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Honeybees and Distant Thunder: The million copy award-winning Japanese bestseller about the enduring power of great friendship

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While global fiction is reaching ever-higher critical reception, the translators who open the doors to these new worlds for us are still often neglected. Translators like Jennifer Croft (translator of Nobel-winning Olga Tokarczuk) have worked to correct this, such as through the #TranslatorsOnTheCover campaign, but there is still much work to be done. As I read some of the passages describing performances, where audience members describe not only other competitors’ sound but also elaborate imagined scenes the performances conjure in them, I wondered if the novel in Japanese used a lot of giongo or gitaigo (onomatopoeia) words. If so, how did you go about translating those often-difficult expressions, or if not, how did those passages come together? Foster’s latest, highly imaginative work of creative nonfiction envisages the lives of animals, from gannets to otters, in this harsh, human-dominated world. An urban fox cub befriends a young girl before encountering the terror of a hunt, while an orca matriarch is shot at by rampaging day-trippers on boats. Evocative and beautifully written, it’s a deeply immersive read. Our Missing Hearts

Onda also links nature to music. Masaru thinks about a piece called Spring and Ashura that he played in the competition: Honeybees and Distant Thunder explores the relationship between the competitors at the Yoshigae International Piano Competition. Its characters confront not only each other, but the weight of genius, which pushes down on each pianist individually. From child prodigies to rising stars and musicians making their final efforts, Honeybees and Distant Thunder casts a wide and well-woven net. Delving into the distance between tradition and originality, competition and friendship, expectations, courage, I’m thrilled that Gabriel has brought Onda’s book to an even-larger number of readers. Honeybees and Distant Thunder tells multiple stories at once, as there isn’t a singular protagonist throughout. First we have Jin, who lives in France with his father, a bee expert who travels around a lot. They don’t even own a piano, but as it turns out, Jin was mentored by a beloved piano master who recently passed away. He’s brought into a preliminary round for the prestigious piano competition held in Japan. At first, the judges don’t know how to react to his playing, as it’s unlike anything they’ve seen before. It’s obvious he’s a genius, despite having rarely touched a piano outside of his time with the Maestro, but he ends up passing and going to Tokyo. Riku Onda postawiła na opis, na bogactwo metafor i dobrze zrobiła, bo czyż Chopin, Mozart, Bach, Liszt, Beethoven nie byli mistrzami metafory? Oczywiście, że byli. Ich muzyka rzuca słuchaczom przed oczy konkretne sceny, konkretne obrazy. Ich dzieła są opowieściami, których w konwencjonalny sposób nie widać, ale ponieważ je słyszymy, to i widzimy oczami wyobraźni, a wyobraźnia przecież nie ma granic. As I translated, I knew I also had to familiarize myself with the compositions performed in the novel, and it became a mini-seminar for me in the classical repertoire. And a good way to rest my eyes from looking at the screen, and enjoy listening to some wonderful music.

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The cadenza that Jin Kazama spun out was cruel and brutal to an absurd degree. The frightening, clamorous tremolos stabbed you right in the chest, and were painful to listen to. A shrill scream, a low rumbling, a raging wind. An openly threatening, irresistible menace…Takashi realized he was barely breathing. This was Ashura indeed.” Onda’s novel is both about people’s reactions to music and about the skill that it takes to wrest divine truths from notes applied to paper. Synaesthetic and devout, it locates such meaning in the evolving work of four central talents: Akashi, who at twenty-eight is aging out of being able to consider music as a career path; Jin, untested on the contest circuit, whose gifts rise from somewhere primal and crystalline; and Aya and Masaru, who met music together as children, lost each other, and are delighted to reconnect on Yoshigae’s stage. Only one musician can win, though all four start to desire something beyond first place: truth, told in the language of music. The novel is a masterpiece. I applaud the author for her powers of description. The author's extraordinary affection for music made this work seem so complete' Tender and intense, Honeybees and Distant Thunder is the unflinching story of love, courage and rivalry as three young people come to understand what it means to truly be a friend. So when all is said and done, how do I feel about this book? Despite my disappointments about the plot, this novel’s unique treatment of musical performances was very memorable and I’m glad to have read it. I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys music in any form, whether that be performing as a hobby or career, or simply listening for pleasure. By the way, music has been an important part of my life since I was very young, and I’ve played my own share of classical piano (though I am far from the level of the characters in this book). I think this may be one of the reasons this novel will always have a special place in my heart.

A book begging to be read on the beach, with the sun warming the sand and salt in the air: pure escapism. This was a type Jin knew well. Farmers and horticulturists, people working with nature, and especially with plants, shared an astonishing patience. When dealing with the natural world there really was little humans could do. You could make an effort, yet there was scant guarantee of reward. This book follows a group of people competing in an international piano competition in a small Japanese town. There’s disgraced child prodigy Aya, mysterious son of a beekeeper Jin, the ‘Prince of Julliard’ Masaru, and the seemingly ordinary Akashi. Each competitor (and those surrounding them) go through immense changes as they affect each other through music. This is beyond a reading experience. I felt I was actually listening to the music. It felt like some sixth sense was at work. Wonderful'

Though Honeybees and Distant Thunder is centered around the Yoshigae International Piano Competition, a fictional contest set in a rural seaside town, the story is strongly character-driven. We follow 16-year-old Jin Kazama (an unknown prodigy and son of a beekeeper), Aya Eiden (a burned-out former child prodigy), Masaru Carlos Levi Anatole (a pedigreed contestant dubbed “The Prince of Juilliard”) and Akashi Takashima (an older entrant looking for his last shot at fame) as they battle through this grueling two-week event, which aims to find emerging new talents. Over the past month I have had the pleasure of reading this wonderful book by Onda Riku. Honeybees and Distant Thunder is a book about sounds, nature, music and inspiration. The story is set around an international piano competition and follows the journey of its competitors. In a small coastal town just a stone’s throw from Tokyo, a prestigious piano competition is underway. Over the course of two feverish weeks, three students will experience some of the most joyous—and painful—moments of their lives. Though they don’t know it yet, each will profoundly and unpredictably change the others, for ever.

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