Timely look at what it means to be human

Under The Eye Of The Big Bird is a series of 14 interconnected short stories which slip back and forth through time

- Ng Wei Kai

UNDER THE EYE OF THE BIG BIRD By Hiromi Kawakami, translated by Asa Yoneda Fiction/Granta/Paperback/ 288 pages/$29.95 ★★★★★

Humanity is at its end in Under The Eye Of The Big Bird. In the aftermath of an unnamed apocalypse, what is left of the species has evolved in myriad ways to survive an inhospitable earth.

Some have been spliced with other animals, while others have attained psychic or other powers. Other groups have evolved to photosynthesise, making food from the sun like plants, while some lineages persist through cloning—all in a bid to fend off extinction.

They are nursed and guided by a mysterious group of human-like entities known as the mothers, aided by another group of specialized humans created to survey the development of the rest of the species.

This novel by Japanese author Hiromi Kawakami, perhaps best known for 2001's Strange Weather In Tokyo, takes the form of a series of 14 interconnected short stories which slip back and forth through time. Originally published in Japanese in 2016, the English edition, translated by Asa Yoneda, was published in 2024 and shortlisted for the 2025 International Booker Prize in April.