Mieko Kawakami’s Heaven is written in the point of view of a fourteen year old boy who is brutally bullied at his school for his lazy eyes. There is not a single time he is free from the fear yet he chooses to suffer in silence. His life is shed some light when he start exchanging notes with a fellow classmate Kojima who is going through a similar situation and they end up being each other’s safe place and solace. They become comrades through the shared pain. The novel revolves around the duo struggling to make sense of their sufferings, their warm notes and endless talks, philosophies and justifications regarding power and weakness both from the perpetrators and the victims perspective. There are points where you are weighted down by the cruelty and reality but there are also points where it warms you with certain people and words.The novel gives you no answers, but leaves you with a lot of questions and thoughts to linger on and debate. It is totally up to the reader to choose.

Please please check out trigger warnings before reading this. This book is just so hard to read, so real, so sad. It is literally like the drama “Glory”. I would recommend to read if you have the patience for this kind of stuff. Now I have the biggest headache.

There were some really solid moments, but felt lost on me.

Heartbreaking

Hard truths and painful experiences of school bullies. Raw and realistic portrayals.

A moving novel

Fremragende lille bog om mobning og konsekvens

Japanese need real God' to avaid suicide cases

Good story, Recommended.

Beklemmend en integer.