Books I Read in Japan - Part One
Books 12 - 15
My husband and I went to Japan for 12 days in May and had about 30 hours of travel time across planes and trains, so I was able to do some substantial reading!
Book 12: End of Days: Ruby Ridge, the Apocalypse, and the Unmaking of America by Chris Jennings
I distinctly recall the news playing stories about Ruby Ridge as it was happening (I was 10) but I didn’t understand what caused the conflict. Chris Jennings did an excellent job recounting the specific actions of the US Marshals and the Weaver family as the actual altercation played out. It was distressing to realize just how many opportunities there were for both sides to back down. For the US Marshals to even force a confrontation over Randy Weaver’s failure to appear in court on a gun charge defied explanation. One gets the impression that they were afraid of losing face. What I found most interesting was the history of what Jennings called “Doomsday Christianity”: its origins (a fascinating discussion of the book of Revelation and John of Patmos ensued), its rise in the United States as a distinct strain of fundamentalism, and how it underpinned the Weavers’ actions over the course of their lives.
Book 13: While You Were Out: An Intimate Family Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence by Meg Kissinger
Meg Kissinger’s family appeared almost perfect from the outside with a handsome father, lovely mother and eight children growing up in a 1960s Chicago suburb. Behind closed doors, Mr. Kissinger was manic (possibly bipolar) and often violent. Mrs. Kissinger suffered from anxiety and depression, which she medicated with alcohol. Several of the siblings entered adulthood with mental illnesses of their own, and two committed suicide. For a long time, their family shrouded reality in dark jokes and the family motto - just don’t talk about it. As Kissinger’s journalism career took off, she found herself finally able to confront the truth of her upbringing and forge a deeper honesty with her family. The tenacity of the remaining siblings in caring for each other was deeply moving. To be honest, While You Were Out was so relentlessly depressing I almost didn’t finish it. I’m glad I did, because it ends with a serious discussion of the state of mental healthcare in the United States and how policy decisions as far back as John F. Kennedy’s presidency led to the current state of affairs. Too often the mentally ill are cycling in and out of jail or becoming unhoused because there are such limited opportunities for treatment (especially in-person) without exorbitant costs.
Book 14: Swallows: A Novel by Natsuo Kirino
I didn’t deliberately choose to read a book set in Tokyo on my way to Tokyo, but the stars aligned. Riki is a temp worker with no savings, eating the same food day after day and longing for stability. When a friend proposes they donate their eggs to make money, Riki reluctantly attends an interview but she is steered in a different direction: becoming a surrogate. While technically illegal in Japan, there are loopholes to exploit. A couple, a former ballet star and his wife, have run out of options and are willing to pay generously for Riki to have their child. She eventually agrees and the regret sets in almost immediately. There is a lot of back and forth throughout the book while Riki makes up her mind about a variety of things related to the pregnancy. It becomes repetitive after a while, though I suspect it is a fairly accurate portrait of how it feels when your body is controlled by someone else. I wish more time had been spent exploring that theme instead of focusing on some of the supporting characters. Many felt a little too cartoony and over the top: the asexual artist obsessed with penises, the overbearing mother-in-law ruling the ballet studio with an iron fist, the sex “therapist” who is happy just to cuddle. The ending is unexpected in a good way, not an annoying twisty Gone Girl way. Random aside - I love that the book’s cover depicts the title in salmon roe, ikura, which is one of my favorite foods.
Book 15: Zika: The Emerging Epidemic by Donald G. McNeil Jr.
This was sort of a goof purchase but I persevered. I didn’t realize it was published in 2016 until after I bought it, which should have been obvious given the title. The author was a New York Times science reporter at the time of writing, and it felt more like a series of individual articles combined in chronological order instead of a cohesive book. It was interesting to see just how dire the predictions were, and there was a lot of finger pointing in Brazil as to whether the case count was inflated. Reaching the end, I hoped there was a new afterword with an update, but no dice. I asked Google for an update and the WHO returned this info: “Zika is no longer a global public health emergency, but it remains endemic in 92 countries across Central and South America, the Caribbean, Africa, and parts of Asia. There are no active outbreaks, but sporadic, low-level transmission continues, and no vaccine or treatment is available.”
I read another four books in Japan! Part Two coming soon!