Heaven
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Scott Keiji Takeda
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By:
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Mieko Kawakami
About this listen
From the best-selling author of Breasts and Eggs and international literary sensation Mieko Kawakami comes a sharp and illuminating novel about the impact of violence and the power of solidarity in our contemporary societies.
Hailed as a bold foray into new literary territory, Kawakami’s novel is told in the voice of a 14-year-old student subjected to relentless torment for having a lazy eye. Instead of resisting, the boy chooses to suffer in complete resignation. The only person who understands what he is going through is a female classmate who suffers similar treatment at the hands of her tormenters.
These raw and realistic portrayals of bullying are counterbalanced by textured exposition of the philosophical and religious debates concerning violence to which the weak are subjected.
Kawakami’s simple yet profound new work stands as a dazzling testament to her literary talent. There can be little doubt that it has cemented her reputation as one of the most important young authors working to expand the boundaries of contemporary Japanese literature.
©2009 Mieko Kawakami. Translation © 2021 by Mieko Kawakami (P)2021 Blackstone PublishingCritic reviews
Indie Next List
New York Times Pick
Oprah Magazine Pick
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Sweet Bean Paste
- By: Durian Sukegawa, Alison Watts - translator
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay
- Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Sentaro has failed. He has a criminal record, drinks too much, and his dream of becoming a writer is just a distant memory. With only the blossoming of the cherry trees to mark the passing of time, he spends his days in a tiny confectionery shop selling dorayaki, a type of pancake filled with sweet bean paste. Into his life comes Tokue, an elderly woman with disfigured hands and a troubled past. Tokue makes the best sweet bean paste Sentaro has ever tasted. She begins to teach him her craft, but as their friendship flourishes, social pressures become impossible to escape.
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Judging Others Makes Us Blind - Dietrich Bonhoeffe
- By Billye Kay on 09-06-24
By: Durian Sukegawa, and others
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No Longer Human
- By: Osamu Dazai
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 4 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Portraying himself as a failure, the protagonist of Osamu Dazai’s NO LONGER HUMAN narrates a seemingly normal life even while he feels himself incapable of understanding human beings. His attempts to reconcile himself to the world around him begin in early childhood, continue through high school, where he becomes a “clown” to mask his alienation, and eventually lead to a failed suicide attempt as an adult. Without sentimentality, he records the casual cruelties of life and its fleeting moments of human connection and tenderness.
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Bad narrator
- By maggie on 11-16-24
By: Osamu Dazai
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Lapvona
- A Novel
- By: Ottessa Moshfegh
- Narrated by: Ottessa Moshfegh
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Little Marek, the abused and delusional son of the village shepherd, believes his mother died giving birth to him. One of Marek’s few consolations is his enduring bond with the blind village midwife, Ina, who suckled him when he was a baby. For some people, Ina’s ability to receive transmissions of sacred knowledge from the natural world is a godsend. For others, Ina’s home in the woods is a godless place.
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uncomfortable
- By Stetson on 07-04-22
By: Ottessa Moshfegh
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Schoolgirl
- By: Osamu Dazai, Allison Markin Powell - translator
- Narrated by: Traci Kato Kiriyama
- Length: 1 hr and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Essentially the start of Dazai's career, Schoolgirl gained notoriety for its ironic and inventive use of language. Now it illuminates the prevalent social structures of a lost time, as well as the struggle of the individual against them—a theme that occupied Dazai's life both personally and professionally. This new translation preserves the playful language of the original and offers the listener a new window into the mind of one of the greatest Japanese authors of the 20th century.
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Short and introspective
- By brandy on 12-12-23
By: Osamu Dazai, and others
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A Naked Singularity
- By: Sergio De La Pava
- Narrated by: Luis Moreno
- Length: 27 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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A Naked Singularity tells the story of Casi, a child of Colombian immigrants who lives in Brooklyn and works in Manhattan as a public defender - one who, tellingly, has never lost a trial. Never. In the book we hear what happens when his sense of justice and even his sense of self begin to crack - and how his world then slowly devolves. It's a huge, ambitious novel clearly in the vein of DeLillo, Foster Wallace, Pynchon, and even Melville, and it's told in a distinct, frequently hilarious voice, with a striking human empathy at its center.
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This book isn't for everyone! But it is quite good
- By Matthew Dakus on 07-25-16
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An Artist of the Floating World
- By: Kazuo Ishiguro
- Narrated by: David Case
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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This is the story of an artist as an aging man, struggling through the wreckage of Japan's World War II experience. Ishiguro's first novel.
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An incongruous reader
- By Emeritus on 11-03-17
By: Kazuo Ishiguro
What listeners say about Heaven
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Gaetana C. Smith
- 06-11-21
Fascinating true narrative about preteen bullying.
A young boy and his girlfriend philosophise about being bullied. Also with his same-age tormentor.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Smart, AZ
- 10-31-22
The cruelty is nearly overwhelming
I rethink my own adolescence and wonder: "Was I ever that cold and unfeeling?" I wasn't physically violent, but yes - in retrospect, there were times I steamrolled more vulnerable kids without realizing at the time I was doing damage to them - not due to physical differences or disabilities, but simply bc I was intellectually smarter (and emotionally chaotic, having been traumatized by abusive parents). I would never have encouraged the boy to avoid a simple operation that would improve his life significantly, as his "friend" did. This book is a very tough listen, but it's an honest one. The narration is VG.
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- John A.
- 07-20-22
A great book
A wonderful book that I found to be developmental and maturative for a young man coming of age such as myself. I found this book relatable and generally well written. I further highly recommend this book.
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- Radha Srinivasan
- 02-21-23
A gentle story about darkness and light
This is the kind of book that makes you look back at the kind of person you were when you grew up. It does not matter whether you were participating or a witness, the thing is you were part of it.
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- JB
- 12-27-21
Painful
Not sure why I felt compelled to finish this story. It describes bullying in us most sadistic form. The passivity and helplessness of its two victims is very disturbing. Not sure what the moral to the story was. Suffering can be endured endlessly? The narrator was excellent. If violence upsets you, skip this one.
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- Criticalthinker
- 10-19-22
Could not get through this
The extreme cruelty was too much for me, and was made worse by the reader’s flat delivery. I had to stop listening part of the way through. The writing is fine, but the overall experience was not.
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- Manzoku
- 03-09-23
Beautifully written!
Even though how clueless humans can be, the wisdom and power within didn’t give into any of weakness, and that kept helping to seek the light to Heaven.
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- M.L.
- 12-26-21
Disturbing topic but glad to have listened
It is disturbing to find the complete lack of empathy and callousness of some of the characters, who are young children, in this book. Given the ability to change his circumstance to prevent future bullying and torture, I am glad the main character made the possible life changing decision to move forward with the change. I am equally disturbed by his supposed friend, Kojima, for attempting to guilt him into not making this change just so he could continued to be bullied as she had. Translation and performance for this book are very good but do not listen if you are sensitive to this topic.
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- Tiffany Payne
- 07-26-23
A cruel story, not sure why it’s named Heaven.
Don’t get me wrong, the author is obviously very skilled at painting a scene/invoking emotion. However, it was basically gruesome kid on kid assault at every turn. Not to mention the friendship formed between the two main characters seemed toxic by the end. We never find out what heaven was. Not sure why it’s the books title. There were loose ends and what felt like no resolve or justice. I would give this author another try, but this book was just sad and disappointing.
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- Anthony
- 07-30-21
Great listen
Wish I spoke Japanese because I know some parts were lost in translation. I speak two languages and have noticed the different instances of this before.
A profound story on bullying but way different take then I’ve heard before. I’ll have to give it more thought to really understand just exactly what the meaning of this gifted author intended. I’m familiar with bullying having led a life time of activism against it and other forms of discrimination and violent treatment but to me at this moment the sad sad part came through in the female character.
Feels like I know what might have happen to her even as the male character gets a new lease on life so to speak.
Disturbing actually. Like I said, I wish I could have either read it in Japanese or at least be more familiar with their customs. Maybe then that part I feel language missed would help the conversations in this book where “Momosai(?)” tried to explain why he & his friends who did the bullying…did the bullying. That left something lacking!
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3 people found this helpful