Trinity, Trinity, Trinity

Trinity, Trinity, Trinity by writer and artist Erika Kobayashi might be the most interesting Japanese novel I've read in the last couple of years. A short book full of fascinating moments, metaphors, ideas, the history of radiation, Fukushima and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Would recommend to everyone who's interested in contemporary Japanese literature and exciting new literary voices.

This is a unique story that's uniquely told! It takes place in Tokyo where there is a disease called trinity going around, that affects the elderly. As our narrator wakes up in her grandmother's body, we piece together links between trinity and radiation, nuclear weapons, and the Fukushima disaster. This one will stay with me for a long time.

Firstly thank you to @astrahousebooks and #netgalley for the #arc of @flowertv #trinitytrinitytrinity translated by @asa_no_burei . As soon as I read the blurb I had to read it so thank you for making that happen.

Erika Kobayashi is an author I wasn't aware of until @themaddie_hatter shared her reel last week, all I can say is thank you thank you thank you. Kobayashi's writing is beautiful, I have read the the story has similarities with @kawakami_mieko #breastsandeggs, I can see that given the storyline and characters but equally the writing is similar too, I just couldn't put it down.

The story idea is very original and delivered so well, how radiation effects these characters directly and indirectly is so well thought out and delivered. I loved the spin off stories and narration and how it all comes to a head in a sense towards the end.

I am unsure where the book has left me as I have literally just finished so will take some time to reflect. This would be a perfect #bookclub read as everyone can see things and take things from this story in a multitude of ways.

For me, this story has elements of #breastsandeggs, parts of #thebookofformandemptiness by @ozekiland and even part of #yokoogawa writing too. If you want to discover a new Japanese author, this is perfect for you or if you are obsessed with Japanese fiction like me, it's also perfect for you too. I cannot wait to read more from Kobayashi in future.

This book is out in June and I will be raving about it between how and then 😂😂😂

#books2022 #honnomushi100 #japanesefiction #japaneseauthors #japaneseliterature #japaneseauthor #translatedfiction #translatedgems #translatedjapanesefiction #translatedjapaneseliterature #booksfromjapan #booklover #bookstagram

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ebook of Erika Kobayashi’s TRINITY, TRINITY, TRINITY 🤗  This piece of speculative fiction, translated by Brian Bergstrom, comes out on June 28.

“This is the beginning of the revenge of the invisible.”

So reads the social media posts of several people infected with Trinity, a mysterious disease that targets the elderly and compels them to behave in bizarre ways. Trinities find and hoard radioactive material, spout mantras about the history of radiation, and even throw 235 million yen of bills out to the public—which was the same amount of money the Japanese government approved to develop nuclear capabilities after the war. We follow an unnamed narrator in the eerie progression of the disease, which ultimately culminates in a terrorist attack at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

In TRINITY, the Japanese public is forced to contend with their ongoing nuclear legacy, after traumatic events such as Nagasaki, Hiroshima, and Fukushima Daiichi, despite a want to believe that it’s far away in the past: Trinity is a way for the invisible to be made visible. Even as the public stigmatizes the elderly, a parallel to a forgetting of history and the grim reality of continued effects of radiation, it celebrates the beginning of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (a timely choice of date given the Japanese public’s opposition to the holding of the Games during the pandemic).

As someone who thinks a lot about the generational legacy of disability wrought from environmental violence, TRINITY’s use of blood, birth, sex, and female eggs reminded me of how these legacies are continued through lineages, passed down so that those most impacted don’t have any choice but to remember through their bodies and minds. There is so much more to unpack from this book that I have no space here to get into—so if you’re into speculative fiction focused on Japanese history and modern society, this is probably the book for you!

Quite an interesting and layered account of the impacts of radiation on the collective conscious. I will say the narrative can be choppy at times, though whether this is intentional or not is unclear; however, ultimately it does not take away from the sense of foreboding that accumulates near the climax of this novel. Interspersed through the narrative are historical references to the discovery and utilization of nuclear energy, which I found both informative and interesting in how they played a role in the narrative's progression. There's a lot to unpack, and I find myself continuing to think about the different aspects of this book. It is certainly a multifaceted critique of Japan's relationship with nuclear technology, but also a critique of motherhood, aging, and societal paranoia. Overall enjoyable read that gives the reader plenty to ruminate on.
Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a really quick, but really unique read. The story brings together the history and legacy of nuclear power with three generations of women in a small family during the beginning of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. Old people in Japan have begun to pick up black radioactive rocks and listening to voices that compel them to commit acts of terror, generally related to exposing others to high levels of radioactivity. Kobayashi focuses on one family, beginning with an unnamed narrator who wakes up in a sterile room with no memory of how they got there. As the story goes on, we are bounced between narrators within the family as buried memories and connections are unveiled. The writing captures a propulsive sense of dread that keeps you turning the pages.

I really enjoyed how Kobayashi pushes different dynamics together in this novel. She creates a layer of mysticism around nuclear power while also speaking to the practical dangers it poses—both as a producer of power and a weapon for mass destruction. And within all of this, there is a strong focus on family, generational memory, and femininity. This is a novel that may be an easy read, but one that will leave you puzzling over it for awhile.

Extremely thankful to NetGalley and Astra Publishing House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a wonderful reading experience. Erika Kobayashi has written a modern and unique speculative fiction that will definitely blow everyone´s mind. A couple days ago I wrote a review about how hard it is to actually nail writing a book with an amount of metaphors linked with history and collective trauma. It is SO hard. And Kobayashi did it as masterfully as only she can do! In only 240 pages she managed to reflect and critique on a society that has gone through a lot of traumatic experiences but also has caused so much damage. On top of that, she also showcases a perfect portrait of family dynamics and intergenerational relationships.(Which is very necessary on these times). A perfect book.

A story about radiation poisoning told in a very unique way that may be too weird for some, but really worked for me. Plus, this story was actually very well researched and gave a good insight into the story of the discovery of uranium and the development of the nuclear bomb. I really enjoyed reading the story out of the main characters POV, as she’s trying to come to terms with this new reality and what’s happening to her mother, while simultaneously becoming more and more unhinged herself. I was pleasantly surprised!

Do you know those books that you have to ponder for a while after finishing? The ones that you honestly can't decide if you enjoyed reading or not?

This book is definitely one of those.

Trinity, Trinity, Trinity is set during the lead-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. A new disease has begun popping up leading people to commit various acts of "terrorism". The disease, known as Trinity, is common in elders with dementia and is linked to "accursed" black stones (uranite) that whisper the story of radium to the inflicted.

We observe this from the point of view of an unnamed narrator as she struggles with her to adjust to changes and the state of her life and relationships. It was easy to empathize with her feelings of dissatisfaction with where she was at in life. Her sense of alienation from her young daughter and concern for her aging mother only served to make her seem more human. She wasn't perfect, or even always a good person, but she gave voice to feelings that many of us have likely felt before.

This, combined with beautiful writing and a growing feeling of suspense (was the narrator losing her grip) kept me riveted. Additionally, the history of radium and social commentary woven into the narrative were both interesting and thought-provoking.

So why isn't this book getting 5 stars? That largely has to do with the ending. Some of the revelations made in the final pages left me with a sour taste. They weren't anything that would ruin my overall impression of the story, but I could have very much gone without them.

Additionally, a lot is left open to interpretation. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but I will confess to feeling unsatisfied and even a bit confused upon finishing. I had to mull things over for a bit and reread a few sections before I was able to decide how I felt.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with this arc.

Trinity, Trinity, Trinity is a trippy, unique, quick read. Set over one day - the opening day of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics - with flashbacks of one family’s history, the story opens with an unnamed narrator waking up in a sterile room, not knowing how she got there. Across the country, elderly people are falling ill with “Trinity,” a new disease that compels them to pick up and listen to strange voices coming from black stones, often telling them the history of radium and nuclear power. Over the course of the day, a woman runs around the city, chasing after her elderly mother and dealing with her own issues.

A testament to the dangers of nuclear power, this book is powerful and thoughtful. I love that Kobayashi focuses on women and intergenerational memory to tell the story. I wasn’t sure what happened at the end at first but I love what I’ve decided happened! Overall my mind is blown and I am glad I picked this up when my brain was in the right place for it.