El cielo es azul, la tierra blanca/ The Briefcase aka Strange Weather in Tokyo, Paperback by Kawakami, Hiromi, ISBN 6073812027, ISBN-13 9786073812023, Like New Used, Free shipping in the US

Desde un sake caliente hasta una cerveza fría, desde los árboles desnudos hasta su florecimiento, el lector siente de cerca la melancolía de los protagonistas y la hipnótica atmósfera de esta historia inolvidable, ganadora del prestigioso Premio Tanizaki, que ha marcado un hito en la literatura contemporánea.

Tsukiko tiene treinta y ocho años, vive sola y trabaja en una oficina . Una noche se encuentra en un bar con uno de sus antiguos profesores del colegio. Él es treinta años mayor que ella, jubilado y presumiblemente viudo . Su relación evoluciona –conducida suavemente por Kawakami a lo largo de las distintas estaciones– desde un conocimiento superficial mientras comen y beben a una agradable sensación de compañerismo y, finalmente, hasta una profunda relación sentimental.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

Shortlisted for the 2013 Man Asian Literary Prize, Strange Weather in Tokyo is a story of loneliness and love that defies age.

Tsukiko, thirty–eight, works in an office and lives alone. One night, she happens to meet one of her former high school teachers, "Sensei," in a local bar. Tsukiko had only ever called him "Sensei" ("Teacher"). He is thirty years her senior, retired, and presumably a widower. Their relationship develops from a perfunctory acknowledgment of each other as they eat and drink alone at the bar, to a hesitant intimacy which tilts awkwardly and poignantly into love.

As Tsukiko and Sensei grow to know and love one another, time's passing is marked by Kawakami's gentle hints at the changing seasons: from warm sake to chilled beer, from the buds on the trees to the blooming of the cherry blossoms. Strange Weather in Tokyo is a moving, funny, and immersive tale of modern Japan and old–fashioned romance.