These read like short stories, although they are all connected and it (kind of) comes together at the end, with more details on how this post-collapse world works.

There's a lot covered - AI, small societies of humans after most of humanity collapsed and humans nearly went extinct, clones, watchers, and a lot on reproductive rights, with an army of "mothers" watching over children... My favourite chapter was The Drift, where a watcher comes across a tribe of undiscovered humanoids, and watch them with disgust as they go on about their lives, seemingly very content. There was more about this tribe later, but the chapter itself was very poignant. I can't say it all came together in the end for me, I still found the whole universe created by Kawakami confusing and difficult to follow, but it didn't prevent my enjoyment of the novel.

I'd like to preface this review by saying that I generally like Hiromi Kawakami's work and think that it is underrated, or at least it tends to get lost among the outputs of Sayka Murata and Mieko Kawakami. I especially like when she does something other than contemporary Japanese slice of life fiction - my favourite of her translated works to date is People From My Neighbourhood - a collection of delightfully weird flash fiction. So when I realised that Under the Eye of the Big Bird, blurbed as a work of dystopian fiction, is more of a collection of (presumably) connected stories, rather than a post-apocalyptic novel, I was ready to give it a chance.

Unfortunately, it suffers from the 'literary author does genre' curse. The stories are meant to be evocative, but professional genre authors do evocative without losing the characters, the plot or the engaging prose. Moreover, sci-fi specifically is a genre originally built on the art of short fiction, on creating stories centred around concepts and driven by them. These stories, at least the ones I had the patience for, do not offer interesting or innovative concepts or hooks. They sort of bleed into each other, mumbling something about gender roles along the way. Dreary and dull, to me they read like pulling teeth. I had to DNF at about the 20% mark, something I rarely do (and should do more often, life is short).

I don't mind the gentle tone and absence of central conflicts, something a reader would expect from Western dystopias, often absent in Japanese ones. I loved Yoko Ogawa's The Memory Police despite not connecting with the characters or the meandering plot, due to the power of its central metaphor. A part of me feels like I am not giving this book a chance - maybe all these seemingly disconnected drafts and studies will come together into some sort of a layered polyphonic crescendo, but you know what, if by the 20% mark I have no will left to go on and discover that crescendo, that already tells you something fundamental about the book.

If you like gentle and lulling cryptic stories with a post apocalyptic bend, maybe this will work for you, but it was absolutely not a book for me.

Very fascinating book. A series of interconnected stories about how humans will die out. Absolutely thought provoking and I definitely recommend this; you’ll feel very philosophical when you finish it.

Throughout the book you’ll probably be wondering how this all relates to each other, but in the last 2 chapters you’ll quickly discover just how connected every chapter is.

As much as the backstory is quite innovative and interesting, all these chapters detached from each other, and before I realized that they were not chronologically contemporary, made this book a bit boring for me as the distancing language also did not help. It's also certainly different from her other books I've read previously so for so many reasons I don't think I would recommend it except to my science fiction reading group because it's certainly something different from the usual.

Per quanto la storia di fondo sia piuttosto innovativa ed interessante, tutti questi racconti staccati tra loro, prima che io capissi che non erano cronologicamente contemporanei, hanno reso questo libro per me un po' noioso e anche il linguaggio distaccato non ha aiutato. Inoltre é certamente diverso dagli altri suoi libri che ho letto precedentemente quindi per tanti motivi non credo che lo consiglierei se non al mio gruppo di lettura della fantascienza, perché sicuramene é qualcosa di diverso dal solito.

One of the most unique speculative fiction experiences I've ever had. This is not a book per se - there are no protagonists and no plot. Rather, a collection of short stories, loosely connected, describe various aspects of a new reality for the human race, as it evolves over thousands of years in the future. As the stories progress, we increasingly discover why things are the way they are, and how the world came to be the way it is.

It's not a simple book to master, but, despite this, it reads very well, and the story progression is actually quite vibrant. The themes are complex and multidimensional in their complexity - the role of conflict and love in human relations, the potential role of AI in humanity's survival, the role of evolution, the role of religion, the tension between determinism and free will, etc. All these are elegantly handled, in an almost poetic way. There are parts of this book that remind me of a philosophical tract, others that remind me of Margaret Atwood's Madaddam trilogy, and, yet others, evoke distinct feelings of myths of creation.

I highly recommend it to anyone interested in speculative fiction, especially with more of an intellectual bend. While it's not for everyone, those who take the plunge will come out having been challenged to think and see differently.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book in return for an honest review.

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.