A good idea, a bad execution - The Emissary by Yoko Tawada

The Emissary, a short exploration into the “What Ifs” of the destruction of the world by climate change and human destruction of the world. So What if a whole country was closed down and had to become completely independent? Well, I still don’t know, but good question. The Emissary is not the book to get answers rather, it is the book to ask questions, and never to resolve them.

Japan, closed down from the rest of the world. Yoshiro, a very old man who never dies. Mumei, a young child too weak to take care of himself. And, a world too weak to survive much more time. A great set of characters and an amazing setting but Tawada, having this incredible idea, completely wastes this. She never goes deep enough to really explore the themes and the possible consequences of a world that is so broken that children grow with no strength.

Firstly, the characters. Maybe the biggest strength of the book, Yoshiro and Mumei’s differences make them stronger. Yoshiro is stuck in his time, trying to understand a new world where his great-great-grandchild is as weak as a flower. He becomes his solemn protection in a cruel and dangerous world. While the rest of the elderly people work for the young trying to stabilize life. Mumei, on the other hand, is happy with being alive. He is quite the opposite of what Yoshiro is. His positive character makes the entire book feel like a drop of optimism in a terrible world.

Secondly, the writing feels weak and unexplored. Constantly I was thrown into information that although interesting, it was a dump. A single train of through that the reader felt into without really realising. It felt like the author was making a terrible attempt into a multitude of ideas and a lazy attempt of throwing ideas.

In light of my thoughts and the experience of the book, I would not recommend it to a lot of people. Yes, the ideas were creative but, if such a short and lazy attempt is what is thrown into the book, it makes me rather hesitant to name it a piece of literature.