Nip The Buds, Shoot The Kids – Kenzaburo Oe

READ FOR BOOKCLUB

Chosen by Rachel

A Japanese war novel where 15 boys from a reformatory are sent to a rural village that is afflicted by the plague.

☁ “This book is gut-wrenchingly raw and darkly truthful, so much so it is almost too much to bear. But this is a book designed to test one’s nerve and, after all, such atrocities were all too common in WWII, so I appreciated it for its honesty. Plus, I want books to stir up the deepest emotions in me, good or bad and this certainly does that. You’d struggle to find a story more grimly AND beautifully written than Nip The Buds, Shoot The Kids. A work of genius that will stay with me forever.” – Rachel

☁ “This book is filled to the brim with misery which to me was made worse by the age of the group of boys. They were afflicted by various calamities – violence, rejection, isolation, plague, death etc and I have to say I felt totally aggrieved by the end at having suffered through such awful subject matter. The writing may be admirable but it was a grim book for me and I can’t say I would recommend it to anyone.” – Jo

—–
Published 1958
Marion Boyars
189 pages