Greyton Book Review
This is a speculative work but also a profound study of what it means to be human.
UNDER THE EYE OF THE BIG BIRD by Hiromi Kawakami (Longlisted for the International Booker 2025) F ourteen interconnected stories are set far into the future, when humans are verging on extinction. Each new chapter spans vast geographical epochs.
instruction, in an attempt to save the human race. A Watcher may even encounter different clones of themselves in their lifetime. Each story portrays a distinct community while contributing to an overarching narrative. There's a peaceful, almost dreamlike quality to Kawakami's world, which is difficult to fully imagine, yet beneath the fantasy lies the famil- iar fallibility of being human - the repetition of our own traits. "Did the humans keep loving and hating one another, even up to the end?" "That's right.
They were constant; almost admirably so, all the way until the end." "Even as they went extinct, they were still loving and hating?" "Yes, just like they used to before they ever started their decline - each one loving and hating right up to their last breath." Under the Eye of the Big Bird - a quiet meditation on the inevitability of extinction and the beauty of endurance.
Humans have evolved; biological engineering and cloning have produced small, varied settlements of people. Some are made from animal cells, some are cloned, and others possess abilities previously unknown to our species - such as photosynthesis, extra eyes, or gills. These communities are mostly cared for and overseen by AI Mothers, and occasionally by a Great Mother. Watchers are genetically engineered clones who monitor reproduction and guide the evolution of communities under the Mothers'
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Info & Bookings: Jo 083 327 6502 | josedgwick@twk.co.za @overstorygreyton Info & Bookings: Jo 083 327 6502 | josedgwick@twk.co.za @overstorygreyton
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THE GREYTON POST
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026
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