A Certain Mr. Takahashi
By Ann Ireland
4/5
()
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Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Winner of the 1985 Seal Books First Novel Award and of the Books in Canada First Novel Award
To Mrs. Hopper, Yoshi Takahashi may be just another name from her daughters’ past, but for Jean and her sister, Colette, he stands for much more. Years ago, Mr. Takahashi moved into their Toronto neighbourhood and sent the adolescent lives of Jean and Colette into a tailspin. They weren’t content merely to befriend the Japanese pianist - in their infatuation they sought to mirror his life as closely as possible.
The enchantment lingers into adult life in ways both sisters are reluctant to recognize. This weekend they have been invited to an extravagant family celebration in Victoria, B.C. As the party gains momentum, so does the tension between the sisters. As before, the larger-than-life Mr. Takahashi casts his spell.
Originally published in 1985, A Certain Mr. Takahashi won the coveted Seal First Novel Award and the Books in Canada/W.H. Smith First Novel Award.
Ann Ireland
Ann Ireland was the author of A Certain Mr. Takahashi (winner of the Seal First Novel Award), and Exile (shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction and the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize). The first edition of her novel The Instructor was a finalist for the Ontario Trillium Award.
Read more from Ann Ireland
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Reviews for A Certain Mr. Takahashi
3 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I read this book because I needed an ‘I’ author and another book that fit the Canadian Challenge. This short novel is essentially about two sisters’ obsession with Yoshi Takahshi, their Japanese concert pianist neighbor. I love classical music so I was hoping music would play a big part in the story. Although music obviously plays a role, the bulk of the plot centers around the girls’ adoration of Yoshi.The girls use every excuse they can to visit him and even start to decorate their rooms in a spartan, Japanese style. Yoshi encourages the girls and even invites them to accompany him on an overnight trip to one of his concerts. As you can probably guess, a s*xual situation develops. The book flashes back and forth from when Jean and Collette were young teenagers and both had crushes on Yoshi to the present in which they are now grown. Even as adult women, their obsession continues.I most enjoyed the parts of the book where it concentrated on Jean’s struggle to continue on with her own music — especially the conversation she has with her father, also a musician. This book was the basis for a Canadian film called The Pianist (different than the film with the same name starring Adrien Brody).1985, 206 pp.Rating: 3/5