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Fear and Trembling A Novel Amelie Nothomb 9780312347321 Books

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Fear and Trembling A Novel Amelie Nothomb 9780312347321 Books

This is a delightful small book. Generally, the people who will enjoy the most are people who have had some experience with the Japanese culture. I did however give a copy to a friend who has no interest in Japanese culture and who was very ill and he loved it and found it extremely funny. He told me that this is the only book he had been able to read of all the books he had been given when at the hospital.

Just keep in mind that the author, Amelie Nothomb, is someone whose style you either love or love to hate.

I also strongly recommend the film based on this novelas well as another film based on her novel "Tokyo Fiancée" (English title).


Tags : Fear and Trembling: A Novel [Amelie Nothomb] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <div>According to ancient Japanese protocol, foreigners deigning to approach the emperor did so only with fear and trembling. Terror and self-abasement conveyed respect. Amélie,Amelie Nothomb,Fear and Trembling: A Novel,St. Martin's Griffin,0312347324,903818780,Alien labor;Japan;Fiction.,Japan;Social life and customs;Fiction.,Visitors, Foreign;Japan;Fiction.,Alien labor,FICTION Media Tie-In,FRENCH (LANGUAGE) CONTEMPORARY FICTION,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction Literary,Fiction-Literary,GENERAL,General Adult,Japan,Literary,Media Tie-In - General,MysterySuspense,Visitors, Foreign

Fear and Trembling A Novel Amelie Nothomb 9780312347321 Books Reviews

I enjoyed this book about a woman's experience working in Japan. It was a quick read that was informative and engaging.
Greatly written, a Japanese business culture unfolds step by step. Having done myself on-site research in Japan for an upcoming book, I can confirm that Nothomb describes in hilarious ways the insanity of some characteristics of Japanese society.
This is a gem of a book short, easy reading, but full of life lessons. Amelie Nothomb takes us on a journey. She shows us the culture of the Japanese workplace where a woman and, to make matters worse, a foreigner is not at all welcome. She relates all her hardships with self-deprecating humor. The author turns, what could be a serious, angry story, into more of a comedy. At the end the reader is left smiling. He who laughs last, laughs best.
[Disclosure I saw the film first, then sought out the novella because I was so intrigued by the premise of the story, how obstinate personalities can collide. I think that sequence would have been preferable for the previous reviewers who ended up hating this book.]

I am amazed at the previous reviews, even the positive ones, which make the elementary mistake of thinking "Fear and Trembling" by Amelié Nothomb is a documentary portrayal of personal events.

Please remember, it is a work of *fiction*, not an *autobiography*, however much it may or may not draw on the author's personal experiences. If you read it as a diary of the author's personal life, you will hate it as a tale of cruelty and willfulness.

If you read it as a *fictional* tale which draws from and exaggerates all-too-recognizable human thoughts and emotions, you will admire the author's and translator's considerable talents.

Those reviewers who absolutely hated the book seem to have completely forgetten about the "willing suspension of disbelief" that we always bring to theatrical or fictional works, so that we may enter the author's mind for a short time and judge how skillfully he or she put together the elements of a story to fascinate, horrify, or amuse us.

The translator, Adriana Hunter, deserves the highest praise for her elegant prose, which perfectly captures the spirit and conciseness of the best writing in French. I fell in love with the prose, which I consider some of the best writing in English I've ever encountered. I look forward to reading the book in its original language.
I chose "dark" as one of the adjectives because the "big picture" is dark, but the author makes all the events funny, so if someone describes it as light-hearted, that would also be true.
Being written by an European, it surprises me specially, how is, that this girl has such a very deep and human, almost motherly understanding, where most of them become before her eyes very transparent, and for that she uses a very interesting description of each one of them.
It makes a super point... when trying so hard to please, she is being shown "her lack of respect", towards traditions to the famous and well known Japanese company.
Such a small book, so nice and easy to read, very entertaining....
Amélie is a 22 year old recent college graduate of Belgian descent who was born in Japan and seeks to return there to work. She signs a one year contract with a company based in Tokyo, and enters the strange and, for her, inscrutable world of a large Japanese company, with its strict hierarchical structure and rules, sexist attitudes and behaviors, and frequent humiliation by supervisors. Amélie is initially given simple tasks, and fails each one spectacularly, due to her incompetent "Western brain". At the same time she antagonizes her immediate supervisor, an strikingly beautiful woman who sacrifices everything to achieve a low level managerial position; as a punishment, she is given more menial tasks, but Amélie struggles even with these chores, until she finally is given a position that she can do without screwing up too badly.

"Fear and Trembling" is supposedly a novel, but it appears to be based on Nothomb's personal experiences. It's a quick and moderately enjoyable read, with a not very flattering view into the soul crushing world of a large Japanese corporation.
This is a delightful small book. Generally, the people who will enjoy the most are people who have had some experience with the Japanese culture. I did however give a copy to a friend who has no interest in Japanese culture and who was very ill and he loved it and found it extremely funny. He told me that this is the only book he had been able to read of all the books he had been given when at the hospital.

Just keep in mind that the author, Amelie Nothomb, is someone whose style you either love or love to hate.

I also strongly recommend the film based on this novelas well as another film based on her novel "Tokyo Fiancée" (English title).