Moshi Moshi : Book review


Book Review 

Title: Moshi Moshi 
Author: Banana Yoshimoto
Genre: Fiction/Horror/translation(Japanese)

Moshi Moshi tells the story of a girl named Yocchan who has lost her father in an accident. She later realizes it was a suicide pact he had with a woman he was having an affair with. Yocchan tries to move places to seek comfort and start afresh. Later she comes across a few people who seem to offer their views of the ugly truth. And she senses the presence of her father’s ghost trying to tell her something. This makes Yocchan restless and compels her to seek answers. 

Written in first person from the point of view of , the story takes us through her journey and interiority. Through the story, we are privy to her thoughts,tumultuous  emotions, grief, denial and her turbulent relationship with her mother.  As the narrator is experiencing grief, she reflects on a lot of things about life, death, afterlife, termination, moving on and how nothing lasts forever.  The book addresses nuances like what it’s like to be alive? What’s it like to lose someone close to you but realize you hardly knew them? What it’s like to not have closure? Themes of family, healing, forgiveness and betrayal are touched upon here.

The writing is poignant and the tone is brutally honest. Perhaps the honesty in the voice of the narrator is what strikes a chord with the reader. The sentences may seem like random musings  on the part of the protagonist which appear fragmented. This is typical of anyone who has suffered an irreparable loss.  But they reflect a deeper meaning and the struggles of the narrator who is  trying to heal herself and gain closure. 

Moshi Moshi in Japanese means Hello which symbolizes a beginning. This book emphasizes the importance of embarking on a new beginning even when life seems to come to a dead end.

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