Book Review: Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami

´Forget about readers, I rarely have friends´.

The voice of Japanese women writers is becoming strong and particularly complex lately as it attacks nonchalantly former taboos topics, such womanhood in the society while praises the wild independence of the body and the soul. Mieko Kawakami that I´ve discovered two years ago, is one of them.

After reaching the end of Breasts and Eggs - I had the book in its audio version - I needed a break. A break to figure out what I really think about the book. It is dense and attacks frontally so many women-related topics that you don´t have to be necessarily Japanese - although a middle knowledge about women in Japan is required - to be in sync with the ideas and challenges.

The women from this book, which is made up of two different novellas - but I will not keep copying and pasting from the description as I think this is not an important part of the story - are on the forefront of their lives: single mothers, single by choice, women without men and not interested to negotiate their lack of sexual interest. And what a time to be alive, when you can even get pregnant and be a mother - the highest traditional label a woman can aspire to - without a man. 

The diversity of voices and women is overwhelming and makes it easily to identify at least with one of them. Or rather, to the limitations and stumble blocks a woman has to overcome in order to move further or simply live their lives as genuine human beings. In the words of one of the characters, a woman cannont become a Budha, she needs to get reborn as a man first. 

I´ve read in the last months many books - mostly literary works - that deal with the women social and physiological status and their limitations but Breasts and Eggs is definitely covering all and even more aspects of this condition. It shakes to the ground your beliefs and safety in order to rebuilt it again on a better, self-oriented basis. Maybe you want to have children and enjoy your family life while being offered the social status and stability through your man, but it is all you ever wanted? Can you beat the worm of doubt any more after reading this book? I would be so curious to read more by Mieko Kawakami, maybe not necessarily about the woman condition only...

Rating: 4 stars