Published By: Pushkin Press
Pages: 160
Released On: 05/03/2024
An affluent entrepreneur named A.A. Abrams sinks seemingly infinite resources into the global pursuit of a writer about whom very little is known. Abrams’ target, known as “Tomoyuki Tomoyuki,” moves from one place to another, producing work in the local language before moving on to another part of the world.
But how does Tomoyuki Tomoyuki move from one language to the next with such ease? Agents employed by the Abrams Institute attempt to make sense of the writer’s erratic movements and baffling writing habits, but come to find that within each puzzle is yet another puzzle, waiting to be unraveled. One puzzle leads to another in this delightful literary caper.
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
160 pages is a good page length for me. It sounds contradictory, but I’m not a fan of short stories as a read, but I am a fan of shorter novella lengths. Which makes no sense but I know what I mean. I like 300-400 pages as a rule, but every now and again I like to pop a smaller book in there, and this one sounded really interesting. And I love translated Japanese fiction so I had high hopes.
I love books about books, and whilst this one is a bit quirky, at the heart, that’s what it is about: books and words and writing and reading, and so that already got it one gold star for me.
It’s quite lyrical, and at times perhaps a bit too much. It becomes more about the words than the story. Having said that, that may have been a conscious decision considering what the book is about. It doesn’t negatively affect the reading as such, but it does make you more aware of the language used rather than the story it is trying to portray. Again, having said that there isn’t much in the way of story or plot, but nor is it a character style. It’s an odd one to describe.
There are a few sections to this book but in my opinion they could be from completely different hands. Yes there is the undertone plot which links them all, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason for them and it’s almost like you can forget the previous one. In fact, I couldn’t confidently say you had to read this right from the first section.
It is a strange format. It doesn’t appear to be written in the first person as such, or it’s certainly not clear whose POV it is in. It feels like it’s a retrospective piece, discussing something that has already happened. It was unclear, to me at least, whose story it was.
It’s really hard to review properly because it’s so strange. Nothing seems consistent, character names, genders, time and place, it’s all over the shop. I’m not sure I could have persisted for a long page count. I think it would need more substance for that. The way the synopsis is written, I expected more of a plot more of a mystery. But this sits in a genre of its own. Too long for a short story, but lacking in substance for a long story, but too detailed and higgledy piggledy for a novella. I’m not quite sure what he was aiming for here.
I’m also unsure about the link to butterflies. Are they real? A metaphor? An analogy? It’s anyone’s guess to be honest.
I want to say it ended a bit abruptly but considering I can’t say confidently where the beginning and the middle were, I can’t really say there was any definite way of ending it.
If you’re a fan of translated fiction like I am, I do recommend it, especially at such a short page length. But I do advise you to proceed with caution as it’s unlike any book – translated or otherwise – that I’ve read before.
It was interesting and certainly unique. It didn’t hit the same mark as other translated books I have read, but it was different and I certainly enjoyed reading it, if only to marvel at this strange way of writing.
As Winston Churchill once said, “it is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”. And I think that perfectly describes this book.
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