Leichter Schwindel

Tokyo in the nineties, a manically buzzing metropolis, and Natsumi feels stuck: marriage, motherhood, household, a sedated middle-class life in a quiet suburb. Sure, she has retained her sense of humor, her stubbornness, her sarcasm, her enthusiasm for Hitchcock films and photography. And “with the deepest conviction,” she cooks for her husband and sons, does the laundry, goes shopping, and engages in lively conversations with her neighbors.

But at night, when she lies awake staring into the darkness, she has recently found herself envisioning the supermarket shelves in the correct order. Or reciting her lengthy to-do lists flawlessly. Isn’t it unsettling how she is increasingly swept away by the flood of everyday trivialities? How in the monotony of her days, everything happens and yet nothing at all? How the world becomes increasingly blurred?

All of this suddenly seems completely clear to her – just not this: Where exactly is this constant slight dizziness leading her…

Slight Dizziness is a hypnotic wonder and the original text of new female writing in Japan. The cult author Mieko Kanai has crafted the portrait of an invisible woman, a captivatingly moody character who tries to navigate the fluctuating pressures of an outwardly unremarkable life.