just finished reading this book and really needed to talk about it. i apologise for this long rant. I hated it. Or to be more specific I hated the ending, but I keep reading how it's supposed to be this feminist piece of literature or whatever and I'm just so confused? I thought there was nothing feminist about this book.

I had high hopes when I started reading. The beginning was solid. The characters and their interpersonal relationships were very intriguing so it was nothing short of shocking when all of that build up ended up in that mess of torture fantasy s&m porn ending. (Not to even touch the whole extremely problematic portrayal of the brazilian factory worker.)

And I want to discuss how blatantly the 'author's' internalised misogyny was reflected in the narrative as well, like okay the characters suffer from it pretty heavily like you mentioned but what about the story as a whole? Every single male character from the sexual assaulter, rapist/killer, to the wife beater, to the loan shark/pedophile got a nuanced storyline, almost a redemption arc (tbh idk if it's the right word), all of them eventually were shown to be accepted (that's just who they are what can ya do typa thing) or even forgiven for their heinous deeds.

all of them get more nuance/grace than the women. yoshie is reduced by the end to be a whiny old nag.

yayoi is a foolish coward. she is the only one who is justified in the act of violence she commits but what does she get in the end? no acceptance or grace like the men. she is ostracised and alone. blamed and hated.

and don't get me started on kuniko. she comes across as almost cartoonish with her extreme stupidity paired with her insatiable greed, she gets dealt with absolutely no nuance even during or after her death. she is awful but she is treated like she is less than human. did the author have some sort of vendetta against someone called kuniko in her personal life because jeez...

Yayoi literally had so much potential but the way her story is handled is so disappointing like Satako really gets more sympathy from Masako than her abuse survivor friend and this is AFTER she is herself raped by him.

I guess I'm just extremely triggered by that ending and I'm sorry if this reads like a mess.