Review and Preview: Lala Pipo
lala pipo
Lala Pipo was handed off to me a long time ago to read and review, but it took me a long time to get to it because the cover–one of Chip Kidd’s few failed designs in my opinion– presented the book in a way that looked like it was, well, not something I would want to ever read. But the cover image has nothing to do with the contents. It seems like I could reference some saying here. Uh… “Don’t judge a…” It will come to me later.
What Lala Pipo is about is a lot of people (that’s where the title comes from) who’s lives are tangentially linked by the sex and pornography trade in Japan. It is divided into separate stories that follow pitiable characters as they trade their dignity for money or pleasure. The first story, amusing though it was, had me wondering once again why I had bothered to pick up the book, but pretty soon the connections of the overall narrative and theme came into focus and I realized that I had a work of impish genius in my hands.
This is a black comedy. Black-black-lose-hope-in-Japan-at-times black. It is a satire of modern, rotting, money-driven and materialistic Japan, but it does what satire does best: makes you think and challenges your perspective. I hope Japanese people are giving the original Japanese version a read.
If you are interested in buying it, here is the Amazon America link
I noticed recently (and far too late) that there is a movie adaptation of the novel. It seems to have taken a slightly surreal take, but looks pretty promising. Find it embedded below. Here is the link for the DVD: Amazon.jp
Contributor Bio: Claytonian blogs and vlogs about Japan, language, and news at The Hopeless Romantic. He saves the creepy-covered books for last.
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