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A review by yourstrulyemi
Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi
slow-paced
5.0
Is this my first five star of the year? A book that I randomly found one day, by typing my name in the Goodreads search bar, just for fun (and because I was bored out of my mind)? Then thinking it’s curious to meet an author called not only Emi but also Yagi which somehow is close to yaga like baba yaga, the witch in Russian folklore? And thinking, “Hey, Emi Yaga is definitely a pseudonym I could use in my next game!”
Back to this book, a serendipitous one at that, because if serendipity is not having your mind blast with colours and the happy fanfare of the inebriated march celebrating New Year while a pang of loneliness pokes at your side from the back corner, like a child you forgot to feed, effectively mirroring the average life of today’s world (Is that not the case for you? What planet are you from?) then I don’t know what else it is. After all, don’t we all want to feel seen, even if it is through what is unsaid about a woman pretending to be pregnant standing on a grey asphalt in a deserted street and finding companionship in the Virgin Mary on the stained-glass above.
As you can tell, the prose is exquisite in this one, at least to me, and this is where the translators should get the praise they’re due! And most definitely the author as well! The words were woven together so smoothly, not one wasted in this big ensemble, telling the vivid story of an impulsive sad lie that ironically peeled off Shibata’s layers one by one to reveal an even sadder truth.
Shibata is actually never honest throughout the story, she doesn’t even know what she’s feeling to begin with, but oh boy, are the feelings so imbued into her every action and thought that you feel and hear it like a wet heavy cloth being dragged around. Of course, until a chain of actions leads to another, accumulating wet cloth after wet cloth until Shibata is hit in the face by a basket of wet cold laundry, and she wakes up, or rather her heart wakes up and becomes alive again. And it’s with a new-found solution that she goes back into her work-life routine. As for what it is, it’s for you to find out.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable read and, even though it may seem too early to say this, it has cemented Emi Yagi as a favourite author and I look forward to her next book.
Back to this book, a serendipitous one at that, because if serendipity is not having your mind blast with colours and the happy fanfare of the inebriated march celebrating New Year while a pang of loneliness pokes at your side from the back corner, like a child you forgot to feed, effectively mirroring the average life of today’s world (Is that not the case for you? What planet are you from?) then I don’t know what else it is. After all, don’t we all want to feel seen, even if it is through what is unsaid about a woman pretending to be pregnant standing on a grey asphalt in a deserted street and finding companionship in the Virgin Mary on the stained-glass above.
As you can tell, the prose is exquisite in this one, at least to me, and this is where the translators should get the praise they’re due! And most definitely the author as well! The words were woven together so smoothly, not one wasted in this big ensemble, telling the vivid story of an impulsive sad lie that ironically peeled off Shibata’s layers one by one to reveal an even sadder truth.
Shibata is actually never honest throughout the story, she doesn’t even know what she’s feeling to begin with, but oh boy, are the feelings so imbued into her every action and thought that you feel and hear it like a wet heavy cloth being dragged around. Of course, until a chain of actions leads to another, accumulating wet cloth after wet cloth until Shibata is hit in the face by a basket of wet cold laundry, and she wakes up, or rather her heart wakes up and becomes alive again. And it’s with a new-found solution that she goes back into her work-life routine. As for what it is, it’s for you to find out.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable read and, even though it may seem too early to say this, it has cemented Emi Yagi as a favourite author and I look forward to her next book.