The Love We Share Without Knowing

September 22, 2008
Barzak's accomplished novel-in-stories dwells on people dealing with life's sorrows through somewhat tenuous connections. Set in Japan, the narratives focus on protagonists from the country and travelers in search of a new life, as in “Realer Than You,” in which 16-year-old Elijah Fulton longs for his native America while struggling to fit into his new surroundings outside of Tokyo. “The Suicide Club” is made up of four young adults on the fringe of Japanese society attempting to make sense of their lives, while “Sleeping Beauties” concerns, albeit sappily, an American teacher and his Japanese lover; the narrator loses his identity through total immersion in his lover's life, yet it's the slow return to self that is even more devastating. “If You Can Read This You're Too Close” centers on a disillusioned, selfish young man whose life is changed after a blind man sees him. Barzak's perceptive writing evinces the fragile and overwhelming desire for meaning and love.

December 9, 2008
Verdict: In this follow-up to his notable debut, One for Sorrow, Barzak offers an otherworldly novel made up of linked short stories set in contemporary Japan; recommended for public and academic libraries. Background: Barzak's varied players spin their stories of love, grief, and growing up in first-person narratives that artfully collide with each other to stunning emotional effect. In one narrative thread, a teenage boy lost in Tokyo is led home by an ethereal girl in a fox costume; he later discovers she is dead. The childhood best friend of the fox girl is a casualty of her planned group suicide, but not in the way she anticipates. The author finds rich territory in situating his characters in places steeped in personal loss and letting them fumble toward acceptance of their own frailties.-Anne Garner, NYPL

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Starred review from November 1, 2008
The interlinked stories that make up Barzaks exquisite and mysterious second novel follow a variety of characters in modern-day Japan. Both the Japanese and Americans inthese stories experiencea sense of disassociation from the world they live in. A teen who moved with his family from the United States to Japan feels isolated and alone until he makes a connection with a girl who committed suicide years ago. Four Japanese friends, feeling trapped and isolated, form a plan to commit suicide together. A Japanese man traps his American lover in his dreams to avoid losing him. A disaffected Japanese musician is seen by a blind man on a trainand suddenly goes blind himself. Four American expatriates navigate the language and culture of their new home. Barzak mixes magical elementssuch as unexplained physical ailments that mirror emotional onesinto his starkly realistic view of contemporaryJapan. From its beautiful title to its sad and haunted characters, The Love We Share without Knowing limns the depths of the human need to be lovedand to be truly understood and accepted by those we love. A beautiful, enchanted book.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)