- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: Doubleday (1 Mar 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0385607776
- ISBN-13: 978-0385607773
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14 x 3.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,366,085 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"With dry humour and crisp observation, Barker conveys the inner chaos masked by the external regimens of a society where intimacy is contrived, and loyalty is strained. Japan has not, for a long time, been made to seem so accessible, or so remote."
-"Literary Review"
"Sayonara Bar is a showpiece of breathtaking new talent."
-"Scottish Daily Record"
-"Literary Review"
"Sayonara Bar is a showpiece of breathtaking new talent."
-"Scottish Daily Record"
"From the Trade Paperback edition."
Scottish Daily Record
'Sayonara Bar is a showpiece of breathtaking new talent.'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This was a quirky and quite engrossing read with three separate but eventually intertwining stories centred around the Sayonara bar.Each story had an existential element to it which certainly added to the off-beat nature of the whole novel.The only problem for me was that all the unusual events and sinister happenings didn't really pay off with a satisfying ending.The three stories failed to live up to their early potential and finished with a wimper rather than a bang which,for me,lost a deserved fourth star.There was much to enjoy though as the prose was interesting and quite quirky in itself, the characters were well developed and rounded and there was rarely a dull moment.
All in all an enjoyable but flawed debut.
All in all an enjoyable but flawed debut.
Format:Hardcover
Think of movies such as "From dusk til dawn" or "dreamcatcher" What do they have in common? They are failed attempts at mingling genres. Sayonara Bar is a SUCCESSFUL attempt at mingling genres: through the 3 different 'voices' of the novel (Asian Ghost Story, Manga/Pyschedelic, Culture Shock). The culture shock female protaganist story allows us access to the cultural setting; the Asian Ghost Story is an Asian genre we are already familiar with (at least those of us exposed to Asian cinema); while the Manga voice is effecitvely Japanese mass culture, Japanification, with which we are deeply enmeshed, and which provided the most pure entertainment. The strategy of rotating chapters works - in a way which the half-time switch of FDTD (Gangster to Vampire blood-fest) and DC (Horror to Alien Invasion) simply didn't. I liked FDTD too, I'm just being realistic here. I gave this novel to my brother and his friends - all of whom had learned Japanese at school (in Australia), travelled there, and in some cases hostessed: they loved it. So, spot on for me, well designed, and super entertaining.
Format:Hardcover
`Sayonara bar' is Susan Barkers first novel, and one has to admire her bravery in debuting with a book set entirely in Japan having spent just two years of her life there. The book centers around a hostess bar in Osaka and features three characters associated with it. Each of these characters essentially have their own story and the chapters rotate through them, although the stories are all closely connected.
Until the latter stages `Sayonara bar' is little more than an account of modern Japan in the eyes of a visiting westerner, and although it is well written and it appears slightly two-dimensional and gives little attention to the traditional Japanese culture which remains highly prevalent. Failing to incorporate the rich cultural background detracts heavily from the book, and Barker would have been better off setting the story in a less exotic setting where this omission is less noticeable.
The plot progresses at a plodding pace when it finally gets going. This makes it all the more frustrating when the ending fizzles out with many questions unanswered and those which are, highly unfulfilling. I imagine Barker is attempting to add a sort of mysticism to her novel but this falls short.
On a more positive note the character development is excellent and the book itself is very well written. She also cleverly changes the writing styles for the different storylines and is competent is delivering the plot in the three different formats. Barker does a fine job at mixing dark comedy with drama and makes a good stab at suspense, ending chapters at tantalizing but not irritating times, before switching storylines.
Despite its poor ending, I did enjoy reading `Sayonara Bar'. Susan Barker is clearly a talented author but I feel she overreached herself with this book. I will read `The Orientalist and the Ghost' (her next novel) when it is published next year. The title has Japanese connotations again and I hope it delivers more substantially than `Sayonara Bar'.
Until the latter stages `Sayonara bar' is little more than an account of modern Japan in the eyes of a visiting westerner, and although it is well written and it appears slightly two-dimensional and gives little attention to the traditional Japanese culture which remains highly prevalent. Failing to incorporate the rich cultural background detracts heavily from the book, and Barker would have been better off setting the story in a less exotic setting where this omission is less noticeable.
The plot progresses at a plodding pace when it finally gets going. This makes it all the more frustrating when the ending fizzles out with many questions unanswered and those which are, highly unfulfilling. I imagine Barker is attempting to add a sort of mysticism to her novel but this falls short.
On a more positive note the character development is excellent and the book itself is very well written. She also cleverly changes the writing styles for the different storylines and is competent is delivering the plot in the three different formats. Barker does a fine job at mixing dark comedy with drama and makes a good stab at suspense, ending chapters at tantalizing but not irritating times, before switching storylines.
Despite its poor ending, I did enjoy reading `Sayonara Bar'. Susan Barker is clearly a talented author but I feel she overreached herself with this book. I will read `The Orientalist and the Ghost' (her next novel) when it is published next year. The title has Japanese connotations again and I hope it delivers more substantially than `Sayonara Bar'.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Well written, but disappointed...
The most positive thing about this book is that it is well written. The story is very engrossing.
The most negative thing about this book is the forced English-isms... Read more
The most negative thing about this book is the forced English-isms... Read more
Published 16 months ago by A-chan
Sayonara Bar
The intertwining of the characters' stories in this novel is definitely its strength, but even the slight alteration of narrative style and tone with each section of the story... Read more
Published on 9 July 2008 by Paula Marrel
Terrific Book
This is the best piece of popular fiction I have read in a very long time. The fact that it is a first novel is incredible given the competence and scope of the writing. Read more
Published on 2 Dec 2005
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