Banana Blog Hop!

Oh, I’m a one. I come home a wee bit tipsy and stumble across the magnificent Melville House blog who are offering the chance to win a copy of the new Banana Yoshimoto novel if I blog about these three questions:

Hook, line, sinker. I’ll play.

Question one “What’s the most unusual love story you’ve ever read?”

Answer: Probably the love triangle between Toru, Naoko and Midori in Murukami’s Norwegian Wood. Understated passion, conflict and confusion. You know, stuff that is real yet imagined at the same time. Ambiguity rules and the reader is encouraged to take their own view on which character they connect with primarily. Either that or Vladimir and Estragon in Waiting for Godot – but that’s too challenging to attempt to write about in my current state,

Question two “What’s your favorite novel from another country?”

Answer: Tonight, Matthew I will go for Bulgakov’s ‘Master and Margarita’ – a psychedelic riot of imagination that is political, subversive and ambitious beyond belief. I cannot remotely do justice to it in a few words – just thank me for encouraging you to read it. And a big cat. A big, black cat.

Question three “Why would you be interested in winning a copy of Banana Yoshimoto’s The Lake?”

Answer: Because I know that her real name is Mahoko – without even Googling it. And Bananas are good for you – I need all the help that I can get.

Here’s the cover