I have started reading my next book which happens to be Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto. I had previously read it in German many, many years ago so occasionally bits and pieces of the story feel like a bit of a deja-vu to me. It's strange because I can't remember the main events of the story but here and then a line will feel familiar.
The words in it and grammar used are definitely a step-up from my first novel that I finished the other day, but that is why finishing a few pages every day with this book feels all the more rewarding. I really enjoy Banana Yoshimoto's writing style too. It's quite descriptive but not in an over-the-top or boring way. I find it hard to get through books which focus a lot on describing the scenery but Kitchen always manages to break it up with some short dialogue in between. To be honest, there isn't even that much scenery description in it; just a lot of metaphors which give the novel a bit of a melancholic, dark flair... if you can say that.
Words and kanji that I keep encountering in this novel are 瞳 (eye), 闇 (darkness), 夜景 (night scenery), 沈黙 (silence) and 平静 (serenity, calm). It's great when you encounter words again and again and you had to look them up the first time, but maybe with the second or third time you start to recognise them. I'm currently on page 81 out of about 240, so hopefully I can finish it by the end of the week! I would definitely recommend this book to readers around the ~N2 Level - if you are preparing for N2, it might be a bit difficult but I manage to get through the pages quite quickly and I've only passed N2 in December.
