Bella idea di partenza, svolgimento eccessivamente patetico. ( )

Some beautiful prose and nice on a micro scale. In a macro sense the book is a little strange. ( )

Bloed-bloed-mooi. Een bijna volmaakt boek. ( )

It reminded me a little bit of Kobo Abe's [b:The Woman in the Dunes|9998|The Woman in the Dunes|Kōbō Abe|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1361254930s/9998.jpg|58336]--with similar languid pacing and heavy sense of inertia. I wasn't in the mood.

This is a lovely little book about the power of human connection. The narrator is a Hikikomori. This is a phenomenon in Japan, where youth, mostly young men, refuse to leave their parent's house, shut themselves in their rooms, and reduce contact with the family to a minimum. Length of time varies, but some spend 15 years or longer shut in. Estimates are that between 100,000 and 320,000 young people fall victim to this. Taguchi Hiro, after two years as a shut-in, starts to re-enter the world and encounters a salaryman, Ohara Tetsu on a park bench. Tetsu had lost his job, but found himself unable to tell his wife about the loss, so leaves home every day, as if for his job.

The book is told in a series of short chapters; and the stories of both lives unfold. Both have significant feelings of guilt surrounding their failures in previous relationships. As this relationship continues, Taguchi realizes that he must reengage with the world.

"Nowadays I realize that it is impossible not to encounter anyone. In that you are there and breath, you encounter the whole world. The invisible thread has bound you to the others from the moment of birth. To sever it requires more than a death, and there's no use opposing it."

I found this book beautifully written. The author is the daughter of a Japanese mother and Austrian father. She lives in Vienna and the book was originally written in German, and was translated by Sheila Dickie. ( )