Heaven: A Novel

This novel is hard to read at times, because of the vicious bullying that takes place at a middle school. The victims are a nameless boy with a lazy eye — and a girl named Kajima who keeps herself deliberately dirty for weirdly symbolic and philosophical reasons. The two victims become friends, a strange friendship born of weakness and suffering.Kajima’s musings about the human condition are quite bizarre, as is a long discourse by one of the bullies on why bullying is justified and perfectly natural. I wasn’t sure what to make of all this. But just as Heaven is hard to take, it’s also hard to put down.Mieko Kawakami seems to have a penchant for not giving her main character a name. I wonder, is this to let us merge with the character? Whatever the reason, never saying the boy’s name is a tour de force of some sort.I loved Ms. Ice Sandwich. Heaven is a far less comfortable read, but still compelling. Kawasaki’s characters are truly unique individuals — totally convincing and inescapably appealing.

Heaven is a powerful and disturbing book about bullying. It is also about endurance. There are some profound observations and an examination of what victims of bullying may be thinking. We also get a glimpse into the thinking of one of the bullies.I always tell my students to look for the helpers and upstanders when witnessing or reading about horrible events. Sadly, there are no upstanders in this book. Two students that are being bullied find each other. They have several discussions about strength and weakness. How hurting and crying are different. These quotes are a good representation of the types of exchanges between the characters and one of their interpretations of the bullying.“The other kids, the rest of our class, they don’t understand anything. They have no idea what anything means. They don’t know how they make other people feel, and they’ve never stopped to think about other people’s pain. They’re just following along, doing what everyone else is doing.”“You think about how other people feel. You’re so kind. It makes sense. Because we’re always in pain, we know exactly what it means to hurt somebody else.”Above all, my biggest take away from Heaven is the power of the spoken and written word, to heal and to harm. One person has the power to lift someone up (bring them closer to Heaven) or knock them down (make their life Hell). I loved that the characters correspond through letters. A lost, but powerful art. Letters are physical reminders that bring the reader back to a specific time/place and connect them to the writer. Rereading and looking at those letters can bring healing and light during times of darkness and isolation.Heaven is hard to read because of the repeated, detailed episodes of bullying, but it is important to read on and bear witness, to feel discomfort and unease. For through this discomfort comes awareness and hopefully inspires a change in our world for the betterment of all.

This novel shows that a strong theme/frame and plot don't need to translate into "boring." Heaven was refreshingly well-crafted and constructed, and its coherent story was almost a relief after too many meandering works of literary fiction that can't deliver a message or an overall feeling at the end. In gymnastics terms, Kawakami not only did a beautiful routine; she stuck the landing.

In some ways, Ms. Kawakami seems to have the same sensibilities as my favorite Japanese authors like Murakami and Yoshimoto. Unfortunately, when I finished this novel, I was even more dissatisfied that I was with Breasts and Eggs.Based on what little I’ve seen in Japanese fiction, I would be hesitant to sent my child to a Japanese school. The cruelty that our young protagonist and his friend Kojima experience goes well beyond simple bullying and crosses well over into criminal behavior, and no one seems to notice or care. And all because of a lazy eye for him? It seems beyond the pale. But then, I find it difficult to enjoy stories that submit children to senseless cruelty. And I call it senseless because, at the end of this book, I did not feel the journey led to any understanding.I can content myself to a lack of understanding sometimes. The magical realism of many of Murakami’s novels places me in this state. This is a novel of brutal realism, however, and there seems so much left undone. Heaven is a painting, and we never see it, or get a glimpse of what it’s supposed to be. Maybe that’s the point. If so, I didn’t like it.

This was one of the first books I’ve read for enjoyment in a long time. It’s language is simple enough to not hurt my brain, and yet symbolic enough to make me stop and think. I never make notes on books, but after finishing this one I had to go back and break down all my thoughts on it. If you’re interested in darker stories with optimistic endings, this one’s for you. I’ve already recommended it to my friends.

It delivers way more than what's promised in the description, truly fascinating read, a sad story, but that's my kind of book.

El libro llegó rápido. La lectura es excelente, es un libro que puedes terminar en un día. La historia es cruda pero te engancha en seguida. Personalmente esperaba que fuera mucho mas trágica a tal punto de llorar pero lejos de ser trágica es impactante por el desarrollo que tiene.

It’s such a great book. It’s a contemporary literature, the message is there, feelings are presented perfectly in the book. I would totally recommend to anyone.

Very well written and translated.A moving tale of victimisation and the sense of alienation that it produces.A prolonged dialogue between the protagonist and one of his tormentors is particularly profound and moving.Excellent.

The media could not be loaded. the cover is good and i love the book. it‘s about two people, who are bullied by their classmates and how these two get to know esch other n see the world