Heaven

(Paperback)

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SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2022 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. Hailed as a bold foray into new literary territory, Kawakami's novel is told in the voice of a fourteen-year-old student subjected to relentless torment for having a lazy eye. Instead of resisting, the boy suffers 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. The young friends meet in secret in the hopes of avoiding any further attention and take solace in each other's company, completely unaware that their relationship has not gone unnoticed by their bullies . . . Kawakami's simple yet profound new work stands as a dazzling testament to her literary talent. Here, she asks us to question the fate of the meek in a society that favours the strong, and the lengths that even children will go in their learned cruelty. 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. Translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd. PRAISE FOR HEAVEN 'Mieko Kawakami is always ceaselessly growing and evolving' - Haruki Murakami, author of Norwegian Wood 'Mieko Kawakami is a genius' - Naoise Dolan, author of Exciting Times 'An expertly told, deeply unsettling tale of adolescent violence' - Vogue

Reviews

Taking two outcast teens as its unhappy protagonists, it is an expertly told, deeply unsettling tale of adolescent violence that will, no doubt, only grow the author's fan base * Vogue *
This is the real magic of Heaven, which shows us how to think about morality as an ongoing, dramatic activity. -- Merve Emre * New Yorker *
To read Heaven, by the author of Breasts and Eggs, and newly translated into English from Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd, is to bear witness to an unrelenting horror film of one boys youth * The Washington Post *
The second novel to appear in English by the bestselling Japanese author Mieko Kawakami is tauter and even more perceptive than its predecessor . . . Heaven is less than half the length and holds double the emotional force * New Statesman *
For me this is a perfect novel, and one I know I will return to before long -- Megan Nolan, author of Acts of Desperation
Heaven is a thoughtful novel about the value of the flaws that make us who we are * Literary Review *
Short but assured. . .by the end, the reader is so dizzily absorbed in its visceral details and philosophical complexity that, when the twist comes, it hits you with a strange and unexpected force * Financial Times *
Impeccably translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd, the book is full of masterly set pieces of violence, scenes of senseless bullying so lucid you can almost feel the pain yourself . . . * New York Times Book Review *
Heaven is told with astonishing frankness and economy. It will cut through all your defences down to every layer of fear, isolation, hope and need youve ever felt . . . Mieko Kawakami is a genius -- Naoise Dolan
A raw, painful, and tender portrait of adolescent misery, reminiscent of both Elena Ferrante's fiction . . . I cannot, in good conscience, endorse it without a warning: This book is very likely to make you cry * NPR *
Brilliant . . . This captivating, quietly devastating book is about the relationship between two school misfits. The same vulnerabilities that expose them to their tormentors allow them to see one another with a pure sort of attention -- Megan Nolan * New Statesman *
In this horror film, oblivious authority figures walk on by as you grope for breath, wondering what it even means to be alive and free * Independent *
Simple and profound, Heaven is an undeniable masterpiece -- Mitsuyoshi Numano
A poignant odyssey into the haunted caverns of adolescence . . . Kawakami writes with jagged, visceral beauty about those early antagonists we carry around in our heads, scars we bear into adulthood, caught in the undertow of hormones and sorrow * Oprah Daily *
Mieko Kawakami pulls from the all too familiar places we learn to accept as normal in our youth and gives them to us to reflect on as adults in a painful yet necessary way. Even if we could never learn the absolute truths behind humans' capacity for violence as well as empathy, we are certainly closer now with Heaven -- An Yu, author of Braised Pork
Kawakami unflinchingly takes the reader through the abyss of depraved, dehumanizing behavior with keen psychological insight, brilliant sensitivity, and compassionate understanding. With this, the authors star continues to rise * Publishers Weekly *
Mieko Kawakami has spun a poignant tale on the theme of bullying . . . Heaven is a tour de force * Tokyo Shimbun *
Heaven covers new terrain, masterfully broadening the literary landscape * Yomiuri Shimbun *
Kawakami has a unique knack for burrowing into discomfort, and she does it in a startlingly graceful way. Like her last novelan unsparing treatise on the pressures of being a woman in male-dominated Japanthis book isnt for the fainthearted. Told from the perspective of a 14-year-old boy in present-day Japan, Kawakamis tale follows the volatile lives of two teenagers relentlessly bullied by their peers . . . An unexpected classic * Kirkus *
Rises above the philosophical questions at its depths and delivers the reader to a devastating conclusion * Elle Japan *
Kawakamis powerful and unassuming novel explores horrific accounts of bullying in a Japanese school . . . Her sensitive, evocative storytelling sets her apart as an incredible literary talent * BookList *
Kawakami is a writer who doesnt shy away from hard truths and painful experiences, so Heaven will not be an easy read, but its guaranteed to be a rewarding one * The Japan Times *
It is difficult to write young voices well: easy to forget how smart teenagers are, or to portray them in terms of what adults might wish for them. Mieko Kawakami, however, is adept at understanding their perspective and capturing the despair and intractability of those difficult years . . . As with Kawakami's previously translated work, Breasts and Eggs, this is an adroit novel of real feeling and insight from a writer who wants her readers to think for themselves -- Rnn Hession * Irish Times *
Mesmerizing . . . Kawakami is a master of the interior voice. There is something about her prose that is so immediate and pressing it blocks out the future almost as if it were a threatening force. We are forced to deal with her characters as they are living now: alone, vulnerable, and unprotected * World Literature Today *
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 * Paperback Paris *
Moving and intelligent. Kawakami gives us characters who speak to the heart and illustrate in one form or another the dilemma facing everyone in adolescence. Hopeful yet chilling in equal measures * American Booksellers Association *
Heaven takes on the issue of bullying, and why a victim might choose not to fight back. Two teenagers bond over their torment, and their passive response reveals many kinds of societal injustice * Washington Post *
This sharp new novel from Mieko Kawakami [is] a sucker-punch of a story that implores you to question even your own morality * Cosmopolitan *
With grace and clarity, Kawakami explores destructive nature of adolescent violence, and the power of empathetic friendships * The Millions *
How can a relationship really last when its foundation is built on shared experiences of humiliation The author moves toward an answer in this quietly devastating tale of middle school drama * TIME *
If you enjoyed Mieko Kawakamis brilliant Breasts and Eggs, youre certain to be astonished by her latest novel exploring violence and bullying with fierce, feminist and damning candor * Ms. Magazine *
While Kawakami refuses to give us answers, the elegance and care with which she describes her characters lives invite the reader to ask such questions of themselves. This is not a cruel story, but rather one that understands hurt and pain for what it is: universal, unjust and material for new life * BookPage *
Mieko Kawakami is the reigning queen of contemporary Japanese literature for good reason * Japan Times *
Kawakami is taking the reader by the hand and guiding us through someones small, interior life as a method of contemplating wide-ranging, universal issues such as the body, ethics, and meaning * Bad Form Review *
A poignant and unsettling look at what makes a friendship and, on a macro level, what makes an unequal society. Kawakamis writing is meticulous and assured, and Heaven leaves a bruise * The Skinny *
Exceptional -- David Hayden * White Review 'Books of the Year' *

Author Bio

Mieko Kawakami is the author of the internationally best-selling novel Breasts and Eggs, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and one of TIME's Best 10 Books of 2020, and the highly-acclaimed Heaven, her second novel to be translated and published in English, which Oprah Daily described as written "with jagged, visceral beauty." Born in Osaka, Japan, Kawakami made her literary debut as a poet in 2006, and in 2007 published her first novella, My Ego, My Teeth, and the World. Known for their poetic qualities, their insights into the female body, and their preoccupation with ethics and modern society, her books have been translated into over twenty languages. Kawakami's literary awards include the Akutagawa Prize, the Tanizaki Prize, and the Murasaki Shikibu Prize. She lives in Tokyo, Japan.