Banana Yoshimoto Goodbye Tsugumi

Here's an attempt to a book review. (just a little aside before I start, today we had our equipe's xmas lunch at the rungis market, another post about that later, so I am in a postprandial coma and do not dare do an experiment in these conditions, at the risk of contaminating the whole lab). So, Banana Yoshimoto, hugely popular in Japan, and abroad too by now, especially amongst teenager girls as I gather. I had read a couple of hers books a few years ago (probably 10?), enjoyed them, but came away once the pattern became old. Came back to Goodbye Tsugumi because I needed a small paperback to read in the metro and was still under the spell of murakmi haruki's wind up bird chronicles, and was looking for a similar mood, which I did find, and I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It felt a bit like a manga comic, where the figures are delineated and defined with a very thin, clean, black line, the colors pastel, and the ocean is in every square. Less self-involved with sorrow than the past books, a bit more perverse.
Next: lettera aperta, by Goliarda Sapienza, I haven't found it translated in english and it's a real pity.

Sonic Youth in Paris Dec 13th

Here's a first attempt at a music review: Sonic Youth rocked ! No, really, they played in a fairly big venue, (the Zenith about 12,000 max), we, as the old people we've become, did not go and stand right in front of the stage, but it was fine just sitting on the stands (the last few concerts at the zenith standing, dylan twice and the white stripes, came out with a back ache, how embarassing !). Last year we had seen SY play at the small theater at the cité de la musique, just down the street, it was a much more contemplative jazz-like feedback concert, songs that lasted 15 mins. This time it rocked a lot more but it was equally fine. Loved the little shiny golden dress kim gordon was wearing, barefoot, she danced like a banshee and encouraged the pit to do as well. They played alot of the old stuff, not just the last album, like they had done when they were on the NY city ghost and flowers tour at the elisée montmatre (ok, now I am showing off a bit, but that concert was very good as well, and sleater kinney had opened !). Cannot say the same about Dinosaur Jr that opened, they were defenetly rusty, and stopped to tune their guitars in between songs, very annoying, especially bc their songs did not require a great tuneness of guitar.... so the contrast when SY came on was huge.