Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami

I didn't love this book but it made me think, it made me uncomfortable, and I think that is in fact a mark of books that matter. The novel, which is in two parts that are interconnected, is a contemplation on being female and living in the 21st century. Natsuko asks if a body’s ability to become pregnant and nurse a child – that is, the possession of breasts and eggs – determine the fate of that body? This is not a discussion of sexual freedom or slavery, as pregnancy has come to represent in the United States, but rather what it in fact means to be a woman and have choices that are uniquely female. Options include breast implants, menstruation, artificial insemination and what is the meaning of parenthood. Natsuko has two acquaintances whose biological fathers were anonymous sperm donors. Aizawa was raised by a father he loved; Yuriko was raised by a pedophile whose horrific abuse has robbed her of all well-being. Every decision to bring a child into this ugly existence, Yuriko argues, is an act of violence. There is a lot on offer here, and in an unusual voice.