Status
Available
Call number
Publication
New York : Riverhead Books, 2021.
Description
"A novel from the author of A Separation, a taut and electrifying story about a woman caught between many truths. An interpreter has come to The Hague to escape New York and work at the International Court. A woman of many languages and identities, she is looking for a place to finally call home. She's drawn into simmering personal dramas: her lover, Adriaan, is separated from his wife but still entangled in his marriage. Her friend Jana witnesses a seemingly random act of violence, a crime the interpreter becomes increasingly obsessed with as she befriends the victim's sister. And she's pulled into explosive political fires: her work interpreting for a former president accused of war crimes becomes precarious as their relationship is unbound by shifting language and meaning. This woman is the voice in the ear of many, but what command does that give her, and how vulnerable does that leave her? Her coolly impassioned views on power, love, and violence, are tested, both in her personal intimacies and in her role at the Court. She is soon pushed to the precipice, where betrayal and heartbreak threaten to overwhelm her; it is her drive towards truth, and love, that throws into stark relief what she wants from her life"--… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member techeditor
Katie Kitamura's INTIMACIES is character driven, and that’s good. She is a fine writer, and I loved her paragraphs. But I cannot rate this book highly because, it seemed to me, it is without plot.
I normally describe the story when I review a book. In this case, though, I could not figure it out.
Worse yet, INTIMACIES is hard to read. Kitamura uses commas all over the place when a semicolon or a period would be appropriate. Also, she uses no quotation marks, even when more than one person is speaking in a single paragraph.
Punctuation marks were invented to aid readability. When an author does not use punctuation marks or uses them incorrectly, she is being rude to her readers.
The book is short. Otherwise, I could not have finished it.
I normally describe the story when I review a book. In this case, though, I could not figure it out.
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There are several things going on with the nameless narrator, an interpreter working in The Hague, but what’s the point?Worse yet, INTIMACIES is hard to read. Kitamura uses commas all over the place when a semicolon or a period would be appropriate. Also, she uses no quotation marks, even when more than one person is speaking in a single paragraph.
Punctuation marks were invented to aid readability. When an author does not use punctuation marks or uses them incorrectly, she is being rude to her readers.
The book is short. Otherwise, I could not have finished it.
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LibraryThing member RidgewayGirl
The narrator is a translator at the International Court in The Hague. She has one good friend and is beginning a relationship with a Dutch man that she is optimistic about, so she's hoping to be permanently hired when her contract ends. But translating is not without its hazards; the work can often
Kitamura writes with both intimacy and a sense of remove, the reader is privy to the narrator's private thoughts and desires while her past and even her name remain hidden. Access is given, but only to a portion of the narrator's life, which heightens the sense of urgency and of time passing. There's no bird's eye view or insight given with the passing of time, just this one woman navigating her life as best she can.
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be stressful, especially once she begins translating at the trial of a west African leader accused of human rights abuses. Kitamura writes with both intimacy and a sense of remove, the reader is privy to the narrator's private thoughts and desires while her past and even her name remain hidden. Access is given, but only to a portion of the narrator's life, which heightens the sense of urgency and of time passing. There's no bird's eye view or insight given with the passing of time, just this one woman navigating her life as best she can.
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LibraryThing member Castlelass
“As the minutes stretched onward, I began to lose track of what was actually under discussion. This was not aided by the fact that interpretation can be profoundly disorienting. You can be so caught up in the minutiae of the act, in trying to maintain utmost fidelity to the words being spoken
The novel’s unnamed Japanese American protagonist has just moved from New York to The Hague to work as a translator for an international criminal court. She speaks English, Japanese, and French. Her father has died, and her mother has moved to Singapore. She develops a friendship with an art curator and forms a relationship with a married man (who says he and his wife are in the process of divorcing). She is eventually assigned to work with the defense team for an unnamed West African dictator, who is alleged to have ordered ethnic cleansing after losing an election. It is set in 2016, when the UK Brexit referendum and American presidential election are imminent.
The protagonist navigates moral uncertainties involved in her job. She finds herself wondering if she is rooting for the ex-dictator even in the face of overwhelming evidence against him. She seems to lose her values and becomes extremely indecisive, both in her professional and personal life. She allows the married man to treat her as a low priority.
This book got me to thinking about the many different types of intimacies and they are almost all covered in this story. Some characters push the boundaries of intimacy, implying it exists when it does not. There are situations where one character tries to manipulate another through false intimacy. There are instances of over-sharing. The writing is fittingly intimate, too.
It is subtle and quiet, while also raising important questions about the nature of interpersonal and working relationships. I loved everything about this novel. I think I may have found a new favorite author. I need to check out Kitamura’s catalogue.
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first by the subject and then by yourself, that you do not necessarily apprehend the sense of the sentences themselves. You literally do not know what you are saying. Language loses its meaning. And yet… something did seep out. I saw the words: cross border raid, mass grave, armed youth.”The novel’s unnamed Japanese American protagonist has just moved from New York to The Hague to work as a translator for an international criminal court. She speaks English, Japanese, and French. Her father has died, and her mother has moved to Singapore. She develops a friendship with an art curator and forms a relationship with a married man (who says he and his wife are in the process of divorcing). She is eventually assigned to work with the defense team for an unnamed West African dictator, who is alleged to have ordered ethnic cleansing after losing an election. It is set in 2016, when the UK Brexit referendum and American presidential election are imminent.
The protagonist navigates moral uncertainties involved in her job. She finds herself wondering if she is rooting for the ex-dictator even in the face of overwhelming evidence against him. She seems to lose her values and becomes extremely indecisive, both in her professional and personal life. She allows the married man to treat her as a low priority.
This book got me to thinking about the many different types of intimacies and they are almost all covered in this story. Some characters push the boundaries of intimacy, implying it exists when it does not. There are situations where one character tries to manipulate another through false intimacy. There are instances of over-sharing. The writing is fittingly intimate, too.
It is subtle and quiet, while also raising important questions about the nature of interpersonal and working relationships. I loved everything about this novel. I think I may have found a new favorite author. I need to check out Kitamura’s catalogue.
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LibraryThing member Narshkite
Man oh man this is an odd little book. The prose is cut glass, the examination of dissonance and rootlessness and community is profound and beautiful, the lens on colonialism/post colonialism subtle and thought-provoking, the emotional remove sometimes chilling even though it never got in my way in
This book is not for everyone. There is not really a plot though there are many interesting subjects glanced over, and as a reader I created stories around those subjects. The main character is perhaps a bit too hazy for people to feel connected to her (as someone who has moved around a good bit and spent long stretches of time in cities on three continents she may be more graspable for me than for people who have lived their lives in one place surrounded by people and things they know.) This is not an easy read -- you need to grapple with it and find its truths. For me those were all plusses, and I will be going back to read Kitamura's last book, and I imagine also her next. 4.5 it is.
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feeling deeply for our protagonist (who I do not think has a name, if she does I missed it.) And I was surprised to find in the end it was hopeful, hinting that maybe we can temper dissonance and rootlessness by redefining home. I also have a lot to chew on from her depiction of how we as a people value the ability to achieve emotional remove (she used the word "equanimity" and it was surprising for me to realize they were synonymous though the first is looked at as negative and the second as positive.) The setting in the Hague, and especially in the International Criminal Court also left a lot to think about, and perfectly suited the narrative. The Hague has always felt to me like the least engaging or homey place I can imagine, perhaps because of its internationality (though I can see the UN from my office window and I don't feel that in New York) and so it was a perfect backdrop to a story in part about defining the concept of home in a globalized world.This book is not for everyone. There is not really a plot though there are many interesting subjects glanced over, and as a reader I created stories around those subjects. The main character is perhaps a bit too hazy for people to feel connected to her (as someone who has moved around a good bit and spent long stretches of time in cities on three continents she may be more graspable for me than for people who have lived their lives in one place surrounded by people and things they know.) This is not an easy read -- you need to grapple with it and find its truths. For me those were all plusses, and I will be going back to read Kitamura's last book, and I imagine also her next. 4.5 it is.
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LibraryThing member brenzi
Well this was such an interesting book. I'm still thinking about it after reading two other books so I can't really get it out of my mind. It's a strange book and if you're a stickler for proper sentence structure and plot, well, you may want to look elsewhere. (This really threw me until I finally
An unnamed narrator living in NY accepts a job as an interpreter in The Hague at the International Criminal Court. She is a stranger in a strange town and the eponymous intimacies are those that take place between her and the subjects whose speech she is translating, those that take place between her and her acquaintances, her and her colleagues, her and her lover, well you see what I mean. Of course as a translator she realizes that every movement she makes may add something to the meaning of the words she's translating.
This book may have been too intellectual to be truly appreciated, by me anyway. It's undoubtedly quite brilliant and I really liked it and as I said, I'm still thinking about it so what does that say about me. I'm not sure. National Book Award nominee
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just succumbed to the interesting things going on in the novel).It's not stream of consciousness but I don't really know how else you would describe it. An unnamed narrator living in NY accepts a job as an interpreter in The Hague at the International Criminal Court. She is a stranger in a strange town and the eponymous intimacies are those that take place between her and the subjects whose speech she is translating, those that take place between her and her acquaintances, her and her colleagues, her and her lover, well you see what I mean. Of course as a translator she realizes that every movement she makes may add something to the meaning of the words she's translating.
This book may have been too intellectual to be truly appreciated, by me anyway. It's undoubtedly quite brilliant and I really liked it and as I said, I'm still thinking about it so what does that say about me. I'm not sure. National Book Award nominee
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LibraryThing member tangledthread
This is a powerful, densely written little book that leaves the reader pondering after each chapter and upon finishing the book. The un-named narrator is presumably an Asian female who grew up traveling the globe with her parents. When her father dies in New York City after a prolonged illness, her
As she narrates her days and her experiences, despite having great facility with language, her sense of dislocation and lack of belonging is a constant presence. There are crystallized observations of many aspects of intimacy between people which she experiences as an outsider. Those few incidents where there seem to be an 'intimacy', both verbal and nonverbal, toward her are often abuses of power.
There are some beautifully written passages especially chapter 10 where she is making observations of paintings at an art exhibit.
There are also some powerful insights about the power of language, it's uses and abuses. At one point, when she is baited by the West African former president who favors her for interpretation in his proceedings, she replies to him "My job is to make the space between languages as small as possible."
At 225 pages, it's a relatively short book, but I found that I had to stop and digest the material along the way. It is not a book that I could take in during a binge reading session.
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mother retreats to Singapore. The narrator accepts a position as a translator at an international court at The Hague.As she narrates her days and her experiences, despite having great facility with language, her sense of dislocation and lack of belonging is a constant presence. There are crystallized observations of many aspects of intimacy between people which she experiences as an outsider. Those few incidents where there seem to be an 'intimacy', both verbal and nonverbal, toward her are often abuses of power.
There are some beautifully written passages especially chapter 10 where she is making observations of paintings at an art exhibit.
There are also some powerful insights about the power of language, it's uses and abuses. At one point, when she is baited by the West African former president who favors her for interpretation in his proceedings, she replies to him "My job is to make the space between languages as small as possible."
At 225 pages, it's a relatively short book, but I found that I had to stop and digest the material along the way. It is not a book that I could take in during a binge reading session.
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LibraryThing member Beth.Clarke
A quick, thought provoking novel. The language was beautiful and the central character was interesting. The ending is phenomenal.
LibraryThing member kayanelson
2022 TOB—. This short book started out strong for me. The writing was beautiful, the characters were interesting and the simple plot was intriguing. The book really was about intimacies and how they occur is so many different ways. I particularly liked the intimacies as they were described in the
But for some reason, I was disappointed in the ending and the resolution of some of the plot points. I think that’s okay as the subtle discussion of intimacies was the main point of the book.
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final chapter. It resonated with me and I could understand it.But for some reason, I was disappointed in the ending and the resolution of some of the plot points. I think that’s okay as the subtle discussion of intimacies was the main point of the book.
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LibraryThing member annbury
Not everyone is going to like this novel, but some will find it a good read. The tone is subdued, the style is quirky, and the plot is more like a slice of life than like high drama. But it is a slice of an interesting life. It tells the story of a young woman interpreter who takes on a job at the
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International Court of Justice in The Hague. In time, she interprets at the trial of a former dictator who is charged with crimes against humanity. Along the way, she becomes involved in friendships and in a love affair. The novel unfolds in scene by scene, which can seem almost accidental, rather than in a strong narrative push. The most interesting part for me involved her actual work as an interpreter, with the emotional and eventually moral issues that arise. I found the story interesting, and the questions raised by the title -- intimacies, both professional and personal -- compelling. As to the style, several reviews were harshly critical of the author's use of punctuation. This wasn't an issue, since I listened to it on audiobook. In that medium, the style was cool, clear, and precise. Show Less
LibraryThing member Perednia
A complex novel of ambiguity and certainty in human relationships, viewed through the perspective of a translator at the International Court at The Hague and those she encounters. I had a good cry at the end, which I did not expect.
LibraryThing member Dreesie
I swore I would not read this book because I did not enjoy [book:A Separation|30407998] at all. But, the Tournament of Books came along and picked it. I actually read A Separation for Camp ToB, and now I am really done.
I do not get why people (and the ToB) love Kitamura so much. I am already
I do not get why people (and the ToB) love Kitamura so much. I am already
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trapped in my own brain overanalyzing everything, why in the world would I want to read about someone else's endless overanalyzing? I did not actively dislike this character (as I did in A Separation), but that doesn't mean it's interesting. It's just dull and boring. Show Less
LibraryThing member booklove2
Another Kitamura book I'm just not connecting with. I did just read 'A Separation' right before this one and it's interesting she does mention "intimacies" at the end of 'A Separation'. (also other similarities between this book and that.) As I'm reading, I'm trying to make the connection between
*Book #123/304 I have read of the shortlisted Morning News Tournament of Books competitors
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what is contained within this book and the word "intimacies". I guess the word can mean many things. I don't love the dialogue-not-dialogue-not all within the same paragraph without quotation marks style of writing either. But again, this one just didn't grab me. It's interesting reading them side by side though. Ask me in a month, I will probably confuse them for the same book. Ah well, I can't be a fan of everything.*Book #123/304 I have read of the shortlisted Morning News Tournament of Books competitors
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LibraryThing member miss.mesmerized
The narrator leaves busy New York after her father’s death for The Hague where she is to work as an interpreter at the International Court of Justice. She befriends Jana whom she had already met in London and who has moved to the Netherlands only a short time before her and who has already made
Katie Kitamura’s novel “Intimacies” invites the reader into the thoughts of an interpreter who knows that the slightest mistake in her translation can have severe consequences. It also highlights the position of a job which is often overlooked but crucial in many ways and where people are forced to retreat behind words which is easier said than done. At times she feels depersonalised, like an instrument, but for the accused, she is the first person of communication.
Many questions are raised throughout the plot, first, the question about belonging. The narrator does not have a place she can really call home. A cosmopolite speaking several languages and having lived in diverse countries, she does not know which place she could actually associate with a feeling of home. Her apartment in The Hague perfectly reflects this: she has rented a furnished place which she never managed to give a personal note.
More importantly, however, is the place of the interpreter. Nobody prepares them for what they are going to hear at the court. The lawyers remain cool when being confronted with atrocious crimes, the interpreters react in much more humane way which can be heard in their voice immediately but which is considered unprofessional. Being often close to the accused over months, they form a very peculiar bond which makes them separate the deeds from the defendants.
A wonderfully written homage to language and its force, even though there are a lot of things which remain unsaid in the novel.
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the city her home. She cannot talk about her job outside the Court, not even with Adriaan, her kind of boyfriend who is still married to another woman. Unexpectedly, two major events come together, Adriaan needs to leave for a couple of days which soon turn into weeks and the interpreter is required in a high profile case: a former president of an unnamed African state is accused of crimes against humanity and she is to become the first interpreter. She does not only meet him in court but also when he confines with his lawyers where she sits close to him and can feel the impact and power the charismatic man can have on people. As the weeks go by, she struggles more and more, not only with her absent partner but also with how close she gets to a man who can only be considered a monster.Katie Kitamura’s novel “Intimacies” invites the reader into the thoughts of an interpreter who knows that the slightest mistake in her translation can have severe consequences. It also highlights the position of a job which is often overlooked but crucial in many ways and where people are forced to retreat behind words which is easier said than done. At times she feels depersonalised, like an instrument, but for the accused, she is the first person of communication.
Many questions are raised throughout the plot, first, the question about belonging. The narrator does not have a place she can really call home. A cosmopolite speaking several languages and having lived in diverse countries, she does not know which place she could actually associate with a feeling of home. Her apartment in The Hague perfectly reflects this: she has rented a furnished place which she never managed to give a personal note.
More importantly, however, is the place of the interpreter. Nobody prepares them for what they are going to hear at the court. The lawyers remain cool when being confronted with atrocious crimes, the interpreters react in much more humane way which can be heard in their voice immediately but which is considered unprofessional. Being often close to the accused over months, they form a very peculiar bond which makes them separate the deeds from the defendants.
A wonderfully written homage to language and its force, even though there are a lot of things which remain unsaid in the novel.
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LibraryThing member hemlokgang
Prior to reading this novel, I had not ever been aware of the numerous varieties of intimacy that are possible. In this novel, our protagonist moves to the Netherlands for a job at The Hague as an interpreter. The author leads us through the process of starting as a stranger and experiencing the
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development of intimacies: sexual, unexpected, unwanted, gentle, trusting, false, hostile, violent, physical proximity, detached intimacy at work and more. It is an interesting book. The characters include interpreters, lovers, neighbors, colleagues, and a war criminal. Not a thrilling plot, but the psychological perspective was very interesting. Unique. Show Less
LibraryThing member Overgaard
not as gripping as I had hoped
LibraryThing member nivramkoorb
Katie Kitamura seems to be an author that the critics love. This book was given good reviews so I thought I would try it. The unnamed narrator is a translator for the world court in The Hague, Netherlands. They deal with high crimes against humanity. Kitamura gives a vague description of the
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narrator. Sort of youngish, just lost her father, mother lives in Indonesia, and she currently has a lover name Adrian. Adrian is separated and may still be connected to his wife. Against this backdrop we spend the entire book in the head of the narrator(N). This creates a slow one sided pace. Kitamura has a trial of an African leader accused of enforcing Sharia law in this country and the crimes he committed as a focal point. N is the translator on the case and we get a good incite into the nature of the job and how the use of the court to prosecute 3rd world doers of evil can be construed as racist. After all the developed world countries are equally complicit in atrocities. The story touched on a few side issues but none were that interesting so that by the end of the novel, I enjoyed the overview but ultimately the story was not very compelling. Not a long book but I doubt I would give her a try in the future. Show Less
LibraryThing member yarb
Prose without a single distinguishing characteristic, almost aggressively bland and unchallenging, except for the tsunami of comma splices — seemingly the only form of punctuation known to the author. The characters are indescribably boring, inhabiting an affectless international world of art and
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easy money. I can see why this is so popular: it’s the kind of book that requires absolutely nothing of its reader other than a small amount of time. Not my jam at all. Show Less
LibraryThing member novelcommentary
Finished reading Katie Kitamura's Intimacies this morning. It was a beautifully written first person account of a woman who takes a job as a translator at The Hague. She has moved from her home in NYC, following the death of her father and her mother's return to Singapore. "It is never easy to move
I have to say the writing carried the story along, really giving the reader this sense of transition. Her internal dialogue reminded me of Ferrante or Lahiri- meaning good company. I'd be very interested in her other works.
Lines:
That was, I thought, the prospect offered by a new relationship, the opportunity to be someone other than yourself.
no matter where he was he never looked anything other than a man at home.
I realized, belatedly, that she had likely applied the makeup for Adriaan’s sake; certainly she had not done so for mine. I wondered then what it was like to be a man, so often surrounded by such deliberate features, more vivid than actual nature.
I realized how removed the apartment was from the stream of life outside, through the miracles of double glazing and insulation.
And I realized that for him I was pure instrument, someone without will or judgment, a consciousness-free zone into which he could escape, the only company he could now bear—that, that was the reason why he had requested my presence, that was the reason I was there.
That layering—in effect a kind of temporal blurring, or simultaneity—was perhaps ultimately what distinguished painting from photography.
Over the course of those long hours in the booth, I sometimes had the unpleasant sensation that of all the people in the room below, of all the people in the city itself, the former president was the person I knew best.
I saw uncertainty spread through the building, blooming like mold.
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to a new country, but in truth I was happy to be away from New York. That city had become disorienting to me...I understood how much my parents had anchored me to this place none of us were from." As she begins a new job and gets acquainted with the city, she is introduced, through a mutual friend,to a woman named Jana who curates an art gallery. "She entered my life at a moment when I was more than usually susceptible to the promise of intimacy." While at her house for dinner, police sirens interrupt their conversation and we come to find out that Jana does not live in the best of areas. In fact a man is attacked that night and this too becomes part of the narrative. She also meets a man named Adriaan at a gallery party and they become a quick couple. At The Hague she learns quickly and becomes involved in a big, newsworthy trial against a former President of a West African nation, becomes his translator. In addition she strangely occupies her boyfriend's apartment while he goes to Lisbon to either break up or reignite with his wife. She also interacts with a couple girlfriends and some drama around how one friend's brother was mugged. So though there is not a great deal of plot, the story is mesmerizing, her unmoored feeling, her internal rationales, her sense of others. It is as the title suggests a story about intimacies. Between her job and the boyfriend there are decisions that will have to be made. I have to say the writing carried the story along, really giving the reader this sense of transition. Her internal dialogue reminded me of Ferrante or Lahiri- meaning good company. I'd be very interested in her other works.
Lines:
That was, I thought, the prospect offered by a new relationship, the opportunity to be someone other than yourself.
no matter where he was he never looked anything other than a man at home.
I realized, belatedly, that she had likely applied the makeup for Adriaan’s sake; certainly she had not done so for mine. I wondered then what it was like to be a man, so often surrounded by such deliberate features, more vivid than actual nature.
I realized how removed the apartment was from the stream of life outside, through the miracles of double glazing and insulation.
And I realized that for him I was pure instrument, someone without will or judgment, a consciousness-free zone into which he could escape, the only company he could now bear—that, that was the reason why he had requested my presence, that was the reason I was there.
That layering—in effect a kind of temporal blurring, or simultaneity—was perhaps ultimately what distinguished painting from photography.
Over the course of those long hours in the booth, I sometimes had the unpleasant sensation that of all the people in the room below, of all the people in the city itself, the former president was the person I knew best.
I saw uncertainty spread through the building, blooming like mold.
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LibraryThing member janismack
I liked the subject and the writting style of this author. I thought the story and the goal of the main character was interesting and could have been elaborated. This felt like a short story and not a novel.
LibraryThing member bookwyrmm
Very character-driven, but also rather dry and detached.
LibraryThing member RickGeissal
The story was novel & interesting, and I learned some form this book, but I thought it was not particularly well-written. Also, the protagonist often - very often - did mind-reading, certain that she knew from the look in someone's eyes or a brief ambivalent facial gesture what some one was
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thinking and what her motives were. This was disappointing & intrusive, and could have been so much better authored. Nevertheless, I liked the book for the story and the new information (for me) the book contained. Show Less
LibraryThing member srms.reads
3.5⭐️ rounded up!
“The fact that our daily activity hinged on the repeated description—description, elaboration, and delineation—of matters that were, outside, generally subject to euphemism and elision.”
Our unnamed protagonist (who is also our narrator) has recently taken up a one-year
"The Court was run according to the suspension of disbelief: every person in the courtroom knew but also did not know that there was a great deal of artifice surrounding matters that were nonetheless predicated on authenticity."
On the personal front, she is involved with Adriaan, a married man separated from his wife, yet to be divorced. She also befriends Jana, a curator of an art gallery. Her personal relationships do not appear to be particularly stable, her friendship with Jana feels fragile and Adriaan seems conflicted over the future of his marriage. She also befriends an art history teacher whose brother was recently mugged in the vicinity of Jana’s apartment building but who does not divulge his reasons for being in that area. The novel follows our protagonist as she navigates her personal relationships and professional commitments all the while learning to fend for herself in a new city. The plot of the novel revolves around the varying degrees of intimacy in her professional and personal experiences and how they impact her as an individual and as a professional.
Katie Kitamura‘s Intimacies is a quiet novel, direct and lacking embellishment. The narration at times lacks a ‘personal component’ despite being narrated in the first person by our protagonist. I loved the scenes depicting the proceedings in the Court and found the detailed look into the responsibilities of the translators /interpreters very interesting. The tone of the novel feels so impersonal that I found it very difficult to feel any connection with the protagonist. The novel gives us a look into her personal life – romantic relationships and friendships, the superficial nature of all her personal relationships is very subtly portrayed. In fact, the only point in the novel where the protagonist shows any vulnerability is in the course of her work while interpreting for the former President on trial, a vulnerability that makes her uncomfortable with the very nature of her work.
“It was disquieting in the extreme, like being placed inside a body I had no desire to occupy. I was repulsed, to find myself so permeable.”
This is a unique novel with a very interesting setting and elegant prose but an unconventional plot structure. It is an interesting read, but I think many would find it hard to connect with the protagonist due to the dispassionate tone of the novel and in that it may not appeal to many readers.
"It is surprisingly easy to forget what you have witnessed, the horrifying image or the voice speaking the unspeakable, in order to exist in the world we must and we do forget, we live in a state of I know but I do not know."
“The fact that our daily activity hinged on the repeated description—description, elaboration, and delineation—of matters that were, outside, generally subject to euphemism and elision.”
Our unnamed protagonist (who is also our narrator) has recently taken up a one-year
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contractual position as an interpreter with the International Criminal Court in The Hague, moving from New York to The Hague, and is still in the process of adjusting to her new life. She is professionally tasked with interpreting for the high profile case of a former West African President, who is being tried for horrific war crimes. Her interaction with the former President was not just limited to her removed presence behind a glass-fronted soundproof booth. She is also required to sit in and interpret for him during his private meetings with his legal counsel. "The Court was run according to the suspension of disbelief: every person in the courtroom knew but also did not know that there was a great deal of artifice surrounding matters that were nonetheless predicated on authenticity."
On the personal front, she is involved with Adriaan, a married man separated from his wife, yet to be divorced. She also befriends Jana, a curator of an art gallery. Her personal relationships do not appear to be particularly stable, her friendship with Jana feels fragile and Adriaan seems conflicted over the future of his marriage. She also befriends an art history teacher whose brother was recently mugged in the vicinity of Jana’s apartment building but who does not divulge his reasons for being in that area. The novel follows our protagonist as she navigates her personal relationships and professional commitments all the while learning to fend for herself in a new city. The plot of the novel revolves around the varying degrees of intimacy in her professional and personal experiences and how they impact her as an individual and as a professional.
Katie Kitamura‘s Intimacies is a quiet novel, direct and lacking embellishment. The narration at times lacks a ‘personal component’ despite being narrated in the first person by our protagonist. I loved the scenes depicting the proceedings in the Court and found the detailed look into the responsibilities of the translators /interpreters very interesting. The tone of the novel feels so impersonal that I found it very difficult to feel any connection with the protagonist. The novel gives us a look into her personal life – romantic relationships and friendships, the superficial nature of all her personal relationships is very subtly portrayed. In fact, the only point in the novel where the protagonist shows any vulnerability is in the course of her work while interpreting for the former President on trial, a vulnerability that makes her uncomfortable with the very nature of her work.
“It was disquieting in the extreme, like being placed inside a body I had no desire to occupy. I was repulsed, to find myself so permeable.”
This is a unique novel with a very interesting setting and elegant prose but an unconventional plot structure. It is an interesting read, but I think many would find it hard to connect with the protagonist due to the dispassionate tone of the novel and in that it may not appeal to many readers.
"It is surprisingly easy to forget what you have witnessed, the horrifying image or the voice speaking the unspeakable, in order to exist in the world we must and we do forget, we live in a state of I know but I do not know."
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LibraryThing member ccayne
I loved how Kitamura used various ways of depicting dancing with intimacy and more often than not, deflecting it. I thought the use of an interpreter as the narrator's career was clever. I also liked how she used the court to depict how cruel people can be to each other.
LibraryThing member JosephKing6602
Good writing; but a weak story line; translator at the Hague; relationship with a married man who wouldn’t leave his family
Awards
National Book Award (Longlist — Fiction — 2021)
The Morning News Tournament of Books (Quarterfinalist — 2022)
PEN/Faulkner Award (Longlist — 2022)
BookTube Prize (Octofinalist — Fiction — 2022)
The New York Times Notable Books of the Year (Fiction — 2021)
San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year (Fiction — 2021)
The A.V. Club best books (2021)
Indie Next List (August 2021)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Adults (Selection — 2021)
Language
Original publication date
2021
ISBN
9780399576164