Hunchback
Paperback Published on: 06/03/2025; Language: English, Japanese (Original language of a translated text)
Price: £10.99
Bookseller Reviews
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Thought Provoking and Essential
This was a bold, honest and often uncomfortable novella that casts light on the isolation living with severe disability causes. Ichikawa excellently convey... READ MORE
A thought provoking read
This was really thought provoking and made you think of how different life can be for someone with a disability. Beautifully written, with hints of darkne... READ MORE
Absolutely fascinating
Absolutely urgent and searing piece of literature. Disability in media from the perspective of the disabled is a miserably underrepresented category and it... READ MORE
An incredible little book!
A small but intense volume, looking at disability, sexuality as well as the unfairness of inequality.
Shaka, our narrator, is so vividly real, and she is ... READ MORE
An unflinching inside into living with a disability
Saou Ichikawa's 'Hunchback' is a brilliant, thought provoking read about disability with an intriguing, compelling narrative that forces you to continue re... READ MORE
Intense and Important
Hunchback speaks volumes in but a few words, and whilst many people’s lived experience will be so far from that of the main character, Shaka, I hope that i... READ MORE
Will stay with me a long time
I read this in one afternoon, but I feel like it will stay with me for a long time! It definitely made me think of disabled bodies in a different way and I... READ MORE
Unforgettable & Thought Provoking
"I couldn't become the Mona Lisa. I was after all, a hunchback monster." Page 85.
Wow. This was nothing like what I expected.
This short novel foll... READ MORE
Perfect
What a book! Hilarious, sharp, genius. The author manages to create - in less than 100 pages - a character who I will think about for years to come. Any id... READ MORE
Honest and powerful
'The longer I lived, the more my body collapsed into an ever more aberrant shape. It wasn't collapsing into death. Rather, it collapsed so as to live, coll... READ MORE
Brilliant and unflinching
In Hunchback, Shaka, a young disabled writer, escapes the confines of her care home room by writing erotic fiction and studying for her second degree. More... READ MORE
Very good, very weird
I LOVE short weird books like this - bonus points for being translated, bonus points for being written by a woman. More of this please! Very strange but re... READ MORE
Interesting and multifaceted novella
I wanted more, I loved Shaka. It gave such insights into the life of a disabled person, it is dark, funny, I felt uncomfortable, shocked and haven’t stoppe... READ MORE
Thought-provoking and honest
For a slim book, Hunchback by Saou Ichikwawa certainly has an unexpected impact. On completing it I was totally unsure about what I had read, but seem to ... READ MORE
Bizarre and brilliant
This is an incredibly short book but packs an incredible punch. It explores so many ideas around disability, financial privilege, otherness, desire, hatred... READ MORE
In such a short page count, this book leaves a strong and lasting impact.
In such a short page count, this book leaves a strong and lasting impact. Balancing many different themes incredibly well I found myself drawn to the stron... READ MORE
A Must-Read
Absolutely astounding. Written by the first disabled author to win Japan’s most prestigious literary award and acclaimed instantly as one of the most impor... READ MORE
Synopsis
Born with a congenital muscle disorder, Shaka Isawa has severe spine curvature and uses an electric wheelchair and ventilator. Within the limits of her care home, her life is lived online: she studies, she tweets indignantly, she posts outrageous stories on an erotica website. One day, a new male carer reveals he has read it all – the sex, the provocation, the dirt. Her response? An indecent proposal.
Written by the first disabled author to win Japan’s most prestigious literary award and acclaimed instantly as one of the most important Japanese novels of the 21st century, Hunchback is an extraordinary, thrilling glimpse into the desire and darkness of a woman placed at humanity’s edge.
Publisher information
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
- ISBN: 9780241700785
- Number of pages: 112
- Dimensions: 198 x 130 x 9 mm
- Weight: 110g
- Languages: English, Japanese (Original language of a translated text)
Customer Reviews
View allOne of those books you want everyone to read
A great and incredibly honest book on disability and desire. It is exactly this (often uncomfortable) honesty that permeates this book that makes it so unf... READ MORE
Hilarious, bizarre & thought provoking
Hunchback has definitely left its mark on me and one I’ll be thinking about for a long time to come. Even now, I’m still unraveling what I’ve just read.
... READ MORE
Four stars!
Saou Ichikawa’s Hunchback is a groundbreaking novella that defies convention and challenges societal perceptions, offering a bold and unflinching portrait ... READ MORE
Booker International Longlisted 2025
Thank you to the publishers for this review copy.
I had heard about this book a little while ago but it didn't sound like something I would want to read.
... READ MORE
A strange but interesting read
Winner of the Akutagawa Prize and longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025, this is an own voices book about a character with a disability. It wa... READ MORE
unusual and thought provoking
This was certainly an unusual novella and very thought provoking. I can't say I enjoyed it but was really intrigued, and it's great to have a woman with di... READ MORE
One that I won't forget
Often when I read Japanese (translated) literature, I come away with a general feeling of detachment. This was anything but.
Confrontational and unsett... READ MORE
Fiercely written, deeply uncomfortable, and intellectually important… but not, for me, an enjoyable or effective novel
You know when you read a book and think, this is important, and also, I absolutely did not enjoy this? That was Hunchback for me.
There’s no denying tha... READ MORE
Sorry not for me
Not sure what to make of this,Written by Saou who is suffering from myopathy.Full of serial content,luckily a very short book,not well written.I think I un... READ MORE
Interesting but sometimes uncomfortable
Hunchback is a short novel featuring Shaka, a Japanese disabled woman in her forties, living in a care home and secretly writing erotic fiction. Shaka has... READ MORE
A thought provoking book
Settled on 4 stars. Did I enjoy the book? Still not entirely sure. Am I glad I read the book? Yes, definitely. Reading I found the story has an interesting... READ MORE
Uncompromising, unsettling but unforgettable.
Longlisted for the 2025 International Booker Prize
It is translated from the Japanese “Hanchibakku” (the author’s debut novel) by Polly Barton.
A n... READ MORE
Unique and challenging
Hunchback is a highly unique and original story.
Saou Ichikawa has dared to challenge the perceptions of readers by exploring the desire, lust and sexu... READ MORE
Uncomfortable and thought-provoking
This may only be around 100 pages long but it's one of the most confronting 100 pages I've read. The narrator, Shaka, suffers from a debilitating muscle co... READ MORE
An Angry book
This is an angry book in a lot of way. Written by an author with severe disability about a protagonist who is severely disabled, this book is probably semi... READ MORE
An interesting read
Longlisted for the International Booker Prize. Shaka has a congenital muscle disorder and uses a wheelchair and a ventilator. In her care home she studies ... READ MORE
A 3.75 rating would be more accurate.
Not sure if it's the translation, but I've found it sometimes confusing to read. However if we were to move away from this negative point, I'd say that the... READ MORE
A strange read
This was quite an uncomfortable read which I think was a deliberate choice by the author. It’s a good book, but not plot driven, with a lot of the 100-ish ... READ MORE