A bank internship in Japan’s booming 1981 economy is supposed to be twenty-three-year-old Dorothy Falwell’s ticket into a prestigious international MBA program. But the internship is unpaid—so, to make ends meet, she accepts an evening job as a hostess in a rundown suburban bar, a far cry from the sensuous woodblock prints she’s seen of old Tokyo’s “floating world.” Like her namesake, Dorothy … namesake, Dorothy hasn’t planned on the detours she encounters in her own twisted version of Oz. Renamed Gina by her boss, she struggles with nightly indignities from customers and confusing advice from new friends. Then her internship crumbles and the suave but mysterious Mr. Tambuki offers help. How can she resist?
With patience and the utmost respect for her opinions, Mr. Tambuki lures her into his exotic world of unorthodox Zen instruction, erotic art, and high-octane sex. Soon, bizarre sexual escapades with monks, salarymen, and gangsters begin to feel normal until one of her clients goes too far, and Dorothy realizes she’s in over her head. But can she find her way back from this point of no return?
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Best Title I’ve Seen All Year
Gina in the Floating World is a wonderful title for an intriguing coming of cross-cultural age story of a smart (as she tells us) but surprisingly naïve young girl who heads to Tokyo for an internship at a bank without due diligence—leaving her to fend for herself in a dangerously complicated culture she doesn’t understand. She stumbles into a job as a “hostess,” the beginning of a dark plunge along the very slippery slope of an underground that more than pays the bills as it sucks her into a lifestyle she can’t imagine for herself even as she fully appreciates it’s pleasures and, ultimately, dangers. Be prepared for this erotica, which gives Shades of Grey more than a run for its money. Though mostly an engrossing page turner, the narrative often stretches credulity when the heroine is subjected to experiences that would send anyone running, but leave her with little insight, always making the wrong choice. Though an interesting read, the sex at times is so graphic it’s distracting and it’s hard to get a handle on the choices and mind-set of the supposedly smart main character and her effect on the many men who handily are available to both threaten and rescue her. That said, the floating world is fascinating indeed and the swift read more than worth it.
I love books where I can learn about another place, another world. And Brett certainly provided that experience for me—I was taken on a journey to Japan and also learned about the dark “bar culture” that existed in the 80s when the novel takes place. Dorothy, the twenty-three-year-old protagonist, goes to Japan for a bank internship but becomes a “hostess” when her internship falls through. She needs to provide an income for herself and gets sucked into this world where her position leads her into a sexual coming-of-age. Dorothy, who is renamed “Gina” at the bar, reads as a layered woman, but also very young. She makes decisions that left me alarmed and worried. I do like to read about characters who are different than I am and was interested from the beginning till the end. Ironically, at approximately the same age I spent a month in Japan, and I never encountered these bars (thank goodness!) but could relate to the scenery, the art, the bath houses, etc. and was able to reminisce about my own time there. Dorothy has varied erotic experiences and explores all of herself in a way that makes her smarter at the end. My favorite parts of the novel were Brett’s colorful, rich, and unique descriptions as well as the allusions to The Wizard of Oz throughout the novel. Overall, a fascinating read. Brett is an excellent writer and I look forward to reading her next novel!
Three things signal to me that I love a book. One: I reach for it when I wake up, even briefly in the middle of the night. Two: It stays with me long after I’ve read it. Three: something in the work sets up an argument that I have a hard time resolving. Belle Brett’s Gina in the Floating World is the book I never wanted to love, but do! A story of a twenty-something who becomes stranded in 1980s Japan after a business internship gone bad and who makes all the wrong choices with a naivete that’s painful to observe — and yet — the exploration of a seamier side of Japanese culture, a maturing of her sexuality, and her growing sense of self determination, all transmitted with powerful storytelling by Brett kept this reader engaged and enthralled
Gina in The Floating World is a coming-of-age novel set in the early 1980s and told by an unreliable narrator. She’s a 20-something who has left her conventional life in the midwest US for a banking internship in Japan, but when she gets there she discovers that nothing is what she expects. I’m approaching 50 and don’t usually pick up coming-of-age stories anymore, but I’m so glad I picked this one up. Brett handles themes of erotic labor, culture shock, and socialization thoughtfully and artfully. I was taken in by the vivid descriptions of the dive bars where DeeDee, as Gina, finds work as a hostess and begins to contend with the sexual desires of the clientele, and by the absolutely believable, charming, and frightening characters she meets along the way. Each of these characters is complex, intriguing, and contributes significantly to DeeDee’s growth, though sometimes in unexpected ways. One last thing: Brett manages to avoid every cliche that cantrap a person trying to write about sex, and that’s no simple feat. She takes sex scenes head-on, without resorting to coy euphemisms or clinical description.
This well written erotic thriller was so suspenseful I had to put it down. Literally. Since I typically read at night before bed, it was too unsettling to keep reading as the protagonist, Gina, got pulled deeper into a dangerous, dark world. I finished it on the weekend (in the light of day) in one sitting, desperately hoping Gina could find her way out. Belle Brett is a wonderful storyteller in this captivating coming of age tale. A great debut that will definitely stay with me for a while!
The main character, Dorothy, is up against so many cultural obstacles in this fast-paced novel. I find my head spinning along with hers. While her choices take her deeper into a sordid, sexual “floating” world, you can’t help but cheer for her zen-like transformation. This book is unexpected fun.