I didn’t realize this was a continuation of sorts of Arikawa’s previous book, THE TRAVELLING CAT CHRONICLES. But you don’t really need to have read the first book before reading this one.
A collection of stories that feature cats, this was just bursting full of feline love. Many of the cats involved are rescued cats and the stories revolve around the families they live with. The title does give a hint that there will be loss involved, so there may be some tears when you read these stories. I do think the author approached the farewells thoughtfully, her writing is simple and direct.
Maybe it was because I was ill when reading this book, or perhaps it was the unbroken long paragraphs used in the book, but reading Mild Vertigo did create this uneasy sense of claustrophobia (and some vertigo, but maybe that’s the illness talking) as I got stuck into the main character’s life and all its details.
First published in 1997, but only recently translated into English, Mild Vertigo follows Natsumi, a stay-home parent in her 30s as she goes about her daily life, tending to her family, running errands, going to the supermarket, talking to neighbors, and all the minutiae of daily life. It’s a stream of consciousness that’s both fascinating and challenging because nothing happens and yet so many details and thoughts are drawn together as we all spin along in this carousel of life.
Some readers are going to hate this book because of the way it’s written and others, because nothing much happens. But I found it intriguing, as we experience the life of a Japanese housewife in the 90s. And also by the strange and mesmerizing writing style. I felt like I had to often reorientate myself as I navigated these long continuous passages, as if to make sure I stayed on the right path and didn’t get lost in the vertigo.
“the water was flowing out of the tap, there was nothing remarkable about it — that was the whole thing, there was nothing remarkable about it whatsoever, it was an utterly ordinary thing — and yet for some unknown reason she kept staring at it, and falling, again for some unknown reason, into a kind of trance”.
Look at that cover! It is lovely and cozy and so very welcoming. The pile of books, the view out the window, the potted plant, the cute polar bear mug with tea or coffee, and the gorgeous cat.
So would it be wrong for me to have presumed that a cat would be front and center in this story? I think not! I also checked out the covers of a few other international editions of the book, which also have cats.
Ultimately, I was disappointed by the lack of cats in this book. There are cats only in the second chapter, which features a bookshop that sells coffee, books about cats, and has resident cats that wander around, which sounds absolutely delightful. But alas, no cats actually live at the library, and neither was the librarian a talking cat (hey this is Japanese lit, anything can happen – see, THE CAT WHO SAVED BOOKS by Sosuke Natsukawa).
On the other hand, if you were looking for a book that doesn’t necessarily feature cats, this book features a small community library and a librarian whose book recommendations are absolutely spot on for the various visitors who come seeking her help, whether it be a new retiree at loss for what to do, a woman sidelined at work after having a baby, or a 30yo adrift in life.
It has BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD vibes, like THE KAMOGAWA FOOD DETECTIVES (by Hisashi Kashiwai) I read a few months back. But WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR IS IN THE LIBRARY is maybe more successful because we follow the various characters more thoroughly, seeing from their POV before they finally hit the library. It leaves you feeling warm and cozy, so it’s a perfect winter or monsoon season read, along with your hot drink in a cute mug.
The Woman in the Purple Skirt is an ordinary woman who only ever wears a purple-colored skirt. She doesn’t do anything particularly unusual or unique. She looks for work. She eats a cream bun while sitting on a park bench. She seems to barely make ends meet.
Our narrator isn’t the Woman in the Purple Skirt. It’s the woman in the yellow cardigan, who watches the woman in the purple skirt, and know her life thoroughly. She seems to want to be friends with the woman in the purple skirt.
“When the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan goes out walking in the shopping district, nobody pays the slightest bit of attention. But when the Woman in the Purple Skirt goes out, it’s impossible not to pay attention. Nobody could ignore her.”
But it’s not just watching, the reader realizes. The narrator helps the woman in the purple skirt by putting out the job listing magazines at the convenience store, she drops off shampoo at her apartment to make sure her hair gets washed. She eventually finds the Woman a job at the same hotel, cleaning rooms.
This is part of her attempt to befriend the Woman, by making them colleagues at the same job. But still she watches from afar.
The Woman in the Purple Skirt becomes popular with the other employees. But the narrator remains invisible, not just to the woman but it seems to almost everyone else working there.
Some might say this book is disturbing. But I just felt this sadness for the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan. A nameless, faceless woman who nobody knows, not even the reader. The loneliness of living in a city leads her to longing for a friend, into voyeurism and idolization of an everyday person.
Real Life Reading 