Taylor Drew reviewed A Single Rose by Muriel Barbery
Kyoto (Japanese) Exoticism: The Novel
2 stars
This book was insufferable. Beautifully written, but the content itself was absolutely insufferable. I'm so mad that the words were so pretty, but the meaning so bland.
This book basically follows a French woman in her 30s whose gone to Japan to read the will of her late father, a Japanese man who she's never met. He worked with artisans, poets, and the like, so he was very wealthy and very well connected in Kyoto--which sounds like an interesting premise, but what it ends up reading like is intense exotification and romanticization of Kyoto and Japan at large (because that's what it's doing). It also leans very hard into Japanese exceptionalism, which is really icky.
I believe there are people who feel this way about Japan, and it does seem that the author spent some time in Kyoto, so maybe that's the root of this weird vibe that's …
This book was insufferable. Beautifully written, but the content itself was absolutely insufferable. I'm so mad that the words were so pretty, but the meaning so bland.
This book basically follows a French woman in her 30s whose gone to Japan to read the will of her late father, a Japanese man who she's never met. He worked with artisans, poets, and the like, so he was very wealthy and very well connected in Kyoto--which sounds like an interesting premise, but what it ends up reading like is intense exotification and romanticization of Kyoto and Japan at large (because that's what it's doing). It also leans very hard into Japanese exceptionalism, which is really icky.
I believe there are people who feel this way about Japan, and it does seem that the author spent some time in Kyoto, so maybe that's the root of this weird vibe that's going on. But I think it's gross. You can't describe a whole entire nation of peoples using old poetry and aesthetics. Japan may be special to individuals because of specific personal experiences, but it's not especially unique in any particular way. The fact that this narrative still happens is very strong evidence that the Japan propaganda game is still very strong. Poetry is beautiful. Calligraphy and traditional pottery methods are beautiful. Temples are beautiful, but Japan isn't going to save your life by being special, because it's not some magical realm unique in the world at large. These types of narratives are infuriating.
Having somebody go to Kyoto for the first time and be dragged around without being given any information to temples throughout the city to have some kind of "awakening" isn't romantic or meaningful, it's weird and deeply uncomfortable. Being treated like a child and being forced to go on some aesthetic journey before you read your father's will is some weird power play shit.
Absolutely insufferable. This is exactly why I tend to avoid reading books that take place in Japan and weren't originally in Japanese to begin with. I can't even begin to comprehend how anybody feels this way about anything.