Mina's Matchbox

A Novel

De: Yoko Ogawa, Stephen B. Snyder - translator

Narrado por: Nanako Mizushima

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE • A TIME BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • From the award-winning, psychologically astute author of The Memory Police, a hypnotic, introspective novel about an affluent Japanese family navigating buried secrets, and their young house guest who uncovers them.

“A story of first enchantments and last gasps…Effervescent." —New York Times Book Review

“Yoko Ogawa is a quiet wizard, casting her words like a spell, conjuring a world of curiosity and enchantment, secrets and loss. I read Mina’s Matchbox like a besotted child, enraptured, never wanting it to end.” —Ruth Ozeki, author of The Book of Form and Emptiness

In the spring of 1972, twelve-year-old Tomoko leaves her mother behind in Tokyo and boards a train alone for Ashiya, a coastal town in Japan, to stay with her aunt’s family. Tomoko’s aunt is an enigma and an outlier in her working-class family, and her magnificent home—and handsome foreign husband, the president of a soft drink company—are symbols of that status. The seventeen rooms are filled with German-made furnishings; there are sprawling gardens and even an old zoo where the family’s pygmy hippopotamus resides. The family is just as beguiling as their mansion—Tomoko’s dignified and devoted aunt, her German great-aunt, and her dashing, charming uncle, who confidently sits as the family’s patriarch. At the center of the family is Tomoko’s cousin Mina, a precocious, asthmatic girl of thirteen who draws Tomoko into an intoxicating world full of secret crushes and elaborate storytelling.

In this elegant jewel box of a book, Yoko Ogawa invites us to witness a powerful and formative interlude in Tomoko’s life. Behind the family's sophistication are complications that Tomoko struggles to understand—her uncle’s mysterious absences, her great-aunt’s experience of the Second World War, her aunt’s misery. Rich with the magic and mystery of youthful experience, Mina’s Matchbox is an evocative snapshot of a moment frozen in time—and a striking depiction of a family on the edge of collapse.

Very Enjoyable

This is a story of a short period in a young girls life when she, Tomoko, begins to understand the complexities of relationships. There are a lot of emotions that are too big for words and too great for a 13 year old to fully comprehend. I adored her relationship with her precocious cousin Mina. This book did not have the suspense and depth of The Memory Police but It was wonderfully visual. Imagining Mina as she rode to school on her pygmy hippo was a highlight.

Not a Page Turner

It is something to see the world through the eyes of a young girl. The details about culture, time and place paint a picture I will keep with me. The narrator sounds like she has cotton balls in her mouth, but I ended up warming to her odd speech patterns. Worth the listen, but this is real literature, not written to keep you on the edge of your seat.

The sweetness of the story

This was a foray into gentleness. A departure from most modern literature. It would be appreciated in any country world wise. All ages also would enjoy this book and its audio reading.

Simple and Profound

The prose was fantastic. The character development was very inspiring. This book will stay with you. You will have fond memories when you experience the strike of a match or come across a colorful matchbox.

Relationships and family

A beautiful rendition of family and coming of age. Traces of “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn “. Beautiful, relaxing. A rare view of post war Japan .

Enchanting story

At first I wasn’t sure I would enjoy this novel, but soon I was under its spell. The family and the world conjured by Ogawa seem both magical and true. Who would like it? I can’t imagine who would not.

Narrator

The narrator had a soothing voice. The house was like a character in the book

An every day life story…

Told simply with complexity. The book draws the reader in with cinematic details. The narration is very well done.

I never found the point of the story

This book was disappointing. It had strong reviews and I’m not sure why. The redeeming part is the author does a good job writing from the voice of a child, who is seeing many things for the first time.

Boring and so many loose ends

I hate to diss a book but I am tired of reading books that have 4-5 stars only to find they are mediocre at best.
This book has a few charming moments and even a couple touching moments but it is the story of a young neice whose father has died and whose mother goes to school to become a seamstress. There is not enough money for the daughter too, so she goes to live with her tremendously wealthy aunt and uncle and family.
I won’t go into the story but the nagging question from the start is why the aunt and uncle can’t help financially to the mother??!!
So on and so forth. Many other loose ends.
The saving grace of this book is a glimpse into the ability to communicate emotions in the quiet Japanese culture that avoids displays of emotion or direct conversation.