Heaven Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize

I don't want to say much about this book, because I think you're better off getting thrown into the unknown. I will just leave you with this; this book is not a wholesome friendship story. It is certainly not a love story. It is a painful walk into the mind of an adolescent social outcast and reading this book makes you feel like you're witnessing something so intimate, you almost want to look away. But Kawakami never lets you look away.

Jeder Tag, den der vierzehn Jahre alte Junge in der Schule verbringt, wird begleitet von Schlägen, Beleidigungen und dem psychischen Druck der entsteht, wenn man nirgends dazu gehört. Mieko Kawakami erzeugt in "Heaven" eine Athmosphäre des Mitleids, des Ekels, der Wut und der Trauer. Sie spielt mit den Gefühlen ihres Protagonisten und denen aller Lesenden. Doch in all der Dunkelheit, die den Jungen umgibt, beginnt ein schwaches Licht zu flackern. Kojima, ein Mädchen aus seiner Klasse, deren Schickal dem des Jungen ähnelt, beginnt Briefe zu schreiben, beginnt Hoffnung zu schenken. Wie hell aber kann ein so kleines Licht im Dunkel des Lebens leuchten? Mit viel Hingabe nimmt die Autorin mit in gesellschaftliche Abgründe und bringt bewegendes hervor. Ein großartiges Buch voll Schmerz, Überwältigung und Sprachlosigkeit, voll tragischen Wendungen.

Mieko Kawakami is widely known for her courage to write shockingly honest about topics that are very sensitive and rather kept silent than brought out into the light of day. In her latest novel, she features a 14-year-old boy ("Eyes") in middle-school, who is brutally bullied by his classmates because of his lazy right eye (hence his nickname). While suffering silently and bravely enduring mental and physical attacks, he finally finds a friend in Kojima, who is also bullied because of the way she wilfully neglects bodily hygiene (for which there is a reason). However, while Kojima is consoled by the fact that Eyes is suffering with her, Eyes himself is drifting into ever darker thoughts and even struggles with suicidal tendencies. Even though I couldn't put the book down and just had to keep on reading until the end, I was more than challenged by Eyes' experiences and felt completely heart-broken in the face of all the cruelness he and Kojima have to endure. In spite of the serious subject-matter though, Kawakami possesses the talent to also shine her narrative light on everything that makes life worth living. That is why the book has left me hopeful even though it was very painful to read about the far-reaching consequences of ruthless bullying.

This book cut me into pieces, glued me back together and ripped me apart again. Kawakami explores the brutal world of two bullied teens in Japan. They form a bond that still makes my heart ache when I think about them. So don't let the title fool you, nothing about this book will make you feel like you're in heaven. Many don't like the ending... I think it makes perfect, (almost) gruesome sense. It made me feel so empty but full at the same time- truely an indescribable feeling.

don’t let the title mislead you. not much about this book feels like heaven. it’s a heavy one, especially if you haven’t read "a little life" yet. quiet, cruel, and kind of cold. but in that way that makes you keep thinking about it. not for the plot girlies, more for the ones who like to sit in the sadness a bit.