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Scattered All Over the Earth
Scattered All Over the Earth | Y?ko Tawada
26 posts | 13 read | 20 to read
A mind-expanding, cheerfully dystopian new novel by Yoko Tawada, winner of the National Book Award Welcome to the not-too-distant future: Japan, having vanished from the face of the earth, is now remembered as the land of sushi. Hiruko, its former citizen and a climate refugee herself, has a job teaching immigrant children in Denmark with her invented language Panska (Pan-Scandinavian): homemade language. no country to stay in. three countries I experienced. insufficient space in brain. so made new language. homemade language. As she searches for anyone who can still speak her mother tongue, Hiruko soon makes new friends. Her troupe travels to France, encountering an umami cooking competition; a dead whale; an ultra-nationalist named Breivik; unrequited love; Kakuzo robots; red herrings; uranium; an Andalusian matador. Episodic and mesmerizing scenes flash vividly along, and soon theyre all next off to Stockholm. With its intrepid band of companions, Scattered All Over the Earth (the first novel of a trilogy) may bring to mind Alices Adventures in Wonderland or a surreal Wind in the Willows, but really is just another sui generis Yoko Tawada masterwork.
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review
brushlo
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Pickpick

really great small book. wanted it to continue longer. explores language, our sense of place and even what a modern concept of relationships can be. highly recommended!!

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Hooked_on_books
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Pickpick

A linguist sees a woman on a show featuring people whose countries have disappeared, speaking her own form of a Scandinavian language, launching the two on a journey to explore what‘s left of her home culture and language. There are some interesting parts here and great stylistic changes for different characters, but it‘s deeply weird and the ending is super abrupt. Low pick for me.

Megabooks Agree! 2y
sarahbarnes I felt similarly! I think I read that it‘s the first in a trilogy? Which may explain the abrupt ending to an extent. 2y
Hooked_on_books @sarahbarnes Oooooohhhhhh! That would for sure explain the abrupt ending! Still weird, though. 😂 2y
54 likes3 comments
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Megabooks
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Pickpick

This speculative fiction was an interesting look at immigration and assimilation. However the abrupt, unsexy couplings left me feeling odd.

Danish man Knut hears a woman talking on TV in a pan-Scandinavian language she created herself. Through a lot of odd maneuvering and travel, a rag-tag bunch of people go in search of another native speaker from the lost land of sushi.

Don‘t get me wrong, I enjoyed this…it‘s just weird. 🤷🏻‍♀️

charl08 Yup, I think "a bit weird" is a great summary! ? 2y
vlwelser Did you read The Emissary? I think I expected this to be odd. 2y
BarbaraBB It is very weird. I enjoyed the dialogues and the style more than the plot. 2y
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Cinfhen Great review but don‘t think this book is for me 😆 2y
Aimeesue I loved that a lot of the language plot was driven by the fact that she didn't want people to know she could speak English. 2y
Megabooks @charl08 😂😂👍🏻 2y
Megabooks @vlwelser no, I didn‘t, but I‘m definitely open to reading more by her. 2y
Megabooks @BarbaraBB I agree with that. The language part was by far the most interesting. (Not Knut‘s mom trying to figure out who he was dating. 🙄🙄🙄😂) 2y
Megabooks @Cinfhen I don‘t think so either! 😂💜 2y
Megabooks @Aimeesue that was an interesting plot point. And that she was afraid of being sent to the US to do menial work. 2y
BarbaraBB No that was totally unbelievable and exaggerated 2y
105 likes1 stack add11 comments
review
vlwelser
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Pickpick

I love this author. Such a unique take on climate disaster novels. In this, Japan has disappeared and the characters end up on a language quest across Western Europe. Whatever. Just read it.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Great progress!!! 2y
Megabooks Reading this rn. It‘s very good! 2y
50 likes2 comments
blurb
Lindy
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Recent Reads January 10
Japan in January; manga; nonbinary kids; crafting for well-being; perfect picture book; and cat photo bombing
https://youtu.be/o-pqONYPXYc

#booktube

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Lindy
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Pickpick

Playful and profound. I was thoroughly enchanted by this strange near-future tale told in six rotating POVs about a motley group from various parts of the world who become supportive friends as they pursue their passions across Europe. If you delight in thoughtful exploration of ideas about nationality, identity and language itself, this first book in a projected trilogy is for you. Translation by Margaret Mitsutani.

vivastory I had no idea it was projected trilogy! This was one of my favorites of last year. 2y
Lindy @vivastory It‘s mentioned on the back of the edition that I have out from the library. I‘m thinking the relationship between Knut and his mother has a lot of future potential. 2y
vivastory I agree. I would def read more of these characters. This was my first Tawada in awhile but over the weekend I picked up her entry in the ND Storybook Series 2y
Lindy @vivastory oooh! That looks good. 2y
36 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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Lindy
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I decided that from now on Wolf and Anke would be my family, and, uncoiling the rope that tied me to my old life, I left it on the shore while I boldly set sail for the future.

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Lindy
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I can‘t sleep. I‘ve tried meditating, or taking a bath, or sitting on the sofa listening to music before I go to bed, but I‘m still wide awake, as if there‘s a chandelier on in my head even after I turn off the light.

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Lindy
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I stopped thinking about what would happen next. The days when you could design your future were over.

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Lindy
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If I come across a word I can‘t get out of my head while I‘m reading, and end up taking it into the bedroom with me, it will sometimes flit around the room all night like a mosquito, keeping me awake. For instance, a while ago the name Kamchatka made such a fuss I didn‘t get to sleep until dawn.

Lindy Image from: 2y
BarbaraBB Such a good book 2y
Lindy @BarbaraBB Definitely a pick for language lovers. 😊 2y
34 likes3 comments
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Lindy
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I detected a hint of Siberia in his face. A strength that can take cold into the body as nourishment.

(Internet photo)

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Lindy
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Even our brains change sex every second—depending on the book we‘re reading, we become men or women.

mandarchy Oh wow! That's an interesting fact I have often wondered about. Maybe this is why it's easy for women to accept reading male main characters? Homophobia is so ingrained in our culture. I can rarely get boys to read books with girls as main characters. But it has been one of my goals. 2y
Lindy @mandarchy I don‘t know if Yoko Tawada is presenting fact or conjecture, but it‘s an intriguing idea. 2y
31 likes2 comments
blurb
Lindy
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A Japanese emigré gets a job telling stories to immigrant children in Copenhagen. She decides to make kamishibai, picture dramas, drawing each scene rather than simply using words. This passage reminded me of the picture book by James Sturm, Birdsong, which uses kamishibai technique.

31 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Lindy
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Hiruko‘s grandmother said she needed to shovel snow or she‘d get stiff all over, so even at age 100, she used to look for back alleys […] Her shovel would rise so lightly you‘d have thought the cloud god was pulling it up from the sky by an invisible rope, then toss its load of snow exactly on the spot her grandmother was aiming for. All that snow, piled up in the same place, looked like a castle made of sugar.

vivastory 😬 😬 (Stay warm!) 2y
Lindy @vivastory Thanks! It‘s warmed up in Edmonton: -4 C with bright sunshine 😊 2y
39 likes2 comments
review
Centique
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Pickpick

An odd little book set in a dystopian near future that I liked very much. Each chapter is told from a different pov as six characters meet. Hiruko, who may be one of the last Japanese speakers, longs for her disappeared “homeland” now only remembered as the Land of Sushi. Rather than hanging her characters onto a comprehensible plot, Tawada develops a few big ideas through their thoughts and conversation as each joins Hiruko in a quest to find ⬇️

Centique Other Japanese speakers. It explores nationality, language and new forms of belonging imagining a future generation ready to leave behind current definitions and boundaries. I can see some people bailing on this book if they‘re looking for plot or world building - but if you enjoy being in other peoples heads this is quite a delight. 2y
BarbaraBB Wonderful review. I enjoyed this one too. 2y
charl08 I'd definitely agree with you re the odd bit, I do like thinking about different languages so was keen on the discussion around Japanese / "native" speaking. 2y
See All 12 Comments
sarahbarnes I liked this one, too! 2y
squirrelbrain Great review! This has just appeared on the #ToB longlist so I‘m intrigued, but can‘t get hold of it yet…. 2y
Megabooks Wonderful review! 2y
Reggie This sounds like my jam. 2y
Centique @Reggie yes! It is a quiet one, when you‘re in the mood for quietly hopeful. I‘ll be so interested in what you think of the ending - let me know when you get there! 2y
CarolynM Great review! I have this stacked already or I would add it🙂 2y
Rissreads Another one gets stacked! 🤣 2y
Centique @Rissreads oh good! I hope you like it when you get there 😘 2y
66 likes2 stack adds12 comments
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Centique
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This is such a good description of how bias and stereotypes work. Or more importantly how it feels to be on the receiving end of those stereotypes.

CarolynM Great quote! 2y
Aimeesue I liked this book. Still thinking about parts of it. And Tawada was spot on about the American health care system. 2y
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Aimeesue
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blurb
Aimeesue
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Audiostabbing. Er, felting.
Wool from thrifted yarn on linen.

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charl08

I remember hearing about "illegal aliens" on TV as a child, thinking they must be bad people from some faraway country, and yet now, if my luck gave out, I myself would soon be illegal. When you think about it, since we're all earthlings, no one can be an illegal resident of earth. So why are there more and more illegal aliens every year?
If things keep on this way, someday the whole human race will be illegal

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sarahbarnes
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Pickpick

I really enjoyed this “cheery dystopian” (apt description on the back cover) story of a group of characters interested in disappearing language and culture. I love books that involve travel adventures like this one, mostly because I‘d love for my life to look like that! 😄 Apparently this is the first book in a trilogy so I‘ll look forward to reading the next one.

BarbaraBB I enjoyed this one too! 2y
sarahbarnes @BarbaraBB it was such an interesting read! 2y
28 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
Shievad
Pickpick

An interesting novel with an ensemble cast of characters. Each chapter is told from a character‘s POV while also moving the plot forward. Linguistics fans will enjoy this book. Hiruko is a climate refugee from a Japan that no longer exists due to rising sea levels. She‘s in search of another native Japanese speaker. First in a trilogy, although it was good, not sure I‘ll continue.

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BarbaraBB
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#BookReport 41/22

I had a pretty good reading week. The tagged book was my favorite, followed by Radiance of Tomorrow and The Mercies.
By finishing The Horseman I‘m all set for our #FearfulFall weekend. I hope you all are too!

squirrelbrain A great week! ❤️ 2y
BarbaraBB @squirrelbrain Yes! I‘m happy with these results! 2y
Megabooks 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 2y
67 likes3 comments
review
BarbaraBB
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Pickpick

Hiruko is a refugee from a Japan that no longer exists due to climate change. She teaches immigrant children in Denmark to speak Panska, a language she's invented. When she meets linguist Knut they embark on a quest through northern Europe in search of Hiruko‘s native language. A varied cast of characters joins along the way, each in search of something. It‘s an original and beautiful written novel about language, globalization and immigration.

vivastory Great review. I'm thrilled that this was a pick for you! I haven't seen this edition before. 2y
BarbaraBB It‘s the UK one I think. It‘s complete different from yours but both are gorgeous imo! 2y
Megabooks Very excited to read this, but I think I like the more colorful edition better. 🤷🏻‍♀️ great review! 2y
BarbaraBB @Megabooks I do too but this one captures the atmosphere of the book better I think. Excited for your review! 2y
JanuarieTimewalker13 I started this, got sidetracked by new releases that had to be read right away, and returned to library. I will revisit this!! 2y
75 likes1 stack add5 comments
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ju.ca.no
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Not a good month for my bookbuying ban😁 another one added to my pile! It sounds intriguing- hopefully I‘ll soon find time to read it!

JanuarieTimewalker13 The only thing that stopped me from buying books (I think the last book I purchased was a year and a half ago), was getting into creative journaling….which, is a whole other can of worms…so now it‘s Hobonichi, washi tape, stickers, Tombows, etc etc. lol 2y
ju.ca.no @JanuarieTimewalker13 haha I somehow have the feeling that I‘d just end up buying it all😂 2y
JanuarieTimewalker13 Lol. That‘s always a possibility, but I just got tired of too much stuff!! I guess bc in the back of my mind I‘m going to move but I have no idea where yet and everything is so expensive now I‘m staying put. The journaling stuff is small and light, comparably speaking. In addition, not using my library would be a sin bc It‘s great, and I‘m paying taxes for it, so, it‘s a financial thing too! 2y
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ju.ca.no @JanuarieTimewalker13 totally understandable! We‘re not going to move anywhere so that won‘t help me😅😅 2y
JanuarieTimewalker13 Is your library wonderful? By using the library I believe they get more funding. A college professor told me that (of the college library) so I‘m wondering if it‘s the same for the county. I only purchase if the library doesn‘t have book (although sometimes they buy it for the system, if requested….I‘ve requested about 2-3 books, and I think 2 came in) or sometimes I will buy a book for book club, but I really, really try not to do that. 2y
ju.ca.no @JanuarieTimewalker13 ever since I moved here two years ago I haven‘t really used it at all to be honest, might need to check it out someday (but then I also have so many unread books that I should read first😅😅) but it probably is the best solution to go there! 2y
JanuarieTimewalker13 Yeah, why not? There‘s something about libraries to me, I just love the peace…especially during the week in the morning!! 2y
48 likes7 comments