, but I really wanted to understand you.

Children who feel pain are so young that their attempts to resolve it can be considered nothing but kindhearted 

“When you feel like everything’s falling apart, or feel like things are too good to be true,” I said, “when things get that way, you can cut my hair. Instead of cutting up the junk mail or whatever when nobody else is home. Just let me know, and you can cut it, whenever you want.”

Maria

raia – inactive

“Sometimes you can’t see the scars. But there’s a lot of pain, I think.”

Hailed as a bold foray into new literary territory, Kawakami's novel is told in the voice of a 14-year-old student subjected to relentless torment for having a lazy eye. Instead of resisting, the boy chooses to suffer in complete resignation. The only person who understands what he is going through is a female classmate who suffers similar treatment at the hands of her tormenters. These raw and realistic portrayals of bullying are counterbalanced by textured exposition of the philosophical and religious debates concerning violence to which the weak are subjected. Kawakami's simple yet profound new work stands as a dazzling testament to her literary talent. There can be little doubt that it has cemented her reputation as one of the most important young authors working to expand the boundaries of contemporary Japanese literature. "One of Japan's brightest stars is set to explode across the global skies of literature."--Japan Times

My friend has read a few Kawakami novels and so I was really intrigued to start reading my first book of hers.

My curiosity of her writing style and the story’s plot was what kept me reading at first, but I found midway through that I hadn’t really gained anymore understanding of the characters or where the story was going. My reading slowed down at this point.

I finished the book quickly once I picked it back up as I really wanted to know what would happen to the characters and how Kawakami would wrap things up as I had less and less pages. However, I found the ending had no solid conclusion which felt quite unsatisfying.

The more I sat with the ending, the more it made sense to me. We followed the tragic yet mundane life of a 14 year old boy, it read like his diary. It felt fitting that there was no massive plot twist or fantastical point to the story as it is just the story of a school boy.

You want justice and revenge for the characters as you carry the weight of their sadness throughout the story, but for me, the conclusion came when the boy finally told everything to his mum and no longer kept his sadness hidden. It felt like he finally found the reason in his life that he was consistently questioning.

The loose ends are frustrating as a reader being left with no solid answers, however I can appreciate the sense of normality and humanness.

I did love Kawakami’s style of writing in how she is very direct and doesn’t sugar coat things. The bluntness felt refreshing than flowery writing, especially with such topics. One major take away was how the characters described themselves as weak and the bullies as strength but despite such horrific troubles they endured, they stayed true to their morals of what is right and wrong even when given every reason not too, and I think is stronger than anything. There are many conflicts like that throughout the novel which I think make her writing really interesting, despite not being given a solid conclusion.

Esta Deegan

My friend has read a few Kawakami novels and so I was really intrigued to start reading my first book of hers.

My curiosity of her writing style and the story’s plot was what kept me reading at first, but I found midway through that I hadn’t really gained anymore understanding of the characters or where the story was going. My reading slowed down at this point.

I finished the book quickly once I picked it back up as I really wanted to know what would happen to the characters and how Kawakami would wrap things up as I had less and less pages. However, I found the ending had no solid conclusion which felt quite unsatisfying.

The more I sat with the ending, the more it made sense to me. We followed the tragic yet mundane life of a 14 year old boy, it read like his diary. It felt fitting that there was no massive plot twist or fantastical point to the story as it is just the story of a school boy.

You want justice and revenge for the characters as you carry the weight of their sadness throughout the story, but for me, the conclusion came when the boy finally told everything to his mum and no longer kept his sadness hidden. It felt like he finally found the reason in his life that he was consistently questioning.

The loose ends are frustrating as a reader being left with no solid answers, however I can appreciate the sense of normality and humanness.

I did love Kawakami’s style of writing in how she is very direct and doesn’t sugar coat things. The bluntness felt refreshing than flowery writing, especially with such topics. One major take away was how the characters described themselves as weak and the bullies as strength but despite such horrific troubles they endured, they stayed true to their morals of what is right and wrong even when given every reason not too, and I think is stronger than anything. There are many conflicts like that throughout the novel which I think make her writing really interesting, despite not being given a solid conclusion.

Steph

3.5 stars. Some parts are really difficult to get through. 

Non un brutto libro, ma non credo mi resterà impresso. 

Parto dalle cose positive. Dalla seconda opera che leggo di Kawakami, riconfermo il giudizio che avevo dato per Seni e Uova: credo sia molto in grado di rappresentare le emozioni e le storie di chi subisce un'ingiustizia perché semplicemente si ritrova a distaccarsi dai percorsi predefiniti di una cultura che li impone troppo stretti o troppo dritti. Il tema del bullismo viene espresso senza essere addolcito o romanticizzato, passo falso comune che spesso ho visto compiere in chi prova a raccontarlo al cinema o nei libri. E in linea con questo concetto, non percorre la ricerca di un finale falsamente felice, né tragico, ma di uno sviluppo "medio" e "reale" in situazioni come questa. Mi ha fatto innervosire e arrabbiare, come probabilmente prevedeva la scrittrice, ma credo che questo sia dovuto più al fatto che parli intensamente dei soprusi che vengono subiti dai due protagonisti che a un modo particolarmente geniale di raccontare la storia. Rimangono molti non-detti sui "carnefici" della vicenda, altra cosa che ho apprezzato: il "perché" un bullo si ritrovi a rifare il bullo non è spiegato. Mentre leggevo, anche io come "Occhi Storti" (di cui, peraltro, non viene mai rivelato il nome) avrei voluto sapere quali fossero le ragioni personali dei bulli per comportarsi male. Non fornendole, Kawakami contribuisce a trasmettere la sensazione che probabilmente il bambino provava, altra narrazione interessante sul bullismo. Ergo, viene anche deromanticizzata la visione di "bullo in quanto tormentato, traumatizzato".

Ho iniziato così, in maniera non del tutto positiva, questa recensione, perché lo stile narrativo non mi ha preso particolarmente, al netto delle bellissime pagine conclusive. Resta comunque una fotografia interessante di un fenomeno ancora troppo diffuso.

"Everything that I could see was beautiful. I cried and cried, standing there, surrounded by that beauty, even though I wasn’t standing anywhere. I could hear the sound of my own tears. Everything was beautiful. Not that there was anyone to share it with, anyone to tell. Just the beauty."

Emiliano

Non un brutto libro, ma non credo mi resterà impresso. 

Parto dalle cose positive. Dalla seconda opera che leggo di Kawakami, riconfermo il giudizio che avevo dato per Seni e Uova: credo sia molto in grado di rappresentare le emozioni e le storie di chi subisce un'ingiustizia perché semplicemente si ritrova a distaccarsi dai percorsi predefiniti di una cultura che li impone troppo stretti o troppo dritti. Il tema del bullismo viene espresso senza essere addolcito o romanticizzato, passo falso comune che spesso ho visto compiere in chi prova a raccontarlo al cinema o nei libri. E in linea con questo concetto, non percorre la ricerca di un finale falsamente felice, né tragico, ma di uno sviluppo "medio" e "reale" in situazioni come questa. Mi ha fatto innervosire e arrabbiare, come probabilmente prevedeva la scrittrice, ma credo che questo sia dovuto più al fatto che parli intensamente dei soprusi che vengono subiti dai due protagonisti che a un modo particolarmente geniale di raccontare la storia. Rimangono molti non-detti sui "carnefici" della vicenda, altra cosa che ho apprezzato: il "perché" un bullo si ritrovi a rifare il bullo non è spiegato. Mentre leggevo, anche io come "Occhi Storti" (di cui, peraltro, non viene mai rivelato il nome) avrei voluto sapere quali fossero le ragioni personali dei bulli per comportarsi male. Non fornendole, Kawakami contribuisce a trasmettere la sensazione che probabilmente il bambino provava, altra narrazione interessante sul bullismo. Ergo, viene anche deromanticizzata la visione di "bullo in quanto tormentato, traumatizzato".

Ho iniziato così, in maniera non del tutto positiva, questa recensione, perché lo stile narrativo non mi ha preso particolarmente, al netto delle bellissime pagine conclusive. Resta comunque una fotografia interessante di un fenomeno ancora troppo diffuso.

"Everything that I could see was beautiful. I cried and cried, standing there, surrounded by that beauty, even though I wasn’t standing anywhere. I could hear the sound of my own tears. Everything was beautiful. Not that there was anyone to share it with, anyone to tell. Just the beauty."

Nadine MacDonald

another review said it best: “so much emotion in such a short story” super sad, did cry a lot at one point. bullying is horrible

ajay ilangovan

that was truly sad and weird (ideologies and actions) with the fourteen-year olds. which made me rethink every aspects of the dominance and submission that momose said, that felt something off. overall mieko made it work with the intentions and the language. kojima, huh.what a nice kid.🥲 wish everything was just a dream. a good translation though.

sanedarling

«Mieko Kawakami es un genio.» Naoise Dolan «Una historia profundamente inquietante y magistralmente narrada sobre la violencia adolescente.» Vogue «Desgarradora.» TIME «Nunca podré olvidar la sensación de puro asombro que sentí cuando leí por primera vez a Mieko Kawakami. Impresionante. Es una autora que está creciendo y evolucionando sin cesar.» Haruki Murakami El narrador sin nombre de esta novela es un chico de catorce años que sufre constantes burlas por tener su estrabismo. Incapaz de enfrentarse a los matones del instituto, intenta, sin éxito, pasar desapercibido. La única persona que entiende lo que está viviendo es una compañera de clase, Kojima, víctima también de todo tipo de humillaciones a manos del resto. Dándose mutuamente consuelo en el momento de sus vidas que más lo necesitan, los dos jóvenes se acercan más que nunca. Pero, ¿cuál es, en última instancia, la naturaleza de una amistad cuando el vínculo que comparten es el miedo? Tan dura como tierna, escrita con la sensibilidad necesaria como para ofrecer un agudo retrato de la vida en el instituto y una mirada íntima a la adolescencia, Heaven es una novela de múltiples capas que se erige como otro testimonio deslumbrante del talento de Mieko Kawakami, considerada una de las autoras jóvenes más importantes de la actualidad, apadrinada por Haruki Murakami.

Neznam dal je do prijevoda, dal bi mi bila bolja da sam na engleskom čitala, ali nekako mi je baš neuvjerljiva.

Eva Cace

this book is bittersweet and rather more bitter than sweet,this has many detailed descriptions of a really bothering thing and i guess its for the character?.i dont really know.this book is good,but i dont wanna read it again

maher

god it’s so crazy to me that these things actually happen irl (long overdue review)

meeting these two characters that had so much to say, and share, i feel like it’s not about whose view was correct, it was understanding that they had their own stand, in order to survive their world. 

this book make me feel something idk, like that hollow feeling when you finished a good books or good movie just makes you think you know that feeling, yeah

𓃠

this book made me feel so many things i think it broke me 

ayoni

when i finished heaven, i just stared at the ceiling for about an hour. the last few chapters left me feeling heart-wrenched in a way i wasn't prepared for. this book felt so personal—i highlighted so many passages that shifted the way i think. mieko kawakami is a brilliant writer who gives meaning to her stories in such a subtle way, letting us absorb it without directly spelling it out. for me, heaven is a masterpiece. i want to read it again, but i don't know if i can—it left me feeling hollow, a reminder of how cruel people can be.

one of my favorite passages (and i have many) is this:

“Coincidence is all there is. That’s how the world works. I’m not just talking about you getting bullied. Does anything in the world ever happen for a reason? Pretty sure the answer’s no. Yeah, once it’s happened, you can come up with all kinds of explanations that look like they make perfect sense. But everything starts from nothing. Always. You were born for no reason, and the same for me. There’s no reason for us to be here. But there are these, I don’t know, tendencies. Sometimes you just want to do something. You get these, like, urges. Like you want to punch someone, or kick someone, whoever happens to be there. The only reason those things happened to you is that you were around when someone was looking for someone to punch. That’s all.”

that line broke me. this is definitely one of my favorite books—it made me feel emotions i didn’t even know i was capable of feeling.

when i finished heaven, i just stared at the ceiling for about an hour. the last few chapters left me feeling heart-wrenched in a way i wasn't prepared for. this book felt so personal—i highlighted so many passages that shifted the way i think. mieko kawakami is a brilliant writer who gives meaning to her stories in such a subtle way, letting us absorb it without directly spelling it out. for me, heaven is a masterpiece. i want to read it again, but i don't know if i can—it left me feeling hollow, a reminder of how cruel people can be.

one of my favorite passages (and i have many) is this:

“Coincidence is all there is. That’s how the world works. I’m not just talking about you getting bullied. Does anything in the world ever happen for a reason? Pretty sure the answer’s no. Yeah, once it’s happened, you can come up with all kinds of explanations that look like they make perfect sense. But everything starts from nothing. Always. You were born for no reason, and the same for me. There’s no reason for us to be here. But there are these, I don’t know, tendencies. Sometimes you just want to do something. You get these, like, urges. Like you want to punch someone, or kick someone, whoever happens to be there. The only reason those things happened to you is that you were around when someone was looking for someone to punch. That’s all.”

that line broke me. this is definitely one of my favorite books—it made me feel emotions i didn’t even know i was capable of feeling.

fara

insane. i had fun reading it, it completely blew my mind, though. the narrations and scenes are quite shocking. this is tragic, to be very honest, and it makes us think deeply. overall, it isn't a story about “everything will be fine" or whatever but about how humans find meaning or lack of meaning in suffering. so yeah, absolute cinema. 

'Mieko Kawakami is a genius' Naoise Dolan, author of Exciting Times From the bestselling author of Breasts and Eggs and international literary sensation Mieko Kawakami comes a sharp and illuminating novel about a fourteen-year-old boy subjected to relentless bullying. In Heaven, a fourteen-year-old boy is tormented for having a lazy eye. Instead of resisting, he chooses to suffer in silence. The only person who understands what he is going through is a female classmate, Kojima, who experiences similar treatment at the hands of her bullies. Providing each other with immeasurable consolation at a time in their lives when they need it most, the two young friends grow closer than ever. But what, ultimately, is the nature of a friendship when your shared bond is terror? Unflinching yet tender, sharply observed, intimate and multi-layered, this simple yet profound novel stands as yet another dazzling testament to Mieko Kawakami's uncontainable talent. There can be little doubt that it has cemented her reputation as one of the most important young authors at work today. 'An expertly told, deeply unsettling tale of adolescent violence' Vogue Translated from the Japanese by David Boyd and Sam Bett.

rip kierkegaard u would’ve loved the theme of this novel 

mims

my first book EVER (like novel-wise) it left me empty and its so emotional, this book made me fell in love with reading, Mieko Kawakami’s writing style is beautiful. its also fairly relateable as a teenager trying to understand myself

I really enjoyed this book, especially as someone who was bullied in middle school- differently than the two characters in the book but a lot of the feelings were so similar. It hit hard. 

Katie Berges 

Can hardly recall how many times I said “Kasian banget” and “Gak kuat bacanya ya Allah” while reading.

gitsa

I don't know how to feel about this book. It had its good parts and bad parts. I feel like I need to digest it a little bit and reorganise my thoughts. But here's a first impression:

It started really well and I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of it. 

What left me confused is that I am not quite sure where this book was trying to go in some passages. It felt like it was pulling us to something but then led us nowhere. Maybe that is simply a way to symbolize the harsh bullying these kids endured and their jumbled headspaces. 

- There was something interesting about Momose's character revelation. We knew that he was a bystander throughout the entire torture sessions but in the beginning, it seemed there was a deeper reason to it. The dialogue that he has with the main character left me speechless. I was like "wow... what a psycho". The fact that in this world there are so many people like him, that have no regard/ sympathy towards what they deem as strangers and see everything in such a black and white way. Scary, sad and revolting.

Marta

I don't know how to feel about this book. It had its good parts and bad parts. I feel like I need to digest it a little bit and reorganise my thoughts. But here's a first impression:

It started really well and I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of it. 
What left me confused is that I am not quite sure where this book was trying to go in some passages. It felt like it was pulling us to something but then led us nowhere. Maybe that is simply a way to symbolize the harsh bullying these kids endured and their jumbled headspaces. 

Scattered thoughts: 

- There was something interesting about Momose's character revelation. We knew that he was a bystander throughout the entire torture sessions but in the beginning, it seemed there was a deeper reason to it. The dialogue that he has with the main character left me speechless. I was like "wow... what a psycho". The fact that in this world there are so many people like him, that have no regard/ sympathy towards what they deem as strangers and see everything in such a black and white way. Scary, sad and revolting.

- The bullying scenes are quite graphic and really break your heart. Makes you feel almost helpless, wanting to desperately help these characters. 

- Kojima's free spirit. 

- The masturbation scenes were some of the scenes that I personally saw as extremely unexpected and borderline unnecessary. I think I can understand where they come from but I just felt uncomfortable reading that and left me wondering "why?". I get it but she writes graphically so it can be quite jarring.





hana

Millie 💌

makes you think how much you loathe this world 

Looking back at this book, I did not like it as much as I used to. Maybe it’s because of translation? I can’t exactly put my finger on it. Personally I no longer understand the point of this novel because the ending was hard to interpret. One could say that it’s about the combination of psychological and physical bullying which is known  in Japan, but the ending gave me more questions and left bad taste. You could maybe say it’s open to interpretation on purpose to keep you thinking, but i’ve done the thinking, and I’m not sure I like this book anymore. It’s like a sandwich with like good middle but super flimsy, bitter, old bread.

Heaven

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