Done.
Needless to write but
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW:
I want to respond to specifics from your opening post, james, but I wanted to sketch some of my experiences in reading.
Firstly, Itoh is tremendously socially conscious. While this might be an inborn cultural trait,
Harmony struck me specifically because I've lived in a low-income household, in Japan, for the better part of two years. Contemporaneously, I'm not sure without an insight into Japanese culture that I would have appreciated the weight of his themes.
That in mind, there are three major themes I'd like to point how that have little to do with humanity sans consciousness a la
Harmony or BBH.
Killing with Kindness:
This is not so much a joke. The culture of Japan is almost explicitly that of the worldwide Admedistration of
Harmony. I've often encountered a seemingly prevalent opinion that "speaking your mind" is anathema to Japanese culture. This might reflect the sort of selves nurtured by their social consciousness, however, it likely reflects the idea that, to the Japanese,
politeness is a self-imposed social state, rather than an individual stance. Very often, I felt like I was living in
Vanilla Sky, not because extremes of self-expression don't exist or that conglomerate selves don't manifest expression, but because the cultural millieu is so conditioned into the majority of society. And it
can seem suffocating! Like I was always wishing for a pride parade (not that I would have made that commentary at twelve
).
But, food for thought, perhaps, this is what Itoh and james were trying to highlight. Maybe these are kinds of battle inherently manifest between self-consciousness (individualism) and conglomerate selves (collectivism); there is a definite hierarchy of
care in Japan, so I'm appropriating a term to highlight the fact that some individuals, a married woman for instance,
must satisfy
so many others first, before herself. When parents need palliative care, the onus is on
the wife to organize everything first for
her husband's parents, then her own, then her husband, and finally herself. They fulfill this like Western parents are "expected" to pay college tuition (that's a laugh
).
Rape Myth:
This is somewhat a blanket heading on my part but bear with me. It's argued that our pornography can dictate gender roles - in Western society, this manifests in the dominant/submissive dichotomy, which seems to be causing so much grief for our developing intellectual capitol (that is, adolescents).
Well, if these hypotheses prove evident, then Japan has itself a gender crisis waiting to happen (another reason I appreciate the protagonist's gender).
There's a quote - cannot for the life of me remember who at the moment - but, paraphrasing, suggests that you can judge a society by the type of porn it produces.
Now Itoh tackles this
somewhat abrasively but I think we can chalk that up to his authorial youth. However, Japanese cultural does worse than simple
objectification of it's genders... we're talking about a caricature of nation, after all.
Teen Suicide:
This is far and away the major theme of the book and something of a epidemic in Japan. Last I checked Japan was at two on the top five countries with the highest teen suicide rates in the world. And not at all surprisingly, these seem to correlate with the perceived competitiveness in educational indoctrinations.
Itoh, having completed this hellish gaunlet shortly before becoming an author, surely empathized with his fellow students. Society
demands so much from these youth, in ways irrelevant to
learning. Most attend school six days a week, with after-school
jukus and clubs to fill up their extracurricular freedom.
I was lucky enough to partake, while knowing I didn't have to conform. My sister too managed to escape the Japanese Regional Schools to attend a cushy international school.
But the result is the same - conformism or death. Ostracism or death. No social outbursts required.
Lol - since I'm just rapping here (very interested in the commentary of others - james, Royce
), I thought I would add in some personal takeaway.
Itoh is
heavily inspired by Kojima.
Genocidal Organ is on the way and apparently it is loosely based on one of Kojima's earlier games. Obviously, I've just read the MGS novelization in the past two weeks, as well, but it is impossible to have been exposed to Kojima's narratives and not see that Itoh writing.
This seems like a good moment to pause. I have some errands to run.
Cheers, james. Thank you again for consolidating my experiences for me
.
[EDIT: One more aside: Itoh
does not have a handle on the science like Bakker seems to. Itoh's understanding of neuromedical research was slightly off, though not so much that it spoilt his narrative assertions. But more on this later.]
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though all of us here know he deserves so much more.
