Ruth Ozeki

My year of meats

Christine Frisbie

I seriously enjoyed this book. I went into it without really knowing what to expect, but I fell in love with Ozeki's writing and characters. Jane and Akiko are extremely different but both are very intriguing lenses to read through. I love the way the novel unfolded, so that even the smallest description or dialogue becomes something that turns the story on its head once it is unraveled. I look forward to reading more books by Ozeki.

y✦

✦ her debut novel
✦ the fiction is great
✦ luv the main chars
✦ the pillow book excerpts paralleling each chapter 💖
✦ however i felt like she was overfeeding (no pun intended) the ugly facts mid-story leaving a v bad aftertaste

charisa

the ground this book covered was kinda stupendous, in an admirable but mostly disconcerting way?? i mean, we have politically charged hallmark-esque tv programs, fertility and pregnancy issues, and antibiotic resistance commingling in a single story! to say i was confused most of the time would be an understatement lmao. 

ozeki’s signature voice is definitely the redeeming factor here; she’s unapologetic and irreverent and strikingly experimental with her writing structures as always. but what she does so well in TFATB and BOTFAE is heavily lacking here — there’s a lot less heart and a lot more prescription. 

i appreciated the insights from her interview at the end of the book where she challenges readers to refrain from shirking the intersection of their literary darlings and “politics and commerce”, buuuut i do think there needs to be a baseline of sympathy to successfully engage and exhort. jane and akiko were certainly distinct characters, but i didn’t ache for them like i did for nao or benny!! still, glad i read it, and am glad i don’t ever have strong meat cravings lmfao

(also!!! i picked up  the pillow book  at the same time, not knowing that it’s literally the backbone of my year of meats!! that has to mean something, right)

jam 🍯

Highly enjoyed this book, especially the way it blended the narrative with information about meat. How we process and deal with the truth is just as important as the truth itself, and Jane Takagi-Little's journey as a documentarian (presenter of facts) and regular human (person who has to deal with those facts) is a wonderful character to showcase that with: sometimes lost, sometimes confused, determined to move forward, even if she is unsure of where that might be.

Two extraordinary women. One all-American television show. An unforgettable novel of love, friendship, culture and food.

My Year of Meats

nora

This book really picked up in the second half. I started to care so much about the characters. Chapter 9 broke my heart. Akiko deserves everything and more. This is such a bizarre concept for a book, but Ozeki made it work. I usually don’t really vibe with epistolary form, but this was definitely an exception. Loved the Colorado rep. I related to Jane more than I’ve related to any other character, ever. Also, go wasians!! This book made me feel very seen. I love you, Ruth. I will be reading everything you write from here on out.

Kate

I certainly wouldn't call this an enjoyable book - many parts of it are brutal.* I still think it's an interesting and important one. A lot of this book is difficult to read. I still want other people to read it. I appreciate the unusual (i.e. fictional) approach to talking honestly about the meat industry. Ruth Ozeki was a documentarian before writing this book, and Jane's narration reads a lot like narrative non-fiction. The Q&A appendix with Ozeki is one of the most interesting parts of the book. 

(On a less serious note, there is an interracial vegetarian lesbian couple who live in the Pioneer Valley, which is Super Real and also wonderful [eta: just found out that Ozeki both went to Smith and taught there last fall so it makes sense that She Knows])

*I didn't even read the most awful parts about the slaughterhouse, I couldn't do it, I literally started crying as soon as they entered

In a single eye-opening year, two women, worlds apart, experience parallel awakenings. In New York, Jane Takagi-Little has landed a job producing Japanese docu-soap My American Wife! But as she researches the consumption of meat in the American home, she begins to realize that her ruthless search for a story is deeply compromising her morals. Meanwhile, in Tokyo, housewife Akiko Ueno diligently prepares the recipes from Jane's programme. Struggling to please her husband, she increasingly doubts her commitment to the life she has fallen into. As Jane and Akiko both battle to assert their individuality on opposite sides of the globe, they are drawn together in a startling story of strength, courage, love.

Jade Flynn

Ozeki's most recent novel A Tale for the Time Being is one that has stayed with me for years. There's glimpses of brilliance here but it's clear she's just not fully there yet, one thing it seems Ozeki has always excelled at is duel narratives, I always care about both plot lines equally. Looking forward to reading All Over Creation. A solid debut.

Nico J

It seems that all the aspects that left people feeling sour (just by my skimming through the reviews) made me love this book. Truthfully, it was really clinched for me at the same points it started turning people off - the unapologetic look at human ugliness. The formatting, also, the amalgamation of letters and faxes and memoir and poetry made it all the more interesting. After a few chapters, particularly the parts on the slaughter-room floor and the situation with Akiko and her husband, I had to take a break and fully put the book, well my Kindle, down for processing. Truly garish and ghastly, and deserving of further thought. It seems it's thought people can't possibly be this evil or bad, except do we not tune in to see these things happening all the time? Does media have a vested interest in "if it bleeds, it leads?" Absolutely. Does that mean these things aren't happening? No. 

Jane grappling with her role as cultural pimp is fascinating to me, and maybe it taps something I've thought about when wondering whether to pursue journalism many years ago; I didn't end up doing so for so many reasons, but I think of these same ethical dilemmas. How do you cast yourself in scenarios, and what do you affect? Will you speak, or won't you? I also think her being cast as having one foot in Japanese culture and one in American culture gives her a unique perspective to be critical and understanding at the same time. Just when I was worried the narrative would give one bent or another, events happen to add another wrinkle so you're constantly kept questioning, which I think a book should do. 

All in all, I loved this book for all the reasons it's maligned, and it raises a lot to think about.

My year of meats

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