What an excruciatingly beautiful masterpiece. This book is so weird and unique, the more I read, the more I was captivated. I loved it more and more, the further I got. This is one of the best sci-fi books I’ve read; the writing style is supreme, quick, and transcendent even. I’ve never read another book that floats that way, like a whisper on the wind, so poetic and dry at the same time. This is the story about the evolution and extinction of the human race; you don’t need to know more. You just need to read this book. Dystopian epic bound to be a classic one day.
Thank you to NetGalley and Granta Publications for providing me with the ARC.

Book Overview: Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami
Hiromi Kawakami, the acclaimed author of Strange Weather in Tokyo, takes readers on a profound and imaginative journey into a far-future Earth where humanity teeters on the brink of extinction. Under the Eye of the Big Bird is a speculative meditation on survival, evolution, and what it means to be human when the boundaries of life as we know it have dissolved.

Plot Summary
In this distant future, humanity has dwindled to isolated tribes scattered across a transformed Earth. Their existence is overseen by enigmatic entities known as the Mothers, caretakers who guide them with both nurturing and detached indifference. The natural process of human reproduction is a relic of the past. Now, children are manufactured in factories using hybrid cells from rabbits, dolphins, and other animals.

Some beings have evolved beyond traditional human biology, adapting to the planet's harsh new conditions. Some absorb nutrients like plants, while others embody more alien traits. Connection and love, once integral to humanity, are fading memories, and the continued survival of these beings relies on fragile and often faltering interspecies unions.

As millennia unfold, the story explores whether these fractured remnants can find ways to adapt, evolve, and create new forms of existence—or whether humanity, as an idea, will quietly fade into the geological timeline.

Themes Explored
Extinction and Evolution
Kawakami paints a vivid picture of a world where humanity faces its inevitable decline and must contend with new definitions of survival and legacy.

Identity and Connection
The novel asks whether love, intimacy, and shared understanding can survive in a world where the human form and experience are no longer uniform or universal.

The Role of Caretakers
The Mothers’ ambiguous role—both protector and passive observer—raises questions about agency, dependence, and the limits of control.

What Makes Us Human
As humanity blends with other species and adapts in unimaginable ways, the novel reflects on what qualities, if any, remain to define us as human.

Time and Change
By spanning geological eons, the book offers a sweeping perspective on impermanence and resilience in the face of monumental change.

Why You’ll Love It
Philosophical Depth
Kawakami’s narrative isn’t just a futuristic tale; it’s a profound exploration of humanity’s core traits and the forces that drive connection, empathy, and survival.

Rich World-Building
From biotechnological children to plant-like beings, the novel’s world is imaginative, strange, and eerily plausible.

Kawakami’s Poetic Style
Her prose, known for its quiet intensity and emotional resonance, shines here even as it ventures into speculative territory.

Thought-Provoking Questions
Readers will ponder humanity’s place in the cosmos and how we might endure even as we transform into something unrecognizable.

Who Should Read This Book?
Fans of speculative fiction that blurs the line between literary and sci-fi, akin to works by Kazuo Ishiguro (Klara and the Sun) or Jeff VanderMeer (Annihilation).
Readers who enjoy philosophical meditations on humanity and survival, such as The Overstory by Richard Powers or Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.
Anyone fascinated by evolution, extinction, and the possibilities of post-human futures.
Final Thoughts
Under the Eye of the Big Bird is a mesmerizing and thought-provoking work that combines Kawakami’s signature introspective storytelling with an expansive vision of the far future. It challenges readers to rethink what it means to be human while presenting a hauntingly beautiful and strange new world.

Rating: ★★★★★
A literary masterpiece that defies genre and lingers in the mind long after the final page.

2.5
I found this odd but not in a good way. The writing was strong but the story didn’t work for me. It was messy and disjointed with a heavy focus on motherhood, babies, and some pretty uncomfortable sex which wasn’t what I was expecting in something billed as a dystopia. I was disappointed by how abstract and unrealized the world-building was for the dystopian world. The explanation comes far too late and was super predictable.

This book is the first time in my life that I’d have preferred a more linear storytelling. This felt obtuse and convoluted for the sake of it. I’m disappointed because I think there’s a good story here; it’s just not told very well and doesn’t have a sharp enough focus.

I remember enjoying Strange Weather in Tokyo and Nakano Thrift Shop but the author’s recent works have disappointed me. While this was more enjoyable than Third Love, it wasn’t great.