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placeholder13's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Body shaming and Death of parent
caroisreading's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I'm reading all translated Mieko Kawakami books, and this was the one I was most apprehensive about. I haven't read from the POV of a child before (with adult context), and have only known Mieko as an author of adult women's perspectives. Of course, that theme still came up, and I was happily surprised by this gentle, short and sweet story.
Our narrator is a fourth-grade boy who is fascinated by the woman who sells sandwiches at the grocery, described mostly by her electric blue eyelids. From his perspective, she is beautiful, silent, and perfect in how she packages sandwiches. This portrait shatters as he hears, unwillingly, the opinions of others about her looks, how monstrous she is. But in his innocence, he holds tightly to his fascination with her, drawing her obsessively.
It was heartbreaking thinking of how our loveliness as women, our beauty and Identity, becomes so twisted by society. I took this young boy's awe as a reminder to us that someone still sees us, and holds us in that light.
You'll enjoy this is you love themes about women, childhood, Japanese fiction, and want a quick but substantial read.
Our narrator is a fourth-grade boy who is fascinated by the woman who sells sandwiches at the grocery, described mostly by her electric blue eyelids. From his perspective, she is beautiful, silent, and perfect in how she packages sandwiches. This portrait shatters as he hears, unwillingly, the opinions of others about her looks, how monstrous she is. But in his innocence, he holds tightly to his fascination with her, drawing her obsessively.
It was heartbreaking thinking of how our loveliness as women, our beauty and Identity, becomes so twisted by society. I took this young boy's awe as a reminder to us that someone still sees us, and holds us in that light.
You'll enjoy this is you love themes about women, childhood, Japanese fiction, and want a quick but substantial read.
Content Warnings
Minor: Body shaming, Death of parent, and Death
axel_p's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Death of parent, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, and Grief
risemini's review
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Medical content, Gun violence, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
linguaphile412's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Misogyny, Bullying, and Sexism
Minor: Death of parent, Grief, Death, and Gun violence
kaddyren's review
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is a book about a boy in elementary school who is infatuated with a woman who makes sandwiches at a grocery store. Dynamics between his classmates and family are also explored through Kawakami’s seamless storytelling. This book reminds me of Convenience Store Woman and The Iris Hotel, but there is a youthful charm and dairy-like flow that makes this one stand out. Solid read and recommendation to someone trying to get out of a reading slump. Hard to put down, I finished this book is two days.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Death of parent
shushkeepitdown's review
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
A short story about a fourth grade boy and how he thinks the sandwich selling lady in the supermarket is super cool. Its a cute light hearted read with a hidden moral of how important it is to spend time with the people you love. It doesn't have much of a plot but if you want a short read you can finish in an hour this is definitely the book.
Content Warnings
Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, Bullying, Death, and Death of parent
wellfedpages's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Beauty lies...
in the eyes of the beholder?
or a clinical ratio?
This was a sweet story about childhood love / crush, heartbreak, friendship & familial bonds that also challenges the notion of who / what is beautiful.
What is it that draws someone to another person?
Is it just surface beauty or is it something more?
Is there really something wrong with #MsIceSandwich ?
Or is it something that people made up because she was too different, too confident, didn't give a f*ck about people's opinions?
Is she beautiful?
Or is she just beautiful to him?
Through the eyes of a neurodivergent unnamed little boy, Kawakami explores these themes and also highlights the transience of life
Everything is fleeting
Everyone will be gone one day
Sometimes when you least expect it
So instead of keeping one's feelings bottled up or waiting to spend time with someone, say what you have to say & give them your time while you still can
That seems to be the moral of this tiny novella
It also unearths the many ways parents love their children, breaking the stereotypes, while giving us a glimpse into the complexity & joy of being a single parent.
But the most beautiful relationship in the book for me was the one between the little boy and his grandmother. It reminded me how little time we have with our grandparents
Or with anyone we care about
Love is about being there
Even if they can barely speak, barely hear, or even no longer recognize you, your presence is what matters.
And finally, swaddled in all the sweetness was the boy's magical dream full of double entendres. A hidden sexually laden excerpt in an otherwise innocent book
Perhaps it was intentional, a hint at a young boy's fantasies
Or maybe it was written such so that younger readers can still read this book at the surface level, while others can glean more
This was my first #MiekoKawakami book, but definitely not the last
Hope to read Breast And Eggs & Heaven soon
in the eyes of the beholder?
or a clinical ratio?
This was a sweet story about childhood love / crush, heartbreak, friendship & familial bonds that also challenges the notion of who / what is beautiful.
What is it that draws someone to another person?
Is it just surface beauty or is it something more?
Is there really something wrong with #MsIceSandwich ?
Or is it something that people made up because she was too different, too confident, didn't give a f*ck about people's opinions?
Is she beautiful?
Or is she just beautiful to him?
Through the eyes of a neurodivergent unnamed little boy, Kawakami explores these themes and also highlights the transience of life
Everything is fleeting
Everyone will be gone one day
Sometimes when you least expect it
So instead of keeping one's feelings bottled up or waiting to spend time with someone, say what you have to say & give them your time while you still can
That seems to be the moral of this tiny novella
It also unearths the many ways parents love their children, breaking the stereotypes, while giving us a glimpse into the complexity & joy of being a single parent.
But the most beautiful relationship in the book for me was the one between the little boy and his grandmother. It reminded me how little time we have with our grandparents
Or with anyone we care about
Love is about being there
Even if they can barely speak, barely hear, or even no longer recognize you, your presence is what matters.
And finally, swaddled in all the sweetness was the boy's magical dream full of double entendres. A hidden sexually laden excerpt in an otherwise innocent book
Perhaps it was intentional, a hint at a young boy's fantasies
Or maybe it was written such so that younger readers can still read this book at the surface level, while others can glean more
This was my first #MiekoKawakami book, but definitely not the last
Hope to read Breast And Eggs & Heaven soon
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent, Death, and Body shaming
thewordsdevourer's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
a short novella centering around growing up and loss. tbh i dont think it's very memorable, but there are standout moments, like those of ms. ice sandwich and the wisdom dropped by tutti. the narrator is a good boi, naive and eventually transformed thru losses. i like the simple setting of a jpn town too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming
Minor: Death of parent and Death
shrutislibrary's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
"Ms Ice Sandwich" by Mieko Kawakami is a tale told through the eyes of an unnamed young boy living somewhere in Japan & his infatuation with a whimsical looking young woman working at a sandwich stall in a supermarket - a girl with electric blue eyelids & a cool demeanour - a source of his endless summer fascination.
Removed from a present yet absent mother & a bedridden grandmother, the boy devotes himself to visit the sandwich stall every day over the summer. Every day he orders the same egg sandwich at the counter which he doesn't even like eating. All the while committing every detail of Ms Ice Sandwich's face to his memory, every edge & line ingrained in his mind's eye only later to be reproduced on paper. He is happy to go along in this way: observing from a distance, happily floating, existing, alone in this bubble of euphoria he has created for himself until one day the unexpected sharp pinprick of rumours about Ms Ice Sandwich punctures his cosy bubble & tilts the world over for him. Will he ever look at Ms Ice Sandwich the same way again? Or feel the same emotions she once ignited in him when he looked at her face every day while buying a sandwich?
It's heartwarming, yet disheartening, it's meandering yet full of spunk, it's hopelessly teenagery & yet dashed with gut punches of truths aimed at grown-ups. The world of Ms Ice Sandwich is the world of bold accented electric blues, the smouldering heat of asphalt roads in summer and staring dead-eyed at rude customers without a hint of fear of the "I'm gonna call the manager so quick on you" attitude.
This novella is so hard to write about because I am still trying to grasp, think & reach for words that would tie up the ending. This was a story of a life-changing summer, a summertime boy finds a sense of things that used to be & sees them through a new lens navigating the befuddled terrain of adolescence with an unlikely friend. Kawakami's sparse & flowy writing style authentically captures the anxieties, bubbling frustrations & anticipated nervousness of this young boy on the cusp of pre-teens. In the end, the boy, after dreaming of an escape with his princess on his back, wakes up from this dazed slumber of a lazy afternoon nap in summer and is gently nudged back to reality by Tutti's steady presence. The boy learns to appreciate the friendship he can have with Tutti rather than dwelling on what could've been with Ms Ice Sandwich (or never could've been).
Removed from a present yet absent mother & a bedridden grandmother, the boy devotes himself to visit the sandwich stall every day over the summer. Every day he orders the same egg sandwich at the counter which he doesn't even like eating. All the while committing every detail of Ms Ice Sandwich's face to his memory, every edge & line ingrained in his mind's eye only later to be reproduced on paper. He is happy to go along in this way: observing from a distance, happily floating, existing, alone in this bubble of euphoria he has created for himself until one day the unexpected sharp pinprick of rumours about Ms Ice Sandwich punctures his cosy bubble & tilts the world over for him. Will he ever look at Ms Ice Sandwich the same way again? Or feel the same emotions she once ignited in him when he looked at her face every day while buying a sandwich?
It's heartwarming, yet disheartening, it's meandering yet full of spunk, it's hopelessly teenagery & yet dashed with gut punches of truths aimed at grown-ups. The world of Ms Ice Sandwich is the world of bold accented electric blues, the smouldering heat of asphalt roads in summer and staring dead-eyed at rude customers without a hint of fear of the "I'm gonna call the manager so quick on you" attitude.
This novella is so hard to write about because I am still trying to grasp, think & reach for words that would tie up the ending. This was a story of a life-changing summer, a summertime boy finds a sense of things that used to be & sees them through a new lens navigating the befuddled terrain of adolescence with an unlikely friend. Kawakami's sparse & flowy writing style authentically captures the anxieties, bubbling frustrations & anticipated nervousness of this young boy on the cusp of pre-teens. In the end, the boy, after dreaming of an escape with his princess on his back, wakes up from this dazed slumber of a lazy afternoon nap in summer and is gently nudged back to reality by Tutti's steady presence. The boy learns to appreciate the friendship he can have with Tutti rather than dwelling on what could've been with Ms Ice Sandwich (or never could've been).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Deadnaming, and Cursing
Moderate: Grief