Barbery, Muriel "Une Rose Seule"

Barbery, Muriel "A Single Rose" (French: Une Rose Seule) - 2020

I read Muriel Barbery's "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" and found it truly beautiful.

This book was recommended to me as a lovely, light French book. Well, it was light, but perhaps a bit too long-winded for me. Asian thinking is foreign to me, I'm not a yoga or Zen fan, and I can't empathize with myself as much as is often desired.

The author and her protagonist certainly succeeded in doing this, but it wasn't really comprehensible to me. The first few chapters are all about landscapes, flowers, food and drink, temples, etc. I also couldn't warm to Rose, who only thawed out a bit towards the end.

And although I normally enjoy reading philosophical books, this was a bit too much of a good thing for me, too forced.

A Japanese story, a fairy tale, or a fable, was interspersed between the chapters. I found some of them interesting, while others made me wonder what they had to do with the book.

Well, it was nice to read a French book again, and also a good read for our "Paris in July" challenge, but that was about it.

From the back cover:

"From the bestselling author of The Elegance of the Hedgehog comes a story about a woman’s journey, in which she discovers the father she never knew and a love she never thought possible.

Rose has turned forty, but has barely begun to live. When her Japanese father dies and she finds herself an orphan, she leaves France for Kyoto to hear the reading of his will. Paul, her father’s assistant, takes Rose on a mysterious pilgrimage designed by her deceased father. Her bitterness is soothed by the temples, Zen gardens and teahouses, and by her encounters with her father’s friends. As she recognises what she has lost, and as secrets are divulged, Rose learns to accept a part of herself that she has never before acknowledged.

Through her father’s itinerary, he opens his heart posthumously to his daughter, and Rose finds love where she least expects it. This stunning fifth novel from international bestseller Muriel Barbery is a mesmerising story of second chances, of beauty born out of grief."

Takahashi, Yuta "The Chibineko Kitchen"

Takahashi, Yuta "The Chibineko Kitchen" (Japanese: ちびねこ亭の思い出ごはん 黒猫と初恋サンドイッチ/Chibinekoteino omoidegohan kuronekoto hatsukoisandoitchi) (Meals to Remember at the Chibineko Kitchen #1) - 2020

This is an interesting story. I am sure we all have wanted to have one last conversation with a deceased loved one. Now, the Chibineko Kitchen makes this possible. You go there and order a Remembrance Meal. Then, when it is served, the person in question appears and you can have one very last talk with them until the food gets cold.

Sounds desirable, right? The story is heartwarming, it might even help some of us to get over the loss of a loved one.

And there are quite a few nice Japanese recipies in the book.

From the back cover:

"Follow the bank of the Koitogawa river until you reach the beach. From there a path of white seashells will lead you to the Chibineko Kitchen. Step inside, they'll be expecting you.

These are the directions Kotoko has been given. She arrives at the tiny restaurant, perched right by the water, early in the morning. Still reeling from the sudden death of her brother, she's been promised that the food served there will bring him back to her, for one last time.

Taking a seat in the small, wood-panelled room, she waits as Kai, the restaurant's young chef, brings out steaming bowls of simmered fish, rice and miso soup. Though she hadn't ordered anything, Kai had somehow known the exact dish her brother always used to cook for her. And as she takes her first delicious bite, the gulls outside fall silent and the air grows hazy . . .

Soul-nourishing and comforting, The Chibineko Kitchen will help you remember what matters most in life."

Oates, Joyce Carol "Blonde"

Oates, Joyce Carol "Blonde" - 2000

I find it hard to write this review. I love books by Joyce Carol Oates, I think she deserves the Nobel Prize. I am intrigued by the figure of Marilyn Monroe, I read the book "Marilyn" (Goodreads) by Norman Mailer ages ago. I think I was expecting something along that line.

What I got was a description of a child who didn't stand a chance in the world. How she became one of the greatest icons in the film industry? That was a long and arduous way and it didn't bring her any joy.

I had to remind myself often that this was just a book based on the real life story of the film star, even though most of the facts were true.

It was a long and heavy read. Did I enjoy it as much as the other JCO books? I'm not sure but I'm glad I read it.

From the back cover:

"In 'Blonde' we are given an intimate, unsparing vision of the woman who became Marilyn Monroe like no other: the child who visits the cinema with her mother; the orphan whose mother is declared mad; the woman who changes her name to become an actress; the fated celebrity, lover, comedienne, muse and icon. Joyce Carol Oates tells an epic American story of how a fragile, gifted young woman makes and remakes her identity, surviving against crushing odds, perpetually in conflict and intensely driven. Here is the very essence of the individual hungry and needy for love: from an elusive mother; from a mysterious, distant father and from a succession of lovers and husbands. Joyce Carol Oates sympathetically explores the inner life of the woman destined to become Hollywood’s most compelling legend. 'Blonde' is a brilliant and deeply moving portrait of a culture hypnotised by its own myths and the shattering reality of the personal effects it had on the woman who became Marilyn Monroe."

Tsumura, Kikuko "There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job"

Tsumura, Kikuko "There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job" (Konoyoni tayasui shigoto wa na/この世にたやすい仕事はない) - 2015

This was our international online book club book for April 2024.

My first impression was, this is a weird book that talks about weird jobs. Some that I never heard about it. A young woman goes from one of them to the next. Jobs that don't seem to require any special experience or talents.

Or is that so? The more we get to know the protagonist, we get to recognize that she has a lot of talents and uses them well to go through her various tasks.

I doubt I would have picked up this novel if I had just come across it in a book shop. And even if I had, despite a pink cover, I don't think the description would have convinced me that this would be a book for me.

But, since it was a book club book, I started and finished it and I can honestly say, it was a nice read.

And - the title is correct, there is no such thing as an easy job.

Comments from members:
The focused on differences between Japanese and Western culture and attitudes to working life.
Only after listening to club members who are more familiar with Japanese culture did I understand the point of the book and why it became popular.
Participating in the discussion added a lot to the reading experience.

From the back cover:

"A young woman walks into an employment agency and requests a job that has the following traits: it is close to her home, and it requires no reading, no writing - and ideally, very little thinking.

She is sent to a nondescript office building where she is tasked with watching the hidden-camera feed of an author suspected of storing contraband goods. But observing someone for hours on end can be so inconvenient and tiresome. How will she stay awake? When can she take delivery of her favourite brand of tea? And, perhaps more importantly - how did she find herself in this situation in the first place?

As she moves from job to job, writing bus adverts for shops that mysteriously disappear, and composing advice for rice cracker wrappers that generate thousands of devoted followers, it becomes increasingly apparent that she's not searching for the easiest job at all, but something altogether more meaningful..."

One of our members recommended this essay: "The Absurdity of Labor in There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job"

Buck, Pearl S. "The Patriot"

Buck, Pearl S. "The Patriot" - 1939

Pearl S. Buck was always a great writer of historical fiction. Here, she talks about the problems between China and Japan during Chiang Kai-Chek's time and the Sino-Japanese war.

A mixed marriage brings two families together, and nobody can tell the story of two cultures clashing better than the Nobel Prize winning author.

The history intermingles with the lives of the protagonists - it would, of course, and we can see how politics influence the family and how their reactions influence their lives.

As all books by Pearl S. Buck, a great tale of different cultures.

From the back cover:

"A Chinese dissident is torn between love and country in this novel from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Good Earth.

When Wu I-wan starts taking an interest in revolution, trouble follows: Winding up in prison, he becomes friends with fellow dissident En-lan. Later, his name is put on a death list and he’s shipped off to Japan. Thankfully, his father, a wealthy Shanghai banker, has made arrangements for his exile, putting him in touch with a business associate named Mr. Muraki. Absorbed in his new life, I-wan falls in love with Mr. Muraki’s daughter, and must prove he is worthy of her hand. As news spreads of what the Japanese army is doing back in China, I-wan realizes he must go back and fight for the country that banished him."

Find other books by Pearl S. Book that I read here.

Pearl S. Buck received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938 "for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces".

I contribute to this page: Read the Nobels and you can find all my blogs about Nobel Prize winning authors and their books here.

Buck, Pearl S. "A Bridge for Passing"

Buck, Pearl S. "A Bridge for Passing" - 1961

This is arguably one of the author's most personal books. She talks not only about her stay in Japan to witness the shooting of "The Big Wave", but above all about the death of her husband and how she is trying to come to terms with it.

Ultimately, she finds solace in Japan, the people and country are very helpful.

But the story of the film adaptation of her book is also very interesting and probably offered the author some distraction in these difficult times.

From the back cover:

"While in Japan to observe the filming of one of her novels, Pearl Buck was informed that her husband had died. This book is the deeply affecting story of the period that immediately followed - the grief, fears, doubts, and readjustments that a woman must make before crossing the bridge that spans marriage and widowhood."

Find other books by Pearl S. Book that I read here.

Pearl S. Buck received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938 "for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces".

I contribute to this page: Read the Nobels and you can find all my blogs about Nobel Prize winning authors and their books here.

Bruckner, Karl "The Day of the Bomb"

Bruckner, Karl "The Day of the Bomb" (German: Sadako will leben) - 1961

I read this story as a child and it made a big impression on me. I learned a lot about the war from my parents, but this is definitely one of the books that contributed to me being anti-war and anti-nuclear power throughout my life.

The book should be on every school reading list. We get to know Sadako and her life and her will to live so well, we can put ourselves in her shoes and experience her drama up close.

No wonder the author received the Austrian Children's and Youth Book Prize for it.

From the back cover:

"First published in 1961 under the German title Sadako Will Leben (meaning Sadako Wants to Live), this non-fiction book by renowned Austrian children’s writer Karl Bruckner is considered his most famous work.

Telling the vivid story about a Japanese girl named Sadako Sasaki, who lived in Hiroshima and died of illnesses caused by radiation exposure following the horrific atomic bombing of the city in August 1945, the book has been translated into most major languages and has been used as material for peace education in schools around the world."

"The day of the bomb was a day which was to change the lives of all mankind, not just Sadako.

Sadako is a little girl who lives with he parents and elder brother in wartime Hiroshima. She is a thin little girl because she doesn't get enough to eat, but she has a chubby face because she is still very young.

On August 6th, 1945, Sadako and her brother go to join the queue for food outside the Ministry. But Sadako is too weak to wait for their ration and her brother decides to carry her home. On the way he stops to bathe while Sadako sleeps on the lakeside.

Just as he dives into the lake the atom-bomb explodes over the town.

Sadako and her family survive the dropping of the bomb and the subsequent rigours of life in a post-war world - the black market, the shortages, the bitter competition. The pleasures and the tragedy of life in Japan at this time are seen here through the eyes of the young girl who wins local fame for her prowess in a bicycle relay race, only to find that even she cannot cycle fast to escape the events of the past.

Her story - and through it the story of mankind - is told with the vivid detail of a colour film and the sensitivity of a human documentary. It is an account without bitterness and without horror of an event that changed the course of history."

There is also another children's book about Sadako and her ordeal:
Coerr, Eleanor "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" - 1977

Miura, Shion "The Easy Life in Kamusari"

Miura, Shion "The Easy Life in Kamusari" (Japanese: 神去なあなあ日常 Kamusari nānā nichijō) - 2009

We read this in our international online book club in May 2022.

I doubt I would have picked up the book otherwise. I have read plenty of books about young people who are sent somewhere and then their whole life turns around, it sounded like chick lit for teens.

But it was alright. Not a great book but not that bad, either. There is a little about Japanese mythology and beliefs, that's always interesting.

The author has a nice and pleasing writing style. It was a quick read but nothing remarkable. Apparently, this is book #1 in "The Forest Series". I doubt I will read the second one.

Comments from some other members:

• I think this was an easy and pleasant nature and coming of age story. One has to take it for what it is though, good light summer reading without any real dangers or drama. In the book there were many opportunities for a more serious and dramatic story.
• I think part of that is down to the fact that it is actually the first of a trilogy, so this book is in fact only the introduction. Having recently read "Story" and currently reading "The 7 Basic Plots" for college, I foresee a crisis happening in Book 2 that will be resolved in Book 3. Although I'm not planning to read either of them, so I won't find out if I'm right or not. (True, this is the beginning of a trilogy, I still would like to have a "complete" book if it is published as a book and I can't buy all three at the same time.)
• The value of "The Easy Life in Kamusari" lies in the imagining of a way of life closer to the earth, respecting it, and working in partnership with it. This orientation is one we all need to learn and to live if we want to continue to live on this planet. This is important for all ages as it presents the most profound drama of our age. The book is also a light, enjoyable summer read. I read it in an area of staggering beauty, inhaling the scent of cedars beside me, on my deck in Canada. The truth of the land itself is very difficult to convey and this book does it well.

From the back cover:

"From Shion Miura, the award-winning author of The Great Passage, comes a rapturous novel where the contemporary and the traditional meet amid the splendor of Japan’s mountain way of life.

Yuki Hirano is just out of high school when his parents enroll him, against his will, in a forestry training program in the remote mountain village of Kamusari. No phone, no internet, no shopping. Just a small, inviting community where the most common expression is 'take it easy.'

At first, Yuki is exhausted, fumbles with the tools, asks silly questions, and feels like an outcast. Kamusari is the last place a city boy from Yokohama wants to spend a year of his life. But as resistant as he might be, the scent of the cedars and the staggering beauty of the region have a pull.

Yuki learns to fell trees and plant saplings. He begins to embrace local festivals, he’s mesmerized by legends of the mountain, and he might be falling in love. In learning to respect the forest on Mt. Kamusari for its majestic qualities and its inexplicable secrets, Yuki starts to appreciate Kamusari’s harmony with nature and its ancient traditions.

In this warm and lively coming-of-age story, Miura transports us from the trappings of city life to the trials, mysteries, and delights of a mythical mountain forest."

Abe, Kōbō "Inter Ice Age 4"

Abe, Kōbō (安部 公房 Abe Kōbō) "Inter Ice Age 4" (Japanese: 第四間氷期 Dai yon kan pyouki) - 1959

This was our international online book club book for February 2022.

Before I start talking about the book, I must point out that I never liked science fiction. I don't mind dystopian literature, if it is something that could really happen or that would have happened, had a certain even not taken place or succeeded or whatever.

This is none of that. It really is more a fantasy of someone who would love science to do things that aren't possible. Maybe they will be in future. But a lot of times, we wouldn't even want that to happen.

Sometimes, a science fiction novel has interesting characters or a good plot. This one had neither. I couldn't warm to any of the figures, you hardly got to know them at all. And the plot, well, this was a very predictable novel, you could tell what was going to happen and it happened exactly as I thought it might. Strange and weird might be the most positive remarks I might give it.

I doubt that I will ever read a book by this author again.

Comment by another reader:
"For me the read was not very easy right now. It reminded me of the cold war while watching real war on the news ... so I ended up finishing the reading some days too late. The author was all new to me, but what really opened up the book for me was the afterword where he wrote about his intention to make people think."

From the back cover:

"A Novel of the Future

This is yet another of Mr. Abe's ominous configurations (Woman in the Dunes etc.) this time staking out its uncertain ideological imperatives in a grave new world submerged under water. In the beginning, however, Professor Katsumi who has a computer capable of making predictions, has no idea of the work undertaken in a still more dehumanized laboratory. But a double murder, an analysis of one of the bodies & some anonymous phone calls (this is all quite exciting) alert him to a traffic in human fetuses corroborated by his wife's enforced curettage. Witnessing the works in progress - growing rooms for human submarine colonies which will make human survival possible - he is also threatened with his own extinction betrayed by his own machine & he's made to consider various ethical conjectures & priorities: should one deny one's self - should the present be expendable in the interest of the future? While not everybody's book, Abe's conceptual startler has a chilly precision which makes the unthinkable only too threateningly possible. Kirkus"

Lee, Min Jin "Pachinko"

Lee, Min Jin "Pachinko" - 2017

I was drawn to this book because of its Asian appearance. These lovely drawings can only come from the Far East. The title didn't tell me anything. Pachinko? Who or what is Pachinko? I had to find out. The description convinced me further.

Now, if - like me - you don't know what Pachinko is, let me tell you. It's a Japanese mechanical game that is mainly situated in game arcades. I have never set foot in any of those slot machine places, so even if it is also known in Europe, this is not my world.

And there isn't much about the world inside those parlours, more about the life of Koreans in Japan. If you don't know anything about that, there is a lot to learn. I know there have been animosities toward foreigners no matter when and where. Always. I have lived abroad most of my life. Being German, I have experienced much the same hatred towards me and my family as the Koreans in this story had to endure in Japan.

Maybe that's why I liked this book so much, I could identify with their feelings. Unlucky for the family here, they couldn't go back to Korea since they came from the Northern part. And that is the case with many immigrants. Even if the first generation still would love to, the second and further generations are even less inclined to because for them, their new country is home, not the one where their ancestors come from.

The Koreans in this book are hard-working, honest people and, yet, they have no chance to ever get accepted. Sound familiar? This book could go onto any list of books about racism. The characters are loveable and unforgettable.

In any case, this is such a great tale about a family through several generations. If you like this kind of literature, you should read this book.

Min Jin Lee includes a a quote by Benedict Anderson, author of "Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism". I absolutely love this:

"I propose the following definition of the nation: it is an imagined political community - and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign.

It is imagined because the members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each lives the image of their communion…

The nation is imagined as limited because even the largest of them, encompassing perhaps a billion living human beings, has finite, if elastic, boundaries, beyond which lie other nations. No nation imagines itself coterminous with mankind…

It is imagined as sovereign because the concept was born in an age in which the Enlightenment and Revolution were destroying the legitimacy of the divinely-ordained, hierarchical dynastic realm…

Finally, it is imagined as a community because, regardless of the actual inequality and exploitation that may prevail in each, the nation is always conceived as a deep horizontal comradeship.

Ultimately it is this fraternity that makes it possible, over the past two centuries, for so many millions of people, not so much to kill, as willingly die for such limited imaginings."

Could anyone explain it better? I have to read that book!

From the back cover:

"Yeongdo, Korea 1911. A club-footed, cleft-lipped man marries a fifteen-year-old girl. The couple have one child, their beloved daughter Sunja. When Sunja falls pregnant by a married yakuza, the family face ruin. But then a Christian minister offers a chance of salvation: a new life in Japan as his wife.

Following a man she barely knows to a hostile country in which she has no friends, no home, Sunja's salvation is just the beginning of her story.

Through eight decades and four generations, Pachinko is an epic tale of family, identity, love, death and survival."

Greer, Andrew Sean "Less"

Greer, Andrew Sean "Less" - 2017

So far, I have never read a Pulitzer Prize winning novel that wasn't interesting. I guess I had to come across one at one point. This was it.

If the author had expanded more on the fear of the protagonist of turning old, or even on the fear of being left alone since his boyfriend got married, this could have been a good story. Or if he had concentrated on the different events he visits in the different countries, it could have been a good "holiday story" or "summer read". But this way, it was nothing at all. The story jumps from the present into the past and while I usually like that, I still would like to know where I am at the moment.

According to the notes on the back cover, this book is supposed to be funny, hilarious. I didn't laugh even once.

The only difference between this book and chick lit? They don't talk about shoes all the time.

From the back cover:

"Arthur Less is a failed novelist about to turn fifty. A wedding invitation arrives in the post: it is from an ex-boyfriend of nine years who is engaged to someone else. Arthur can't say yes - it would be too awkward; he can't say no - it would look like defeat. So, he begins to accept the invitations on his desk to half-baked literary events around the world. 

From France to India, Germany to Japan, Arthur almost falls in love, almost falls to his death, and puts miles between him and the plight he refuses to face. Less is a novel about mishaps, misunderstandings and the depths of the human heart."

Andrew Sean Greer received the Pulitzer Prize for "Less" in 2018.

Hastings, Max "The Secret War"

Hastings, Max "The Secret War: Spies, Codes And Guerrillas, 1939–45" - 2015

A highly interesting book if you are interested in this subject.

We always hear about the battles of a war, more rarely about what is going on behind the scenes, in this case, what did the secret agents or spies (depending on which side you were, the first lot was always your own, the second that of the enemy) do during World War II? What were their successes, what their downfalls?

The author has collected an immense treasure of details and put them all together, the book almost reads like a spy story itself. There is so much in it, if you don't study this at university, you probably will not want to go into so much detail but you can always decide what to retain and what not.

Brilliant book. Brilliant writing.

From the back cover:
"In The Secret War, Max Hastings presents a worldwide cast of characters and extraordinary sagas of intelligence and Resistance to create a new perspective on the greatest conflict in history. The book links tales of high courage ashore, at sea and in the air to the work of the brilliant ‘boffins’ battling the enemy’s technology. Here are not only the unheralded codebreaking geniuses of Bletchley Park, but also their German counterparts who achieved their own triumphs and the fabulous espionage networks created, and so often spurned, by the Soviet Union. With its stories of high policy and human drama, the book has been acclaimed as the best history of the secret war ever written."

Murakami, Haruki "Kafka on the Shore"

Murakami, Haruki "Kafka on the Shore" (Japanese: 海辺のカフカ Umibe no Kafuka) - 2004

I had no idea this book was kind of a fantasy or at least magic realism story. I have no idea what I thought but I certainly didn't expect this kind of story. Maybe someone reading a book by Kafka during their holidays or something.

Anyway, the protagonist calls himself Kafka. He runs away from home in order to get away from everything and starts a new life in a library. Quite interesting so far. Then there is this old guy who seems to have been involved in a weird military "accident" as a child and he can talk to cats. Also, there is a way from one life into another and back. All pretty weird. Still, an interesting read, an interesting story, you can try to analyze the different characters, all of whom have different kind of goals in their lives, well, they don't exactly have a goal but they all seem to follow their own pattern in going through life.

As I said, a weird book but quite enjoyable.

From the back cover:

"The opening pages of a Haruki Murakami novel can be like the view out an airplane window onto tarmac. But at some point between page three and fifteen - it's page thirteen in Kafka On The Shore - the deceptively placid narrative lifts off, and you find yourself breaking through clouds at a tilt, no longer certain where the plane is headed or if the laws of flight even apply. 

Joining the rich literature of runaways, Kafka On The Shore follows the solitary, self-disciplined schoolboy Kafka Tamura as he hops a bus from Tokyo to the randomly chosen town of Takamatsu, reminding himself at each step that he has to be 'the world's toughest fifteen-year-old.' He finds a secluded private library in which to spend his days - continuing his impressive self-education - and is befriended by a clerk and the mysteriously remote head librarian, Miss Saeki, whom he fantasizes may be his long-lost mother. Meanwhile, in a second, wilder narrative spiral, an elderly Tokyo man named Nakata veers from his calm routine by murdering a stranger. An unforgettable character, beautifully delineated by Murakami, Nakata can speak with cats but cannot read or write, nor explain the forces drawing him toward Takamatsu and the other characters."

Murakami, Haruki "Norwegian Wood"

  Murakami, Haruki "Norwegian Wood" (Japanese: Noruwei no mori, ノルウェイの森) - 1987

♫ I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me... ♫
♫ She showed me her room, isn't it good, Norwegian wood? ♫
(© Lennon/McCartney)

I have always liked The Beatles. No, I have always loved The Beatles. Especially their slower songs. Therefore, I always wanted to read this book, ever since I first saw the title.

There is so much in this story, it's hard to get it all together, the problems of a teenager growing up, the problems of dealing with a sudden death, first love, second love, illness, especially depression. I am not a fan of poetry but this novel reads like beautiful poetry. I love the style, the flow of the words.

There is a connection to the main character, Toru Watanabe, you understand his feelings, his actions. And the same to all the other characters, Naoko, his friend of his youth, Midori, his student friend and Reiko Ishida, also an important person in his life.

The book is both sad but also full of hope. Certainly not the last novel by Haruki Murakami that I read.

From the back cover:

"When he hears her favourite Beatles song, Toru Watanabe recalls his first love Naoko, the girlfriend of his best friend Kizuki. Immediately he is transported back almost twenty years to his student days in Tokyo, adrift in a world of uneasy friendships, casual sex, passion, loss and desire - to a time when an impetuous young woman called Midori marches into his life and he has to choose between the future and the past."

Coerr, Eleanor "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes"

Coerr, Eleanor "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" - 1977

I remember reading a story about Sadako as a teenager (see here). When I helped out at one of the book sales at my children's school, I came across a children's edition. It is a sad story about a Japanese girl who was born in Hiroshima and was still a baby when the atom bomb was dropped on her home town. Nine years later, she is diagnosed with leukaemia, the illness that has killed many others already. Sadako believes that if she can finish a thousand paper cranes, she will escape the deadly disease.

A beautiful story, not just about illness and death but about the way love and hope can fight it and a sick little girl can become a heroine.

This is a children's book but will be appreciated by adults, as well.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2025.

From the back cover:

"Hiroshima-born Sadako is lively and athletic - the star of her school's running team. And then the dizzy spells start. Soon gravely ill with leukemia, the "atom bomb disease," Sadako faces her future with spirit and bravery. Recalling a Japanese legend, Sadako sets to work folding paper cranes. For the legend holds that if a sick person folds one thousand cranes, the gods will grant her wish and make her healthy again. Based on a true story, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes celebrates the extraordinary courage that made one young woman a heroine in Japan."

Bruckner, Karl "The Day of the Bomb" (GE: Sadako will leben) - 1961

Murasaki, Lady Shikibu "The Tale of Genji"

Murasaki, Lady Shikibu "The Tale of Genji" (Japanese: 源氏物語 Genji Monogatari) - early 11th century

A highly interesting but tough read. How was life a millennium ago in a completely different part of this world.

This book is often considered the first novel ever written. That was partly the reason I was interested in it.

And I didn't regret reading it. The story of Genji is about a young prince in Japan and his life at court. Very different from any life nowadays, this first hand narrative concentrates on the relationship between Genji and the many female members at court, from older ladies to young girls.

Is there a better way to find out how people used to live than reading about them in a book? This is the best way of time travel.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2025.

From the back cover:

"Completed in the early 11th century, The Tale of Genji is considered the supreme masterpiece of Japanese prose literature, and one of the world's earliest novels. A work of great length, it comprises six parts, the first part of which (also called The Tale of Genji) is reprinted here. The exact origins of this remarkable saga of the nobility of Heian Japan remain somewhat obscured by time, although its author, Lady Shikibu Murasaki, presumably derived many of her insights into court life from her years of service with the royal family.

The novel centers on the life and loves of the prince known as 'the shining Genji.' Far more than an exotic romance, however, the tale presents finely drawn characters in realistic situations, set against a richly embroidered tapestry of court life, Moreover, a wistful sense of nostalgia pervades the accounts of courtly intrigues and rivalries, resulting in an exquisitely detailed portrayal of a decaying aristocracy.

Vibrant in its poetry and wordplay, subtle in its social and psycho logical observations, this work ranks in stature and significance with such Western classics as Cervantes' Don Quixote and Proust's Remembrance of Things Past . This inexpensive edition, featuring Arthur Waley's splendid translation of the first of the six-part series, offers readers a memorable taste of one of the world's first and greatest novels."

Guterson, David "Snow Falling on Cedars"

Guterson, David "Snow Falling on Cedars" - 1994

David Guterson's first book, not my first Guterson. I read "East of the Mountains" first and absolutely loved it. So I had to read this one which was his first big success.

What can I say? Absolutely brilliant. Growing up in Germany, you hear everything about World War II, well, everything the Germans did and everywhere the Germans went and everyone who came to Germany etc. You hardly ever hear about the Pacific part of the war. What did the Japanese do? We all heard about Pearl Harbor but that's about it. They never tell us about what happened to the Japanese people who lived in the States before the war started and who had absolutely nothing to do with the situation. Wow! What a tale. What an amazing account of a tragic part of history.

I have also read "Our Lady of the Forest" and "The Other" in which Guterson carries on to be a great author.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"San Piedro Island in Puget Sound is a place so isolated that no-one who lives there can afford to make enemies. But in 1954 a local fisherman is found suspiciously drowned, and a Japanese-American named Kabuo Miyamoto is charged with his murder.

In the course of the ensuing trial, it becomes clear that what is at stake is more than one man's guilt. For on San Piedro, memory grows as thickly as cedar trees and the fields of ripe strawberries - memories of a charmed love affair between a white boy and a Japanese girl who grew up to become Kabuo's wife; memories of land desired, paid for, and lost. Above all, San Piedro is haunted by the memories of what happened to its Japanese residents during World War II, when an entire community was sent into exile while its neighbours watched.

Gripping, tragic, and densely atmospheric, 'Snow Falling On Cedars' is a masterpiece of suspense - but one that leaves us shaken and changed."

Golden, Arthur "Memoirs of a Geisha"

Golden, Arthur "Memoirs of a Geisha" - 1997 

I have read this book twice - once with my first book club, again with my present one. The first time, I liked the book but didn't think I would read it again. The second time, I enjoyed it much more. After discussing it at the meeting, I found it even more interesting.

This book shows the difference of Eastern and Western culture as well as the changes in society during the couple of decades. There was so much to discuss, this book just contains so many different ideas. It is definitely worth (re-)reading.

We discussed this in our British book club in May 1999 and in our international book club in October 2005.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2022.

From the back cover:

"A literary sensation and runaway bestseller, this brilliant debut novel presents with seamless authenticity and exquisite lyricism the true confessions of one of Japan's most celebrated geisha.

In Memoirs of a Geisha, we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as illusion. It is a unique and triumphant work of fiction - at once romantic, erotic, suspenseful - and completely unforgettable."