Honeybees and Distant Thunder
Author(s): Riku Onda
A multi-award winning, 1.5 millon copy Japanese besteller about four friends pitted against each other in the drama of an international piano competition. Translated by Philip Gabriel, a translator of Murakami.
The tender and compelling drama of four young pianists as they compete in an international piano competition - Aya, a child prodigy who gave up performing after the death of her mother, and is trying for a comeback; Masaru, a childhood friend of Aya, now competing against her; Akashi, older and married, works in a music store and is the "old man" of the competition; Jin, a sixteen-year-old prodigy, the free spirit son of a beekeeper who has no formal training and doesn't even own a piano. A tense, drama-filled two-week competition unfolds. Who will win through? Can they confront their own demons?
Deeply compelling and compassionate, HONEYBEES AND DISTANT THUNDER is the unflinching story of high-level competition, love, rivalry and friendship from a bestselling international voice.
Matilda Bookshop Review
What a glorious read this is! An ode to music itself, explored through the microcosm of a prestigious piano competition and the four people who will be changed by participating; a neurotic former child prodigy, a heart throb who dreams of composition, the impish son of a beekeeper and an unassuming, working class Father.
Chapters are neatly organised, echoing the framework of the competition rounds. This clever structure did indeed bring to mind Mussorgsky's Pictures At An Exhibition! Each performance described is a little tableau of life which stands on its own, with the overarching narrative of the competition itself joining them seamlessly. Paradoxically both grand and intimate, reading Honeybees and Distant Thunder gave me the same giddy head rush as hearing the moving swell of an orchestra tuning up. Exhilarating! Emilie
Product Information
A thrilling and often nail-biting depiction of music, friendship and personal demons . . . Onda beautifully conveys the transcendent power of classical music in all its emotive, psychological and visceral glory. * OBSERVER * A pitch-perfect, vivid masterpiece. A celebration of the love and joy inherent in the act of creating and appreciating music. Honeybees and Distant Thunder contains a warm frequency that vibrates with life and soul. * NICK BRADLEY, author of THE CAT AND THE CITY * Propulsive and poetic * KIRKUS REVIEWS * Deeply moving. The now-ness of Onda's writing left me more than once with a big, goofy grin on my face or tears on my cheeks * ASSOCIATED PRESS *
Riku Onda is a No.1 bestselling author in Japan. She grew up in Sendai and attended Waseda University, where she played the alto saxophone in a student band. A book lover from an early age, she left an office job to try her hand at writing. In 1991, Onda won an award with her first novel, and became a full-time writer soon after. In 2003, after overcoming a fear of flying, she visited the UK and Ireland, and later lived in South America, where she reported for NHK television on Mayan and Incan culture. As her father was a music enthusiast, Onda grew up listening to classical music and played the piano from a young age, later discovering Western rock and jazz She is the first writer to be awarded the Japan Booksellers Award twice. In 2017, her novel Honeybees and Distant Thunder was awarded both the Naoki Prize and the Japan Booksellers' Award, the first time a novel has won both. It became an instant No. 1 bestseller in Japan, going on to sell several million copies. It was also made into a highly successful Japanese-language film called 'Listen to the Universe'. This novel will be published around the world.
General Fields
- :
- : Transworld Publishers Limited
- : Transworld Publishers Limited
- : 0.368317
- : 31 December 2022
- : books
Special Fields
- : FA
- : 360
- : 895.636
- : English
- : Paperback
- : Riku Onda