"The Japanese Lover" Isabelle Allende

"We are all born happy. Life gets us dirty along the way, but we can clean it up. Happiness is not exuberant or noisy, like pleasure or joy; it's silent, tranquil, and gentle; it's a feeling of satisfaction inside that begins with self-love."

Isabelle Allende “Japanese Lover” (2015)

    This is the fascinating story of Jewish young girl (Alma Belasco), who was saved during the Nazis Germany and living in the house of her aunt and uncle in San Francisco. She meets there her cousin and  future husband Nathaniel, and the love of her life in the little Japanese boy, Ichimei Fukuda. 

    The novel has story line that changes time perspectives from present to past, and plays with different narratives: letters, stories inside stories, comments of people involved. That makes the story line very fluid and flexible. In the same time, the beginning seems a bit clumsy, and the reader may be confused where is he heading. 

    The interest arises after the evolving of the amazing story of Alma Belasco -the main character, who wants to become independent textile designer and makes unique stamps on fabric and clothes. Alma and her hidden letters from Ichimei are one of the main focuses. They are her sacred space, the ship of the past times and loving memories from her heart. She doesn’t share them with anyone. Each chapter begins with one short letter of Ichimei Fukuda – Alma`s lover, and that I find really charming.

    The gallery of characters are revealed with the time through different stories, but each one has something hidden in the past. That makes them tied together with invisible strings. In such way Irina is attached from the strong personality of Alma as old independent woman. Irina has also past, clouded in fogs of mystery, pain and horrible events. The reader will step inside the secret territory of the past-present line, which makes him contemplate about his own past, love, pain.

One of strong motives that sound here is about the inevitable force of time, that we live and don’t even realize the main point of our life. Implacability of time and love. It`s about real soul connection, many colours of love and feelings in human world. About the fluid thin veil between pain and joy, love and hatred, past-future, and finally life and death.

The Letters of Ichimei reveal not only the inner world and thoughts of Japanese gardener, the eternal child, that keeps his innocence in all ages. But they reveal the existential thoughts of the author too about immanence of life. Clock is moving ahead and time cant go back anymore. We turn any single moment in past memory. It depends on our destiny and choices to make this memories matter.

    The Japanese lover story shows us how one impossible love, in course of time, generations, positions, social norms, and places, can be made possible. Within our heart. That some authentic, deep feelings never die, no mater of time and changes. That some people also stay forever -like the attractive and quiet shadow of Ichimei Fukuda. 

Some of the weak points I find in the personage depicting – while the main characters like Alma and Ichimei have depth and are presented with psychological traits, others (including Irina, Set, Nathaniel), seem to me more unreal, like hiding in a fog of changes through their life. I find them a bit flat, and even dull without specially exposed strengths of them. They are not very deep, but they are like flowing around the main characters, like their appendix.

Regardless of these traits I find the novel really worth reading, provocative, deep, full of real life and with an eloquent style.

About Isabelle Allende:

Born 2.08.1942 in Lima, Peru. Three years after her birth her mother relocated to Chile, that`s why she is famous as Chilean writer. Later she lived in Bolivia and Lebanon (Beirut), between 1953-58.

In 1982 she wrote her first book, that gave her international recognition: The House of the Spirits.

Her other fictional works are:

Of Love and Shadows

Eva Luna (1987)

The Stories of Eva Luna (1989)

Daughter of Fortune (1999)

Portrait in Sepia (2000)

City of Beasts (2002)

Kingdom of the Golden Dragon (2004)

Forest of the Pygmies (2005)

Innes of my Soul (2006)

You may visit the Good reads presentation here:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25152052-the-japanese-lover

My evaluation: favourite, six stars ★★★★★★

 photography of Isabelle Allende 

Other edditions of the book:

 

Nina Nour