The End of the Moment We Had

Book Review: The End of the Moment We Had by Toshiki Okada

A quick read composed of two novellas, perhaps along the lines of Haruki Murakami's "After Dark", fairly well-delivered.

Though definitely not everyone's cup of tea, it candidly touches on aspects uniquely Japanese.

The herd mentality. Play golf, vacation in Hawaii, pay exorbitant prices for brand names, do because other do. Take the train and be boisterous, go clubbing (for whatever purpose, i.e. protest "Bush's war in Iraq"), although unaffordable and everyone's on Dutch treat. There's no such thing as "it's my shout!" in these Japanese scenarios unless the tab's on business.

Love hotels, abundant in Japan mainly due to the lack of privacy in living quarters, usually a "LDK", a small room serving as living, dining, kitchen and futon bedroom at night. No such thing as "your place or mine" in Japan. So a month's rent for a couple of nights stay at a love hotel which one can barely afford is the norm.

"Arbaito" the prevalence of temporary, part-time labor renewed periodically ostensibly to cut on employee benefits, and how this impacts in the novellas, the tight cash situation of the young man in the first story and of the husband and wife in the second one. The young lady in the first story may be presumed as slightly better salaried as an office girl of some sort.

And finally, the "Hikikomori" syndrome in Japan (Japanese: ひきこもり or 引き籠り, lit. "pulling inward, being confined", i.e., "acute social withdrawal") described as reclusive adolescents or adults who withdraw from social life, often seeking extreme degrees of isolation and confinement afflicting the wife in the second story.

Perhaps the writer endeavored to portray what goes through the mental state of a hikikomori in early, pre-hermetic stages.

This review is based on an ARC (Advance Reading Copy), with many thanks to NetGalley, Pushkin Press and Toshiki Okada for the privilege.

I love discovering new to me authors and I was glad when I read this very well written and well told story. I love discovering a new author's voice and this author did not disappoint. I was engrossed and entertained by both stories so this should definitely be picked up and savored. Looking forward to reading more by this author. Happy reading!

I feel like grouping this short novel with another short novel from Japan that came out at the same time (Convenience Store Woman)- and I do wonder, is this a trend? If so, more please!

It is the eve of the Iraq War and two characters end up spending almost a week together in a love hotel, but there are encounters with other people on both sides of that story. The author shifts from one perspective to another, and this fills in the story in a lot of ways, and I enjoyed the different versions and unexpressed thoughts, especially in a culture like Japan.

The encounters are short, the long-term is not explored, but I enjoyed this quick read.

Both of the Novellas are quick reads. The first one is a about a couple spending four days in a love hotel on the eve of the Iraq War. They know they will just have these four days and together and will never see each other again. The prose switches viewpoints and rambles just like conversation in between having sex. I enjoyed the ending. The second story takes place during one day as a wife reflects on her life and marriage. I did not enjoy this story as much as since I did not care for the wife. Both stories concern solitude and isolation. I liked the first story better than the second one. The writing is very good and the author has a gift for language. Enjoy

Thank you for the opportunity to review - this echoed emotionally and was fascinating prose. Time well spent and a good read.