Inhabitation
Published July 9th 2019 by Counterpoint Press (first published December 1984), Paperback 304 pages
A living lizard nailed to a pillar and a young man bound by a family misfortune––a tale that poses questions about life, death, and karma by one of Japan’s most beloved living writers.
In 1970s Osaka, college student Tetsuyuki moves into a shabby apartment to evade his late father’s creditors. But the apartment’s electricity hasn’t been reconnected yet, and Tetsuyuki spends his first night in darkness. Wanting to hang up a tennis cap from his girlfriend, Yōko, he fumbles about in the dark and drives a nail into a pillar. The next day he discovers that he has pierced the body of a lizard, which is still alive. He decides to keep it alive, giving it food and water and naming it Kin.
Inhabitation unfolds from there, following the complications in Tetsuyuki’s relationship with Yōko, a friendship with his supervisor who hides his heart disease at work, and his father’s creditors, always close on his heels. Daunted, Tetsuyuki speaks to Kin night after night, and Kin’s peculiarly tortured situation reflects the mingled pain, love, and guilt that infuses Tetsuyuki’s human relationships.
For more than four decades, Teru Miyamoto’s gentle prose—which often explores a kind of spiritual isolation—has enthralled Japanese readers. Now, translator Roger K. Thomas brings one of Miyamoto’s most well-loved novels to an English-speaking audience for the first time.
User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
What a timely, delicious novel - just as I was feeling a bout of nihilisim coming on. Existential, heavy with analogies, and at times erotic. Basically, all in a day's work with Japanese fiction.
Rating: really liked it
The novel's ending endeared me to the protagonist only slightly more than in the rest of the story. I found him unlikable throughout and utterly unworthy of his girlfriend's love and loyalty (which ultimately made her less likable, too). I could find no reason for her to remain so devoted to him, and to me this was the novel's biggest failing. By the end I was rooting for neither of them, and only for the lizard. I loved Miyamoto's other translated novels and short story collections (Kinshu, Phantom Lights, and Rivers), but this one I could have passed on. If I could rate a book on Goodreads with only 2.5 stars, I would have done so for this.
Rating: really liked it
Tetsuyuki's life is filled with misfortune; his late father's debt has him and his mother hiding separately from seedy collectors. His girlfriend, Yoko, is too good for him. He's a full time student and a part time bellboy. However, Tetsuyuki's journey truly begins the night he accidentally nails a lizard to the wall of his new apartment-- and it lives. His annoyance turns to fondness, naming it Kin-chan, who feels like his only true companion. Philosophical, dramatic, and turbulent,
Inhabitation will hurl you right into the world of 1970's Japan, and I found myself simultaneously frustrated (in a good way) and aching with at our irresolute protagonist.
Rating: really liked it
Tetsuyuki is an Osaka college student burdened with family debt and baggage. moving to a shabby apartment he accidentally nails a lizard to the wall during electricity cut off.
should he pull the nail out and risk the lizard bleeding to death? or just wait until it dies of starvation?
As the plot carries on with the events, relations and life problems, the reader realises that we are all that Lizard, pinned down to a wall by heavy burdens; we know how to get rid of them but afraid to take action and, most of the time, opt for slow death.
Unique approach to life and death themes with the lizard symbolism. one which created a bond between the lizard and the protagonist.
on cons side, the details of the plot are predictable and style is mundane.
Rating: really liked it
nimic nu e mai real decât atunci când o șopârlă(Kin) trăiește un an străpunsă de un cui și cel care o hrănește simte că împart același corp
Rating: really liked it
Randomly picked up this and liked it more than I thought. Nice anology and characterization. When I read a few reviews i was confused about how the story revolves around a lizard. After reading it, i must say that that interpretation is correct and incorrect at the same type. The story can be seen as attached to the analogy or it can be detached from it as well.
Rating: really liked it
Loved it and this alone should make you wanna read it.
“ Before there can be any effect, there has to be a cause. That’s the basis of physics, isn’t it? Is there a single effect in this universe that doesn’t have a cause? Does a tree grow where there’s no seed? Does a nail all by itself pierce a lizard’s back? It’s because everything in this world has a cause that there are effects.
Why are we humans born into this life with differences from each other? There must be some cause for that, too. So then, that cause must have been produced before we were born, right? Doesn’t that make the most sense? Some are born into wealthy families, some into poor ones. Some are born with healthy bodies, some crippled. So then, even though all things have cause and effect, wouldn’t it be odd to say that the differences we are born with have no cause? We certainly experienced lives before being born into this one, we just don’t remember, that’s all. So, I died carrying various debts and then, just like waking up from sleep, I was reborn. But the debts haven’t disappeared...”
Rating: really liked it
By far, one of the best novels that I have ever read. Miyamoto is truly a master of literary realism.
Rating: really liked it
This review is taken from my IG account @descanto
🏳 I am giving up! Simply giving up reading this book 🏳
I texted Rhea @namakurhea last night and asked her: "I am giving up with this book. I have been trying to read it twice but I freaking cannot get myself into it. How could you deal with this book?"
Inhabitation tells a story about an Osama college students named Tetsuyuki. He's burdened with family debt and baggage. He then would have to move to a shabby apartment where he accidentally nails a lizard to the wall during electricity cut off. He does not know what he has to do with the lizard.
As his story continues, it carries on with the complicated life events including his relationship with others particularly the girlfriend. And the more we know Tetsuyuki, we will know that the lizard here is an allegory, a symbolism of human's characters themselves. They often know how to direct their life but they are afraid to take an action and when they realise what they want, they're just a step closer to death.
I was giving uo reading this book on the second attemps. Like Gosh, how would one stand it? The story is too superficial, scratching the surface of things that can be explore deeper like life and death with the lizard symbolism. It instead goes around the bush making me loose the reading tracks. Like I was left with the question: what's next? What is the central of the story? If the author wants to focus on Tetsuyuki's relationship with the girlfriend then where is the spicy spicey little sparks between them? The book, the plot, the characters are too flat!
I simply gave up reading the book after dealing with it twice. I'm giving up! 🏳
Rating: really liked it
I quite enjoyed this strange book, although a few things make me hesitate to rate it at 4 stars. The story is that of student Tetsuyuki, who's forced to move into an isolated apartment because debt collectors are after him and his mother due to his deceased father's debts. His first night, without electricity, he accidentally hammers a nail through a lizard into a post. When he discovers it the next morning, still alive, he's at a loss. Over the next year, as Tetsuyuki takes a part-time job and prepares to marry his girlfriend, while fearing the imminent discovery by thugs, the lizard -- which he names Kin -- comes to represent a kind of combined freedom and love of life that keeps him going. Dreams and depression, confusion and uncertainty, are talked through with Kin, while Tetsuyuki wonders how the lizard continues living. Kin's place in the boy's life is a conceit that works, but what drags the book down a bit is the fact that Tetsuyuki's often a jerk, and it's not always clear why. He has some reasons to be; his life is difficult. But his character sometimes seems muddled, and his motivations unclear. I wanted to root for him, but the book made that challenging. Still, by the end I felt pretty satisfied with the story, and it's certainly an unusual book worth checking out if the description intrigues you.
Rating: really liked it
This is such a good book with wonderful characters, a great rhythm and the clever plot motif/symbol of the lizard. Set in 1970s Osaka focused on 'normal' people and their daily struggles it really resonated with me. We all feel pinned down and struggle to find freedom or direction at given times in our lives. Some will think it is claustrophobic and strange. That's why I really liked it. In the same way as I loved the Scorsese film 'After Hours' set in 1980s New York about a series of misadventures that highlight all of Manhattan's quirky brilliance and tension. This book is packed full of misadventures too and is rendered into English in a smooth and easy to read translation by Roger k. Thomas. Really pleased I picked it up and read it. Just wish more of his work was available in English.
Rating: really liked it
"Why are we humans born into this life with differences from each other?" - Inhabitation, by Teru Miyamoto
This was the first book I've read by Teru Miyamoto, but certainly will not be the last.
Writing about a young university student being pursued by his father's debtors, Miyamoto breathes life into an evocatively chaotic yet dreamlike world, producing an astounding depiction of what it means to come of age. More than anything else, this book for me was a powerful exercise in nostalgia: it masterfully captured a shape, texture, and intensity of feeling, unique to our early twenties, which I had long forgotten, and which this novel allowed me to wistfully remember.
Rating: really liked it
This was a terrific read. I had never read a Miyamoto novel prior to this, but I am now excited to dive deeper into his literary catalog. “Inhabitation” is book full of raw and relatable emotion. The relationships between characters seemed so real and honest that it was easy to find ways to relate to what they were going through. Miyamoto does an excellent job articulating the importance of reflecting on life, death, and the thin line that separates the two. This book is also incredibly original. The use of Kin to drive many different metaphors throughout the novel was excellent. From start to finish I really loved this book. Shout out to the translator as well!
Rating: really liked it
An utterly claustrophobic read, absolutely nothing worked for me - not a single page, not a single paragraph. I felt like I was nailed to this book like the lizard inside it was nailed to the wall. I really liked the author's Kinshu when I read it six years ago, and also really liked at least some of the stories in his Phantom Lights collection. But Inhabitation - truly creative people have bad ideas sometimes, and for me this book is a Teru Miyamoto's bad idea. I'll certainly be interested in any new books of his that come out in English translation - but after my experience with Inhabitation I will be wary.
Rating: really liked it
Finished in a day and enjoyed it immensely. While Tetsuyuki is not the most lovable protagonist you could hope for, his story rings truthful and humble. Using a seemingly unimportant event as a catalyst for the rest of the story, Miyamoto captures a mixture of anxiety, reality, and dream-like passages in a way that feels so natural. Really excellent slice of life writing that will likely appeal to fans of similar Japanese literature.
