First of 20: All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami

This is my first book I've read for The Twenty Books of Summer.

I’m really glad that I happened upon a positive, very brief review of Japanese author Mieko Kawakami’s recently translated novel, All the Lovers in the Night, which was published in a Europa edition in 2022. I knew nothing about Kawakami prior to discovering this book, but after reading it, I’ve searched for more information about her and her work. Kawakami’s most well-known novel is Breast and Eggs.

     Before I describe my wonderful experience with this book, I want to say that the title utterly baffles me, based on my reading of the book and what it is about. So I wonder: Is this a translation of the original Japanese title of the novel? Really? Or, is it, as happens all too frequently, a title slapped on by the publisher, all because a strict Japanese translation of the title would mean nothing to English language readers?

     So, no, I feel I can say with purpose, that this is most assuredly not a book about lovers in the night.

     It is, however, a book about a single woman in her mid-thirties, who lives an incredibly solitary life in the midst of a large city. She works as a copy-editor/proofreader. Her work hours are long and are spent scrutinizing manuscripts for errors, a job that occupies her for 10-14 hours a day, depending. She has no true friends, no family or social life, nor does she have any leisure time activities. She has a television, but never watches because she hates the noise. She appears to be an empty shell. Actually, I was spellbound that this was the sum total of her existence. How can a person live like this and survive?

     What’s fascinating is to observe her slow, plodding, and messy efforts to break out, which creates all the dramatic tension. I was wholly absorbed by everything she tried and her flawed attempts. Brilliantly portrayed by Kawakami.

     She does meet a nice man, in his late fifties, who becomes a catalyst. I loved how this entire relationship was handled.

     I highly recommend this novel.