It’s only natural that Namima, a woman betrayed, should also look for revenge… Izanami is still there, seeking revenge on her husband by taking the lives of a thousand humans each day.
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It’s here that she meets Izanami and learns of the goddess’ own story, becoming her servant. In an attempt to evade this fate, Namima becomes involved with Mahito, a young man from a family cursed for having seven consecutive sons, but her efforts are doomed to failure, and before too long she finds herself entering the realm of the dead. Namima’s elder sister Kamikuu is to become the next Oracle, the wise woman who prays for the safe return of the male fishermen, but this means that the younger sister also has her destiny mapped out for her – and it’s not quite as enticing. You see, on a small island with strict customs, your fate is determined by the family you are born into. Now I make my home among the dead, here in this realm of darkness. Born on an island far, far to the south, I was barely sixteen when I died. My name is Namima – “Woman-Amid-the-Waves”. However, from her very first words we learn of the sorrow to come: Set in ancient times, the book takes us to Japan’s most far-flung island, where the narrator, Namima, is growing up in a tropical paradise. It’s this story that Kirino works from in her 2008 novel The Goddess Chronicle (translated by Rebecca Copeland). However, their life together came to a close when Izanami was hurt giving birth to the god of fire, and she eventually ended up trapped in the underworld as the goddess of the realm of death. The first gods to take human form, they created the islands of Japan, and many minor deities, with Izanami actually giving birth to them (an interesting take on the idea of a mother country, with the goddess actually being the country’s mother…). One of the most famous of the Japanese creation myths is the story of Izanami and Izanaki (often written as Izanagi). It’ll be a familiar story for many, but once again there’s a rather feminist slant to it all…
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The latest stop on our journey through female writing in Japan sees her looking back into pre-history. Natsuo Kirino is better known in English for her crime fiction, such as the gory thriller Out, but she obviously also has an interest in other genres. a triumph.After our last post helped us finish the millennium in style, today’s review sees us moving on with the first review from this century. It is one of the most unexpected and playful novels to emerge from Japan in recent years. In her wildly far-reaching tale of relations between gods and men, men and women, life and death, darkness and light, Natsuo Kirino tells a peripatetic, global, and truly satisfying love story of how it is to be human - STELLA DUFFY
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a tantalising introduction to an unfamiliar creation myth * * The Idle Woman * * Dark and elemental, it's the perfect kind of tale for Kirino's pen. Natsuo Kirino eloquently reveals that far from being the weaker sex, women shoulder responsibilities that men are not strong enough to bear * * Washington Independent Review of Books * *Īn eerie tale of joy and sorrow, light and darkness, love and vengeance. In telling Namima's story, the author reworks the ancient tale of Izanami and Izanaki into one of female solidarity and determined strength.
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a compelling tale, with foundations in an allegory-rich fable that more than deserves its rejuvenation * * Independent on Sunday * *Ī dark and lovely feminist retelling of the Japanese creation myth * * NPR * *Įnthralling. Lyrical, with an impelling storyline that demands attention. prepared to push the human limits of this world. Kirino's retelling is a taut, disturbing and timeless tale, filled with rage and pathos for the battles that women have to fight every day, battles which have, apparently, existed from the moment of creation - TAN TWAN ENG * * Guardian * *ĭaring and disturbing.