“Whether it had been for the best was not something I as yet fully understood. I only knew that, right now, sitting in the strong sunlight, its lingering memory in my breast was very painful. It hurt so much I could barely breathe.”

Just finished reading “Kitchen” and its companion story, “Moonlight Shadow” by Banana Yoshimoto. I had picked up this book from the library because I’ve seen Banana Yoshimoto’s name pop up a few times in lists like “contemporary Japanese writers” or “top ten Japanese writers.” But anyway what struck me the most is how sad this book is. I feel like there’s more death than life in this. It’s strange too because the book is almost therapeutic , I would say, since it allows the reader through the eyes of Mikage, Yoichi, Satsuki, Urara, and Hiiragi to experience death. I believe that what this book does beautifully is illustrate how death, while a part of life, can lead to some irrationality. Whether that irrationality be falling in love…or wearing your dead girlfriend’s school uniform