日本での発見 / Discoveries in Japan #28: 角田光代 / Kakuta Mitsuyo

I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to read the original book before watching the movie based on it. My discovery of Kakuta Mitsuyo (角田光代) originated from that reason, though sadly my efforts came to naught...

Kakuta Mitsuyo is a writer whose humorous and frank style I appreciate. Her novels『対岸の彼女』(2004, Woman on the Other Shore) and『八日目の蝉』(2007, The Eight Day) have been translated into English, and she also has a piece in the collection titled March Was Made of Yarn (2012).

I'd meant to read『空中庭園』(2002, Hanging Garden) before I watched the film, but I missed the library copy—so instead I read her essay collection『愛してるなんていうわけないだろ』(1996, There's No Way I'd Say I Love You) to prep myself, and after watching the movie I read her collection of novellas titled『まどろむ夜のUFO』(1996, The UFO on the Night of Restless Slumbers). Reading her works I realized how much I enjoy reading fiction and non-fiction by a writer, seeing elements from her life emerge in the world she creates (though it feels voyeuristic when it's a lonely world)...