Banana Yoshimoto and Kitchen: The Fable Reading Guide
Hayley Dennings
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Kitchen is an enchanting book that juxtaposes two tales about mothers, love, tragedy, and the power of the kitchen and home in the lives of a pair of free-spirited young women in contemporary Japan.What is the RM Book Challenge?
Kim Nam-joon, better known by his stage name, RM, is the leader of the South Korean group, BTS. Alongside being a rapper, songwriter, and producer, RM is also an avid reader.The book club founder and moderator is named Fawzul, a life-long reader and writer. “RM’s taste in books has an incredible range from historical nonfiction to poetry to modernist fiction to magical realism,” she told us in an interview. “It’s not rare you find a book recommended by him that inspires deep thought inside of you and reaches out to your shoulder and shakes you. There was a quote by him that I was heavily inspired by: ‘Art is not hard — it’s next to us.’”BookTuber Jack Edwards to the RM Book Challenge and was blown away by RM’s book choices:“I spent my week reading every book Namjoon (RM from BTS) has recommended and he has TASTE!!! also... please accept this video as my official application to join the BTS ARMY.”
https://youtu.be/e9U7vbp-CD4Who Is Banana Yoshimoto and What Does She Write?
Banana Yoshimoto is the pen name of Japanese writer Mahoko Yoshimoto. She was born and raised in Japan. While she keeps her personal life private, she has revealed that she tends “to feel guilty because I write these stories almost for fun.”Yoshimoto writes fiction stories and novels “with slight action and unusual characters.”The BookTuber Shreya Lahkar explored the themes and feelings evoked in the book in a video:"In life, whenever we experience something truly devastating and the world as we know it comes to an end, one of the most painful realizations is when you see that the rest of the world has moved on and you feel quite insignificant. That is the exact kind of feeling that Banana Yoshimoto captures in this book."
https://youtu.be/ieIrw1xf0MUOther Books by Banana Yoshimoto
There are many other books by this great author on Fable. Here are a few of our favorites.type: embedded-entry-inline id: 4nYIbvKtTDJhM0kr4blpm9What awards has Banana Yoshimoto won?
Her writing has won numerous prizes worldwide, including the Kaien Newcomer Writers Prize for Kitchen and the Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature for Moonlight Shadow. She also won the 39th Minister of Education’s Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists for Kitchen and Utakata/Sanctuary. In addition, she won the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize for Goodbye Tsugumi and the Murasaki Shikibu Prize for Amrita, her first full-length novel.She has won prizes outside of Japan as well: the Scanno Literary Prize, the Fendissime Literary Prize, the Literary Prize Maschera d’Argento, and the Capri Award. Her story “The Lake” was longlisted for the 2011 Man Asian Literary Prize.Powerful Banana Yoshimoto Quotes from Kitchen
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“As I grow older, much older, I will experience many things, and I will hit rock bottom again and again. Again and again I will suffer; again and again I will get back on my feet. I will not be defeated. I won't let my spirit be destroyed.” ― Banana Yoshimoto, Kitchen
“People aren't overcome by situations or outside forces. Defeat comes from within.” ― Banana Yoshimoto, Kitchen
“Truly happy memories always live on, shining. Over time, one by one, they come back to life.” ― Banana Yoshimoto, Kitchen
“In the uncertain ebb and flow of time and emotions much of one's life history is etched in the senses.” ― Banana Yoshimoto, Kitchen
“The place I like best in this world is the kitchen. No matter where it is, no matter what kind, if it’s a kitchen, if it’s a place where they make food, it’s fine with me. Ideally it should be well broken in. Lots of tea towels, dry and immaculate. Where tile catching the light (ting! Ting!)” ― Banana Yoshimoto, Kitchen
“Fate is a ladder on which you cannot afford to miss a single rung. To skip out on even one step would mean you'll never make it to the top.” ― Banana Yoshimoto, Kitchen
“Just when one can't take anymore, one sees the moonlight. Beauty that seems to infuse itself into the heart: I know about that.” ― Banana Yoshimoto , Kitchen
Keep reading on Fable
Reading together with friends, family, and co-workers is a great way to enjoy the full mental and physical benefits of reading. We call this “social reading.” The Fable app is built for social reading, with tools for sharing highlights, comments, insights, links, pictures, and videos as you read together. Find a book club to join for free!We also make it easy to launch your own free book club. With our platform, you can host every aspect of an online discussion at a single destination, to reach readers and build safe online communities regardless of location or time zone.Start your own book club today!You can sample our ever-growing collection of Folios, exceptional book recommendations from some of the world’s great tastemakers. Each Folio covers a critical theme, and some of our Folio curators include LeVar Burton, Paulo Coelho, Wolfgang Puck, and Jasmine Guillory. Discover great book recommendations!
Hayley Dennings