{{Short description|1997 novel by Mieko Kanai}} {{Infobox book | author = Mieko Kanai | isbn = 978-4062043083 | pub_date = April 1, 1997 (Japanese)<br />May 2, 2023 (English) | name = Mild Vertigo | publisher = Kodansha (Japanese)<br />New Directions (English) | published = Japan | language = Japanese | genre = Literary fiction, modernist fiction | translator = Polly Barton | pages = 208 (Japanese)<br />192 (English) | preceded_by = 恋愛太平記 (Love Taiheiki) | followed_by = 柔らかい土をふんで, (Stepping on Soft Soil) | image = "Mild Vertigo" by Mieko Kanai book cover.png }}
{{Nihongo|'''''Mild Vertigo'''''|軽いめまい|Karui memai|<i>lit. Light dizziness</i>}} is a novel by Mieko Kanai originally serialized in ''Katei gahō'' before getting published as a novel in 1997 by Kodansha.<ref>{{Cite book |last=金井 |first=美恵子 |title=軽いめまい |publisher=講談社 |year=1997 |isbn=978-4062043083}}</ref> In 2023, an English translation by Polly Barton was published by New Directions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kanai |first=Mieko |title=Mild Vertigo |publisher=New Directions Publishing |year=2023 |isbn=978-0811232289 |translator-last=Barton |translator-first=Polly}}</ref>
== Synopsis == The novel follows a housewife, Natsumi, as she lives and tends to an apartment in Tokyo where she lives with her husband and two sons. Oscillating between Natsumi's internal monologues and her interactions with family and friends, the novel is a portrait of middle-class life in the city.
== Critical reception == In a starred review, ''Kirkus Reviews'' called it "A subtle, thoughtful portrait of a woman chafing at the demands and constraints of domestic life."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/mieko-kanai/mild-vertigo/ |title=Mild Vertigo |website=Kirkus Reviews |language=en}}</ref>
''The New York Times'' noted "the mesmerizing wonder of Kanai's prose, as translated by Polly Barton" and briefly compared its sense of womanhood to ''Mrs Dalloway''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Oshetsky |first=Claire |date=May 26, 2023 |title=The Contagious, 'Mild Vertigo' of a Middle-Class Housewife |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/26/books/review/mild-vertigo-mieko-kanai.html |work=The New York Times}}</ref> ''The Atlantic'' lauded the novel as a "domestic horror story" and hoped that the successful translation by Barton would lead to more subsequent translations of Kanai's work into English.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Meyer |first=Lily |date=2023-07-02 |title=When Domestic Life Is Like a Horror Story |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2023/07/mild-vertigo-mieko-kanai-book-review/674579/ |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref> Similarly, ''The Cleveland Review of Books'' and ''The Spectator'' sharply observed and celebrated Kanai's approach to domestic life in Tokyo.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nguyen |first=Celine |date=November 9, 2023 |title=Sisyphean Domesticity: On Mieko Kanai's "Mild Vertigo" |url=https://www.clereviewofbooks.com/writing/mieko-kanai-mild-vertigo |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=Cleveland Review of Books |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Langley |first=Lee |date=2023-06-21 |title=The trials of a Tokyo housewife: Mild Vertigo, by Mieko Kanai, reviewed |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-trials-of-a-tokyo-housewife-mild-vertigo-by-mieko-kanai-reviewed/ |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=The Spectator |language=en-GB}}</ref> ''The Japan Times'' admired both "Kanai's distinctive style" and "Barton's mesmerizing translation."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kosaka |first=Kris |date=June 17, 2023 |title=The quotidian madness of Mieko Kanai's 'Mild Vertigo' |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2023/06/17/books/book-reviews/mieko-kanai-mild-vertigo/ |work=The Japan Times}}</ref> ''The Times Literary Supplement'' called it a great modernist drama.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Battersby |first=Doug |date=August 18, 2023 |title=Mieko Kanai's great novel of emotional impoverishment |url=https://www.the-tls.co.uk/regular-features/in-brief/mild-vertigo-mieko-kanai-book-review-doug-battersby |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=TLS |language=en-GB}}</ref>
The translated novel was recommended by ''The Guardian'' in a September 2023 reading list.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kemp-Habib |first=Alice |last2=Rumens |first2=Carol |last3=readers |first3=Guardian |last4=Eden |first4=Atlas Weyland |date=2023-09-28 |title=What we're reading: writers and readers on the books they enjoyed in September |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/sep/28/what-were-reading-writers-and-readers-on-the-books-they-enjoyed-in-september |access-date=2024-11-07 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
== References == <!-- Inline citations added to your article will automatically display here. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:REFB for instructions on how to add citations. --> {{reflist}}
Category:1997 novels Category:Japanese novels