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From one of Japan's most brilliant and sensitive contemporary novelists, this speculative fiction masterpiece envisions an Earth where humans are nearing extinction, and rewrites our understanding of reproduction, ecology, evolution, artificial intelligence, communal life, creation, love, and the future of humanity.
In the distant future, humans are on the verge of extinction and have settled in small tribes across the planet under the observation and care of "Mothers." Some children are made in factories, from cells of rabbits and dolphins; some live by getting nutrients from water and light, like plants. The survival of the race depends on the interbreeding of these and other alien beings--but it is far from certain that connection, love, reproduction, and evolution will persist among the inhabitants of this faltering new world.
Unfolding over fourteen interconnected episodes spanning geological eons, at once technical and pastoral, mournful and utopic, Under the Eye of the Big Bird presents an astonishing vision of the end of our species as we know it.
"Speculative, artful ... [It] sketches out the end of the world while simultaneously positing nearly unthinkable solutions and grappling with fundamental questions about identity, evolution, memory, and individualism ... A wild take on humanity's last stand and our flawed understanding of who we are." —Kirkus Reviews
"[A] visionary speculative work ... This will stay with readers." —Publishers Weekly
"[Kawakami] examines the disturbing fate of humanity, intriguingly fused with biblical references and (r)evolutionary theories. Notable translator Yoneda deftly captures Kawakami's meticulous balance of doom-and-gloom and a surprisingly poignant charm." —Booklist
"When I finally closed this book, I felt as though I'd become one of Kawakami's narrators. I even found myself glancing behind me to make sure no one was watching. Calling this book 'worth reading' does it hardly any justice at all." —Yukiko Motoya, author of The Lonesome Bodybuilder
"This delicate story about the future of humankind is fantastical, serious, and nostalgic. I was absolutely stunned by it." —Yasutaka Tsutsui, author of Paprika
This information about Under the Eye of the Big Bird was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Bungeishunju Ltd
Hiromi Kawakami was born in Tokyo in 1958. Her first novel, Kamisama (God), was published in 1994. In 1996, she was awarded the Akutagawa Prize for Hebi o Fumu (Tread on a Snake) and in 2001 she won the Tanizaki Prize for her novel Sensei no Kaban (Strange Weather in Tokyo), which became an international bestseller. Strange Weather in Tokyo was shortlisted for the 2013 Man Asian Literary Prize and the 2014 International Foreign Fiction Prize. Kawakami has contributed to editions of Granta in both the UK and Japan and is one of Japan's most popular contemporary novelists.
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