From memories comes monsters from childhood, a dragon from misspent days and a girl in red shoes. With a stone for a heart and a host of friends, enemies and others to haunt him, this is a journey across time, through sea and over land to discover life, love and a brand new heart. .

The Ghosts Of Nagasaki recounts the past from memories real and re-imagined. When faced with returning to the scene of his youth, the memories and ghosts of the those he once knew invade his present, all in an effort to make sense of a life unlived and unfulfilled. A refreshing and entertaining story that is not to be read lightly. ( )

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

This was originally posted on my blog, Melissa's Midnight Musings: http://midnight-orchids.blogspot.com/2015/04/review-ghosts-of-nagasaki.html


The first word I would use to describe this book would be confusing. It delves into the story right away, with very little background info. Which is good for setting a fast pace, but not so great for someone like me who enjoys the buildup of a backstory. At times I found myself not wanting to pick it back up again. But, once I did I was able to be pulled in enough to keep reading.

This is a stream of consciousness novel of sorts. Or maybe a novel with multiple streams of consciousness?

The book shifts perspective a lot, between the protagonists present day life as a business man in Tokyo, and his memories of his life four years ago when he first came to Japan to teach English. The story is also mixed in with what could be perceived by some as delusions or hallucinations. The story jumps can be unsettling, but they're also part of what draws you in in the first place.

I never really related to the main character on a personal level. There's not much told about him as a person, except that he is an orphan, who went through the foster care system and had it kind of rough. You actually don't even ever learn his name. I only knew it from an insert that the author sent along with the book.

My thought is that by not telling us his name and by telling the story from the first person perspective, the author might have been trying to make the story, as well as the pain the protagonist is running from more universal.

The story itself is somewhat dark, there's a lot of pain, and unresolved grief and a loss of his sense of self, on the part of the protagonist. It's likely why he attacts all of these ghosts, and other figments of his imagination, like Mr. Sparkles, a glittery dinosaur.

Mr. Sparkles actually made me laugh out loud. I thought of him as an alternate funnier, version of Mikey Welsh, the protagonists' roomate.

Along with ghosts and glittery dinosaurs, there are other added elements of magical realism in the book. The magical realism element is further solidified with the introduction of an island where one can go to procure and grow a brand new heart,fed by memories. This magical island seems to be some sort of limbo for the protagonist, between the current version of himself and the version of himself from 4 years ago.

There's a strange religious side to the story as well. One of the characters that Pierce attracts is a man who follows him around claiming that he's an apostate. In one scene the protagonist conjures up more of his ghosts who take this character and put him onto a cross in the middle of the ocean, and Pierce feels it his duty to rescue this man, against impossible odds. Then there's a secretive backstory that Pierce's first foster family were evangelicals, who were somehow horrible to him, and that the family who eventually adopt him are also particularly religious as well. I found the religious undertone confusing and at times disturbing.

The main message that I gathered from the story is that it's about a person who was trying to escape the pain of never having a place to really call home, and trying to recover from the death of the one person in life who seemed to truly understand him.

This story, while confusing, was told in an unusual and unique way.
( )

A beautifully compelling, poetically written exorcism of the heart. ( )

The Ghosts of Nagasaki is...

...one of those ones that lingers. Giving a breakdown of theme, plot or character seems to waste time somehow, so I won’t. I don’t want to figure this novel out, just leave it to live in the fragment of time in which I read it, compartmentalize it away into its own drawer and lock it ready as a challenge to my unconscious mind to sort out. It’s not sparing with its heaviness or dismissive of its playfulness.

Deadness.

The ghostly figures that populate the novel care little for their place relative to reality and fantasy, and the compulsion for the reader to look for the joins is a mistake, thankfully one that I wasn’t concerned with at all.

Manifestations born of mischief, chiefly in the guise of a friendly dragon, take on the wisdom of the fool, the value of lightness when numbness has caused a protective retreat demonstrated in funny ways.

Like the Tin Man, the writer we follow has an empty space in his chest and a visitation from a feminine presence with shoes of ruby red helps direct him towards a place where there may be a chance to fill it with something. Something different, perhaps strange and not what he expected, but full nonetheless. Journeying to quiet places that seem set apart, where the inner world intermingles with the outer unquestioned, he measures himself against the spirits and deep waters.

This is one of those that travels without moving. Where staying still means the greatest leaps and a metamorphosis happens beneath. The places merge into a whole, a coagulated life force that brilliantly represents the limbo a lack of heart implies.

Ultimately the ghostly remnants of a traumatized place show the lessons ingrained in the legacy of events too terrible. The threads of ancient reserves return to offer solace to those who are able to accept it. A wonderful book that may mean something to anyone who has ever struggled with losing themselves, feeling disassociated from the world around them or too overcome by unfortunate events. ( )

Honestly, it took me awhile to realize this was a journey through a persons soul. Once I did, though, I became genuinely invested in the outcome. Although a bit of a slow starter, this book had me fully in the stories grip. It was, at times, a bizarre story... but always interesting. ( )