Four Seasons in Japan
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Narrated by:
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Hanako Footman
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By:
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Nick Bradley
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin
Flo is sick of Tokyo. Suffering from a crisis in confidence, she is stuck in a rut, her translation work has dried up and she's in a relationship that's run its course. That's until she stumbles upon a mysterious book left by a fellow passenger on the Tokyo Subway. From the very first page, Flo is transformed and immediately feels compelled to translate this forgotten novel, a decision which sets her on a path that will change her life...
It is a story about Ayako, a fierce and strict old woman who runs a coffee shop in the small town of Onomichi, where she has just taken guardianship of her grandson, Kyo. Haunted by long-buried family tragedy, both have suffered extreme loss and feel unable to open up to each other. As Flo follows the characters across a year in rural Japan, through the ups and downs of the pair's burgeoning relationship, she quickly realises that she needs to venture outside the pages of the book to track down its elusive author. And, as her two protagonists reveal themselves to have more in common with her life than first meets the eye, the lines between text and translator converge. The journey is just beginning.
From the author of The Cat and the City, Four Seasons in Japan is a gorgeously crafted book-within-a-book about literature, purpose and what it is to belong.
©2023 Nick Bradley (P)2023 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith. Whilst working at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history, he secretly dreams of freedom. And in a world where love and sex are forbidden, where it’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe, he meets Julia and O’Brien and vows to rebel.
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A Revelation!
- By wotsallthisthen on 04-07-24
By: George Orwell, and others
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7 Hours to Die
- By: James Patterson, Duane Swierczynski
- Narrated by: Sarah Paulson, Patina Miller, Mel Rodriguez, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 25 mins
- Original Recording
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Kidnappers grabbed Jenna in broad daylight, right in front of her children and their horrified classmates. Her family was issued an insane ransom demand: $25 million in cash and jewels, payable by the end of the school day, otherwise they’ll never see her again. As Jenna’s mother scrambles to gather the money, detectives Mo Butler and George Ortega follow the trail of the kidnappers, which will lead them through a sordid landscape of jealous lovers, broken dreamers, and twisted schemers. But every second counts, and there’s one thing Jenna Wade doesn’t have: very much time.
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This was such a fun Quick listen
- By Mdc on 10-08-24
By: James Patterson, and others
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Dead Med
- By: Freida McFadden
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When Heather McKinley dreamed of becoming a doctor, she imagined curing sick kids and sporting pink stethoscopes. She never anticipated the sleepless nights, grueling exams, and endless labs. And she certainly never knew that her medical school earned the nickname Dead Med thanks to the tragic history of students overdosing on illegal drugs. But Heather would never consider doing anything like that. That is, until her longtime boyfriend dumps her, she finds herself failing anatomy, and her world starts to crumble.
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Hmm
- By Morgan Meaux on 08-22-24
By: Freida McFadden
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The Ex
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- Narrated by: Nicol Zanzarella
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Story
Cassie thinks she has met the perfect man. Joel is sweet, handsome, romantic, and best of all, he’s crazy about Cassie. She thinks she’s found the guy she’ll spend the rest of her life with. Have children with. Grow old with. Yes, she knows about his perfect ex-girlfriend, Francesca. The beautiful, brilliant chef, beloved by all his friends. But she thinks Francesca is out of the picture. She thinks Francesca is gone for good. Think again, Cassie.
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Too bizarre for someone who loves bizarre
- By G. C. Webster on 07-01-22
By: Freida McFadden
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Artemis
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Rosario Dawson
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Jazz Bashara is a criminal. Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent. Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down.
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A ferrari with no motor
- By will on 11-18-17
By: Andy Weir
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The Married Man
- By: K.L. Slater
- Narrated by: Clare Corbett
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Everyone thinks my husband is dead. Just like we planned. Eleven years ago, my husband disappeared. Eleven long hard years I waited, my heart breaking for our son, who didn’t know his father was coming back. Today, my hands shake as I try to understand what I’ve just learned: my husband has a new wife. This wasn’t part of our plan. Eleven years ago, my husband made a terrible mistake. I sacrificed everything to help him fix it. But now he’s put our son and me in danger again. We had a plan. He broke the rules. But who will pay the price?
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K.L. Slater and Clare Corbett – riveting Tango!
- By Karenique on 11-11-24
By: K.L. Slater
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Too Late
- Definitive Edition
- By: Colleen Hoover
- Narrated by: Ryan Gray, Maxine Mitchell, Joe Arden
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
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Overall
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Story
Sloan will go through hell and back for those she loves. And she does so, every single day. Caught up with the alluring Asa Jackson, a notorious drug trafficker, Sloan has finally found a lifeline to cling to, even if it’s meant compromising her morals. She was in dire straits trying to pay for her brother’s care until she met Asa. But as Sloan became emotionally and economically reliant on him, he in turn developed a disturbing obsession with her—one that becomes increasingly dangerous every day.
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Triggering and poor narration
- By Katherine Epperson on 07-11-23
By: Colleen Hoover
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What listeners say about Four Seasons in Japan
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- Roger Winright
- 04-11-24
Therapeutic Background Sound
Highly enjoyed hearing this beautiful novel. The characters are amazing people and the story flows beautifully.
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- Zach
- 04-09-24
Beautiful tale, setting, and narration
This kind of book is very far from my norm - I typically read nonfiction and especially histories (ironic, considering a particular scene in this book). I don't have a particular interest in Japan moreso than I do any other country. But I really enjoyed the narrator's vocal work in the video game Baldur's Gate 3, had a spare credit, and decided to see if she had done any audiobook narration on a whim. This book looked the most interesting, so I decided to give it a shot. I'm very glad I did.
The overall, absolute bare-bones summary of this book, is perhaps nothing special. It's a story-within-a-story where both layers feature inherently depressed and listless characters doing their best under less than ideal circumstances. But what makes the story shine is just how well-crafted everything is. The outer, framing story, featuring translator Flo, is compelling enough to get you to sympathize with her as tries to work through her rut. But the inner story, a coming of age tale featuring 19 year old Kyo, born and raised in Tokyo, foisted upon his old-school grandmother Ayako in a provincial, mountainous town, is the real star.
Yes, Kyo sometimes acts like an idiot and makes several stupid decisions throughout the first half of the book. Yes, Ayako is overly strict when she should probably have good reason to know better given her past history. It doesn't matter. The characters have good reasons to act the way they do. They are relatable. They are well explored. You root for them (and Flo) to overcome their issues, accomplish their goals, and learn to communicate with the ones they care about, about the issues that matter.
Japan itself is also a character in this book, and it's really well done. From the lively but sometimes suffocating confines of Tokyo, to provincial but captivating Onomichi, to Hiroshima, where the weight of history is well-represented, the author's love for the country really shines through and adds to the story's weight. I was going to say that it's difficult to remember that he's a Westerner rather than a Japanese native as you are going through the text, but perhaps this is inaccurate. Perhaps the fact that he *is* a Westerner and thus is taking special time and effort to display the beauty and complexity of the country as he sees it, but still from a Westerner's perspective, is what makes the story and the descriptions work so well. Perhaps a native would only gloss over the various descriptions of everyday settings, considering them unimportant to the tale. I wouldn't know. This setup works very well. That's enough for me.
As for the narration, it is superb. Hanako Footman's vocal work was what drew me here to the first place and she delivers here, injecting enough differences in her characters to make them stand out and putting the exact right amount of emotion in every scene to really make you feel what the characters are going through at any given moment. I won't comment on the accuracy of her pronunciation of various Japanese words, as I have no experience with the language, but they sure sound correct to me.
I played this audiobook on a long drive, winding through highways with mountains in the background, I think this only adds to the atmosphere. It really allowed me to immerse myself in the characters and the setting, and I was almost sad when I finally got to my destination and I still had some of the book to go. I strongly recommend both this book and listening to it under the exact circumstances that I did. A lovely experience from start to finish.
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