#Paris In July Âme brisée

- Author: Akira Mizubayashi (1951)
- Genre: novel
- Title: Âme brisée
- Published: 2019
- #ParisInJuly
- This is a novel written by a french speaking Japanese.
- I found the language uncomplicated even simple
- …and very, very easy to read.
- This would be an excellent choice for a high-school level french reader.
- Weak point: mood, it represents the emotional quality of a story.
- I found every page filled to the brim with nostalgia, heartache,
- and a longing to make sense of a family’s past.
- It was just too much.
- Strong point: sentimentality…if that’s what you are looking for!
- Readers need to care about the story and the characters
- and taping into emotions is the way to go.
- Unfortunately, I did NOT care about the Japanses Rei (son), Yu (father)
- … and the Chinese Lieutenant Kurokami.
- Weak point: pace…the book had too many scenes that simply aren’t going anywhere.
- Many pages to describe playing the violin, deep emotional reaction to classical
- music by Schubert and Bach and scratching a dog behind its ear!
- Weak point: Mizubayashi does not spare himself by releasing a waterfall
- of details (…about music and the violin) that managed to kill all my interest.
Last thoughts:
- Seduced by the cover
- …I expected to swept away by the story.
- It just did not happen.
- Prix des libraires 2020 is incomprehensible!
- Message: don’t judge a book by its cover….ever again!
- #Décevant….disappointing
4 Comments
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I guess we can’t love every book we read right?
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It’s too bad this one was a disappointment.
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What a shame! I do enjoy japanese literature, and the french fusion couldve been good – but I appreciate your honest review.
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There is a great book written in French infused with Viet Nam in the writing! I would recommend this absolutely a stunning book … RU by Canadian/Vietnamese Kim Thúy. Ru. In Vietnamese it means lullaby; in French it is a small stream, but also signifies a flow–of tears, blood, money. It is a very easy read in French…and also available in English…just 144 pages.
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