Second contemporary Japanese female writer. Story of the development of a hesitant relationship between a woman and her former teacher, who meet by accident in a bar. Sensei is 25 to 30 years older than her. Like Yashimoto's book, there is a dominant theme of female character's alienation and sense of not belonging within the general society. The story can also be interpreted as a look at people within society who do not fit the accepted molds or roles. Given the amount of time characters spend getting drunk in the book, there is also a sense that the society as a whole is quite repressed and strained, and alcohol is used to loosen the strictures imposed by social norms.
I also see traces of Murakami's influence in this book, with strange surrealistic sequences as part of the narrative. In this book however, the surrealistic elements are presented as dreams of the characters.
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