is a 2009 novel by

Mieko Kawakami is a Japanese writer and poet from Osaka. Her work has won prestigious Japanese literary awards in several genres, including the 138th Akutagawa Prize for her novella '' Chichi to Ran'' (乳と卵), the 2013 Tanizaki Prize for her short story c ...

. Its English translation, released in 2021 and published by

Europa Editions Europa Editions is an independent trade publisher based in New York. The company was founded in 2005 by the owners of the Italian press and specializes in literary fiction, mysteries, and narrative non-fiction. Europa has published books by aut ...

, had Sam Bett and David Boyd as the translators. This is the second book by Kawakami to be translated into English. The title refers to a painting in the story which one of the characters, a girl named Kojima, gave a new name.

Background

Kawakami, on her personal website, cited ''

Thus Spoke Zarathustra ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None'' (), also translated as ''Thus Spake Zarathustra'', is a work of philosophical fiction written by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche; it was published in four volumes between 1883 and 1885. ...

'' as having given her ideas for writing this book.

Content

The story is set in Japan in 1991. The narrator is a 14-year-old boy who has a right eye that aims in a different direction from his left eye, and who is bullied by other male students. Other characters refer to him as "Eyes" (In Japanese ロンパリ, ''Ronpari'', a reference to one eye looking at

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and the other at

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Nadja Spiegelman Nadja Spiegelman (born May 13, 1987) is an American writer and cartoonist. She is the author of articles, books, and graphic novels, as well as a literary magazine editor. Early life, family and education Nadja Spiegelman is the daughter of car ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' describes "Eyes" as a

flat character In fiction, a character is a person or being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, in which case the distinction of ...

. The work does not reveal his legal name. The first chapter documents the bullying he receives. A girl named Kojima (コジマ), also 14, has the nickname "Hazmat" and receives bullying from female students. Her mother left her father and married a wealthier man, while her father remained in a poorer background. Kojima seeks to befriend "Eyes", leaving notes for him to read. Kojima chooses not to take baths, has clothing that is not clean, and keeps her hair in an unkempt state. Initially, Eyes and Kojima believe that they are counteracting their bullying by allowing it to happen to them. Kojima believes that receiving bullying helps purify her, and gives her meaning, something the author of the book disagrees with and characterizes as harming Kojima. Lily Meyer of

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

(NPR) states that Kawakami has a sympathetic view of Kojima. Due to her affinity to her father, Kojima adopts the appearance of a poor person, and the book reveals that after her mother became wealthy, Kojima stopped taking baths. In latter parts of the book she starves herself. She disagrees with Eyes's idea of getting surgery to correct his condition. Thu-Huong Ha in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' describes Kojima's view of bullying as "kind of religious, moralistic". Meyer stated that Kojima is similar to Franny Glass, and that she drags down "Eyes", being unable to provide "true friendship or solidarity". Ninomiya (二ノ宮), who serves as the lead bully, has the highest grades of all of the students in the class.

Merve Emre Merve Emre is a Turkish-American author, academic, and literary critic. She is the author of nonfiction books ''Paraliterary: The Making of Bad Readers in Postwar America'' (2017) and ''The Personality Brokers: The Strange History of Myers-Briggs ...

describes Ninomiya as "handsome, popular". Momose (百瀬), who serves as Ninimoya's assistant, tells Kojima that bullies act due to the fact they are able to do so. Ha describes Momose's view as "nihilistic". The bullying increases in intensity as the plot continues. After the speech, Eyes rejects Kojima's beliefs and decides to confront a tormenter. Due to the time period, the work does not feature

cyberbullying Cyberbullying (cyberharassment or online bullying) is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Since the 2000s, it has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers and adolescents, due to young people's increased u ...

Reception

In 2010 the work was awarded the

Murasaki Shikibu Prize The Murasaki Shikibu Prize () is a Japanese literary award awarded annually to an outstanding piece of literature in Japanese language, Japanese by a female author. It was established in 1991 by the city of Uji in Kyoto Prefecture in honor of Mura ...

. The English translation was shortlisted for the

International Booker Prize The International Booker Prize (formerly known as the Man Booker International Prize) is an international literary award hosted in the United Kingdom. The introduction of the International Prize to complement the Man Booker Prize, as the Boo ...

in 2022.

Reviews

Spiegelman stated that the English version is "impeccably translated", and she described the ending as "breathtaking". Ha stated that parts of the book appear to be like "

torture porn A splatter film is a subgenre of horror films that deliberately focuses on graphic portrayals of wikt:gore, gore and graphic violence. These films, usually through the use of special effects, display a fascination with the vulnerability of the hu ...

". ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' describes it as "an unexpected classic", with the writing being "startlingly graceful". Emre stated that the work "shows us how to think about

morality Morality () is the categorization of intentions, Decision-making, decisions and Social actions, actions into those that are ''proper'', or ''right'', and those that are ''improper'', or ''wrong''. Morality can be a body of standards or principle ...

as an ongoing, dramatic activity", something that is the "real magic" of the work. Meyer wrote that ''Heaven'' is "simpler" than '' Breasts and Eggs'' (the English version of Kawakami's ''Natsu Monogatari'') and that it is "a raw, painful, and tender portrait of adolescent misery" that "is very likely to make you cry".

References

External links

Heaven
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Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...