When the Museum is Closed by Emi Yagi (trans. Yuki Tejima) Vintage Publishing
My second read for Women In Translation was a relatively short book from Japan, but whilst it still had elements of whimsy it was in a totally different way from the When the Coffee Gets Cold... books and the others like it.
I was very much drawn in by the synopsis:
Rika Horiuchi’s new part-time job is to converse with a statue of the Venus de Milo – in Latin – every Monday, when the museum is closed.
Initially reluctant, Rika starts to enjoy her strange new job: she and Venus talk about everything. They fall in love, and (with the help of a statue of Artemis’ hunting dog) eventually break free.
And I really loved this part of the book, in idle moments I've often wondered what would happen if paintings/statues did come to life once no one was looking at them (a la Toy Story) and Yagi took this idea and ran with it. I loved that Venus de Milo needed someone to talk to because all of the other statues in her museum room were created in Greek studios and so couldn't speak Latin. Even the bonkers ending made sense in this world.
I was however left very confused by Rika's life in the real world and her yellow mac. However slowly and carefully I read the book I just didn't understand the points being articulated here.
By taking the book as a long short story about Rika and Venus I found a book I really liked but I wish that I could have gained the full experience. Definitely an interesting Japanese translation and a world away from the cat/book/coffee ones that seem to be everywhere.
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