No11 [Book] Ogawa unveils herself

“Revenge” is a book containing eleven novellas that form a composite portrait of a group of people who live in the same area. Ogawa’s style is very mundane and the reality she describes is brutal, often bloody and always sad, but the narrator weaves the thread of the narrative through common news items. Reality, as Ogawa describes it in her work, is not only the image we perceive; it has the disturbing profoundness that is sometimes unveiled when you open a door, if you look into the depths of a gaping mouth or if you try to tear out the heart of a dancer. This book is an excellent introduction to Ogawa’s prolific work for those who don’t know it already, or a way of reconnecting with her work for those who have drifted away from it. When you finally reach the last page, you will undoubtedly feel the need to go back and read from the beginning again, to try and untie the complex threads linking the different events.

Revenge
Yoko Ogawa