After being underwhelmed by Ogawa's collection of short stories, [b:Revenge|16032127|Revenge|Yōko Ogawa|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1349818757l/16032127.SY75.jpg|6316882], I expected to feel the same about this one, though the premise intrigued me. The first half of this novel felt completely on the nose and I wasn't very impressed. Fortunately, Ogawa wrote a whole novel so I got to experience this one's back half which I found provocative and moving and delightfully shocking. I really liked it and I see where Ogawa gets her fans.

The premise may feel familiar but how the author goes about expressing the metaphysical problems of historical revisionism and state propaganda are effective and cunning. What felt like an extremely simplistic novel at first is only building a stable structure to leap from in the back half of the novel and I admit I needed the opening in order to take in what she has to offer as her authorial conclusion.