“Joy is distinct not only from pleasure in general but even from aesthetic pleasure. It must have the stab, the pang, the inconsolable longing.”
yes. y“Joy is distinct not only from pleasure in general but even from aesthetic pleasure. It must have the stab, the pang, the inconsolable longing.”
yes. yes!!! there is a reason i am somewhat obsessed with fleeting feelings: nostalgia, yearning, mono no aware, sehnsucht, whatever you want to call it. lewis proposes that this transient experience — this Joy — merely acts as a signpost pointing to something greater and grander. that sinking sadness while peering into beauty incomprehensible, memories you will never fully gather into your arms again. what more probable explanation is there than maybe we were simply created for another world?
a good and timely reminder to consider everything in light of eternity. ...more
lol @ neil gaiman becoming one of my highest read authors. when did this happen!! i think this is my ranking for now: american gods = neverwhere > ocelol @ neil gaiman becoming one of my highest read authors. when did this happen!! i think this is my ranking for now: american gods = neverwhere > ocean at the end of the lane >> stardust.
this oscillated between a 3 and 3.5 for me. as always, gaiman flaunts his storytelling magic, that gritty and eccentric brand he wields so well. i’m always impressed by how fully he commits to fantasy environments; his worldbuilding and voice is resolutely distinct from book to book. but at the same time, the world of faerie just didn’t do it for me?? the folklore felt a bit like olga tokarczuk’s Primeval and Other Times, which was….not my favorite. i don’t know how else to describe the subgenre other than “sleepy-creepy” lmao. mythology!gaiman reigns supreme....more
4.5 rounded up! this was the soseki i missed: understated, pensive, tinged with a kind of faraway, indistinguishable sorrow. unlike most of the japane4.5 rounded up! this was the soseki i missed: understated, pensive, tinged with a kind of faraway, indistinguishable sorrow. unlike most of the japanese literature i've read, The Gate features a couple with a genuinely loving, harmonious marriage (wow, surprise!), but it is eventually revealed that their relationship germinated from a history marred by betrayal and infidelity (wow, not a surprise!). nonetheless, it was refreshing to read a story where life challenges propelled the couple towards each other, rather than splitting them apart, even if there's a bit of an odd, codependent dynamic involved.
pacing-wise, soseki really took his time lmao. but though this is a slow, meandering novel, life springs from the descriptions of physical objects: wooden clogs, a decorative short sword, oyone's broad-striped kimono. some parts reminded me of Cold Enough for Snow in their generous inclusion of material goods as cultural harbingers.
there's also a lot of interesting philosophy weaved into the story's entirety! and explicit mentions of sosuke and oyone being "religious seekers" and trying to absolve sin somehow? soseki's treatment and analysis of guilt and negative emotion in tension with the whole "gate" metaphor was intriguing. now i need to talk to someone about that open ending....more
another 3.5er rounded up. i detected shades of katie kitamura and maybe a little hemingway? very atmospheric, minimalist, with uncomplicated language another 3.5er rounded up. i detected shades of katie kitamura and maybe a little hemingway? very atmospheric, minimalist, with uncomplicated language and almost no dialogue. and it almost worked for me, but mood can only carry so far, especially for an ostensibly character-driven portrait. i wish yoon had dug a little deeper into the relationship between kiyoshi and yohan! there was so much potential, but the mere descriptions of routine felt lacking and sometimes vacant. as a simp for melancholy and nostalgia, i was prepared for at least a little emotional movement, but came away with my rbf intact....more
idk how to rate anthologies but here are my two qualms with this collection as a whole: 1) not sure if writers like ogai mori from the meiji period coidk how to rate anthologies but here are my two qualms with this collection as a whole: 1) not sure if writers like ogai mori from the meiji period count as "modern" lmao 2) where are the female authors? i get that most prominent 19th century-early 20th century japanese authors were male, but i feel like such expansive collections provide ample opportunity to showcase the talents of lesser-known or spotlit writers. thinking of higuchi ichiyo and shikin shimizu!
that aside, i really enjoyed tanizaki's "tattoo", kikuchi's "on the conduct of lord tadanao", mishima's "the priest and his love", kawabata's "the moon on the water", and akutagawa's "autumn mountain". i also appreciated morris' commentary before each story; the historical and philosophical contexts of each writer and their literary journeys added a layer of depth and cultural sensitivity. ...more
i’ve never been too fond of murakami, ever since my first introduction to norwegian wood in freshman year of college (lmao). i thisolidly 4.5 for me!
i’ve never been too fond of murakami, ever since my first introduction to norwegian wood in freshman year of college (lmao). i think he unabashedly caters to the male gaze and writes his protagonists as overly self-abasing, which can cheapen and undermine the emotion of his writing. (please! when depicting a sorrowful embrace, do not fixate on the shape of the woman’s breasts!!)
granted, colorless tsukuru still stumbles in this way, but i was more moved by the central focus on the currents and complexities of friendship. murakami raises some interesting questions about forgiveness, especially from a secular perspective. it seems like common grace manifests through a universal, aching need for forgiveness to soothe consciences and bring about closure. reconciliation is powerful, even if to mainly mollify the whispers of one’s own heart. (—how much more to emulate the Father’s example?)
finished this book thinking about those relationships in my life where i’m still seeking out a path forward, whether through a final goodbye or a greeting as if for the first time.
“One heart is not connected to another through harmony alone. They are, instead, linked deeply through their wounds. Pain linked to pain, fragility to fragility. There is no silence without a cry of grief, no forgiveness without bloodshed, no acceptance without a passage through acute loss. That is what lies at the root of true harmony.”...more
ok, i’m a little conflicted! towles’ writing is brilliant and strikingly witty, but i faded in and out of interest at a whiplash pace. i loved how mucok, i’m a little conflicted! towles’ writing is brilliant and strikingly witty, but i faded in and out of interest at a whiplash pace. i loved how much of the story was rooted in the political and historical lattice of the bolshevik revolution, but the storylines were so strangely pieced together? one chapter would be primarily plot-driven, with the next screeching to a halt to wax poetic about architectural developments in stalin’s russia. confused. the random fourth wall disruptions also didn’t help.
regarding characters, the count was very charming, but i feel like his appeal didn’t emerge fully until sofia entered the picture (at like page 250 lmao). until then, he struck me as pompous and affected, which could definitely speak to some solid character development!!! but something tells me he was supposed to come off as a “gentleman” from the very start. oh well. the last 100 pages were a treat....more
upon finishing, my heart felt like it had developed the same fissure found in the community pool of the first chapter — undefinable, unplaceable, yet upon finishing, my heart felt like it had developed the same fissure found in the community pool of the first chapter — undefinable, unplaceable, yet unshakable. otsuka has this effortless, understated way of surfacing peculiar emotions and memories that seem just out of reach. i think it has something to do with her attention to detail.
even with the jarring POV (what in the first person plural??) and sudden funneling of perspective towards the second chapter, the heart remains! i came away aching for those dealing with dementia and memory loss, and perhaps even more strongly for those who have to witness the crumbling from the outside....more
these stories really only make sense with tsushima's familial history as a backdrop. i wouldn't even quite categorize them as "stories" since they're these stories really only make sense with tsushima's familial history as a backdrop. i wouldn't even quite categorize them as "stories" since they're nonlinear and undeniably autobiographical. as with territory of light, this little impressionistic collection probes issues of single motherhood, shame, tenderness, and guilt with a featherlight, almost absentminded touch. tsushima is still obsessed with light/reflections and the porousness of relationships. i can't help but wonder how it must feel to live and write while so overshadowed by the past. ...more
3.5 rounded up! i think i prefer banana’s novellas to her short stories, with the exception of dead-end memories. her breezy, colloquial style tends t3.5 rounded up! i think i prefer banana’s novellas to her short stories, with the exception of dead-end memories. her breezy, colloquial style tends to translate better across a longer format, since there’s more space for her characters, with their runaway ruminations and offbeat personalities.
at a shorter length, the bits of philosophy and backstory fall a bit flat. the characters feel more like vehicles for commentary on fate and self-discovery than comprehensive beings tied to nuanced histories and motivations.
on that note, i’m suddenly reminded to re-read kitchen yet again…...more
first of all, bees are so cool! too bad i am terrified of bugs. the ardent swarm is such a fascinating defense mechanism, and i think manai constructefirst of all, bees are so cool! too bad i am terrified of bugs. the ardent swarm is such a fascinating defense mechanism, and i think manai constructed an effective metaphor (if a little heavy-handed) to describe the common struggle against the insidious effects of globalization and religious fundamentalism. it's hard to categorize this novella — maybe parable, maybe layered allegory about post-arab spring tunisia? regardless, i was grateful to learn about a piece of history i was previously uneducated on. i do wish manai had left out the weird japan crossover towards the end and delved a little deeper into the nature of extremism, but i also get the reasoning behind a more discrete portrayal.
also, i loved this interview with manai as something to read in parallel for commentary on translation and comparative literature. ...more
3.5 rounded up. lmao i could not have chosen to read a more different book following “the road”. very cute and wholesome! but also so incredibly cring3.5 rounded up. lmao i could not have chosen to read a more different book following “the road”. very cute and wholesome! but also so incredibly cringe at times and somewhat structurally unsound. good thing i’m an unabashed sap!! some of the translations made me burst into laughter — i too do not give a flying frittata. i so wish to read that in the original japanese. ...more
3.5, i think? at the heart of nearly every one of these short stories lies a physical object lending an air of mystery, meditation, and slight absurdi3.5, i think? at the heart of nearly every one of these short stories lies a physical object lending an air of mystery, meditation, and slight absurdity. atoda has that distinctly japanese touch, blending seemingly inconsequential events with philosophical musings about specific slivers of the human experience. i didn't care much for the western-oriented stories, but the ones that focused on memory and fleeting moments unexpectedly touched me. favorites: the destiny of shoes, the honey flower....more
a quiet fable about compassion and selflessness set against both the busyness of christmas and the needs of one’s own household. keegan has no religioa quiet fable about compassion and selflessness set against both the busyness of christmas and the needs of one’s own household. keegan has no religious agenda here other than to (rightly) denounce the catholic church for the magdalene laundries atrocities, but there are also a lot of inherently christian themes running through the story.
especially going into our own holiday season, i’m challenged to consider james 1:27 and what it means to live out pure and undefined religion. where am i being called to serve the marginalized, and where have i shirked serving and following Christ’s example? as keegan questions pointedly, “why are the things that are closest so often the hardest to see?”...more
it's been almost a year (!) since i read "drive your plow over the bones of the dead", and i still remember how strange and disorienting i found it. wit's been almost a year (!) since i read "drive your plow over the bones of the dead", and i still remember how strange and disorienting i found it. well, apparently that was quite mild by tokarczuk's standards? i'm not even going to pretend i understood half of what transpired in this meandering tale. at the center are angels, a pot-bellied Russian coffee grinder, a woman named Cornspike, a rabbi's labyrinthine board game, a frog-infested river, multiple generations of Polish families, an almighty mushroom root, and a god born into consciousness. trust me, i don't know either!!
if i were to pinpoint a central theme, i think it would be the passage of time as an inevitable means of disrupting humanity. i definitely feel like tokarczuk's worldview emerged more in this book than in "drive your plow". besides the slightly fatalistic perspective on time, there's an interesting pantheistic bent here, with material things and natural elements taking on sentience and a manifestation of "God".
at the same time, the magical realism doesn't feel quite like the shinto undertones i'm so used to from japanese literature. instead of driving towards a greater understanding of beauty or ephemera, i picked up on an emphasis on the harshness and absurdity of nature, and ultimately, a time-worn deity uninvolved in the waves of life and death.
basically: very weird. a little too weird for me....more
wow i’m suddenly so whipped for leigh bardugo!! it’s incredible to observe how her narrative sense and nuance has evolved over the course of the grishwow i’m suddenly so whipped for leigh bardugo!! it’s incredible to observe how her narrative sense and nuance has evolved over the course of the grishaverse novels. six of crows was a delight, but i always had some major qualms with shadow and bone, which was driven by dry, patriarchal characters and riddled with plot holes. (the tv show was a distinct improvement, but retrospectively i think i was just smitten with ben barnes? whoOps)
but this installation, though funneled directly from shadow and bone, was so vibrant! the characters are so deeply human in their fallibility, yet larger-than-life in their pursuit of justice and what they perceive as noble values. i’m also appreciative of bardugo’s thoughtful unraveling of love and affection in all its forms — personal, romantic, platonic, familial, patriotic, (spoken, unspoken!), especially in tension with power and duty/responsibility. how do they intertwine? affect and undermine each other?
lastly, in awe of the allegorical undercurrents of nikolai’s story. what do we hold to as truth, especially when our own sinful, erroneous natures may sway our thinking in a certain way? every day presents an opportunity to choose what is true and right....more
"All my life I have been passionately interested in monomaniacs of any kind, people carried away by a single idea. The more one limits4.5 rounded up.
"All my life I have been passionately interested in monomaniacs of any kind, people carried away by a single idea. The more one limits oneself, the closer one is to the infinite; these people, as unworldly as they seem, burrow like termites into their own particular material to construct, in miniature, a strange and utterly individual image of the world."
this was really so good. short, yet powerful with countless threads for further thought. zweig's portrayal of nihilistic madness in parallel with the rationality of chess made for an intriguing contrast. there are two kinds of insanity presented here: a consuming, singular obsession, and the over-analysis of the self. at a certain level, both are grounds for great creativity and fecundity, but also deadly when extended far past human capacity. so where is that line?...more
seventh night was the best! i read up on soseki’s life going into some of these palm-of-the-hand stories and that certainly added another dimension toseventh night was the best! i read up on soseki’s life going into some of these palm-of-the-hand stories and that certainly added another dimension to the overarching allegory. also, this reminded me to read kokoro again. ...more
after finishing this, i spent a minute making unintelligible noises in bed. i don’t even know how to summarize this book. it’s about video games? and after finishing this, i spent a minute making unintelligible noises in bed. i don’t even know how to summarize this book. it’s about video games? and trauma? chronic and psychological pain? about creative genius and storytelling? and also about the blurry lines between platonic and romantic love???
reading this brought me immense frustration. literally every 50 pages or so i’d have to set it down and pace around the room for a bit. the characters are insufferably human in their arrogance and peerless ability to miscommunicate. like i get it! but also why!
still, i also loved this story for its perseverant nature and return to hope, which arrives in glimpses, but arrives nonetheless! yes, relationships are so messy. but there is so much beauty in reconciliation, even if it takes years and tragedy and the humble realization that you really, truly do love someone to get there. oh, and games. lots of games. maybe it’s time for me to finally reopen genshin....more
