I saw the wind phone in one of those beautiful Japan reports that Paulien Cornelisse made. Strange Snuiters, those Japanese. You can think so, but I find it especially lovely and vulnerable. Japan is a business and competitive society and yet there is room for melancholy and sensitivity. The spiritual also has a place there.
There is a shock wave through Martin because of that one sentence: “When did you look at your parents with compassion?”
Exactly that dreamy come across the novels of Haruki Murakami. He wrote wonderful, surrealistic and sensitive stories about wandering people, looking for love and meaning. Anyone who likes those soft atmosphere can also go to the writer Banana Yoshimoto. After Kitchen Is now also her book Moshi Moshi translated.
In Japanese you only say ‘Moshi Moshi’ on the phone. It means something like ‘Hello, I am’ or ‘I listen’. Yoshie talks to her deceased father in her dreams. On the phone. “Moshi Moshi,” she tells him. Then she hears his voice in her ear, very intimate. Her father is dead, but in those dreams he is close.
In a light way you can read how Yoshie processes the loss of her father. He died in a wonderful, harrowing way. Together with a mistress, he committed suicide. But was it his own choice? His daughter remains orphaned. Her mother moves in with her, she can no longer live in their old house.
A light -hearted and loving book. © Das Mag Uitgeverij BV,
The story is certainly not only heavy and emotional. In a special way it is also light -hearted and loving. Typical for a Japanese novel: you don’t get to process a litter of grief, but mild drip that regularly breaks through the sun. So different than in an average Dutch book that is often more raw and more intense.
It is the melancholy of the famous Studio Ghibli animation films, including the famous character Totoro. Also in those cartoons (especially intended for adults), heavy themes are lovingly touched mysteriously. At the end you still have a smile on your face.
On vacation with a big pill: ‘Erasmus on your lap’
Loss, sadness and uncertainty are never far away in these types of books and films. It doesn’t get superficial. Also Moshi Moshi sometimes cuts through your soul. Rather because of what can be read between the rules. Yoshie comes to terms. Telephoning with her deceased father helps. A nice thought. Who would you like to call again?