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Loading... Days at the Morisaki Bookshop: A Novel (original 2010; edition 2023)by Satoshi Yagisawa (Author), Eric Ozawa (Translator)
Work InformationDays at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa (Author) (2010)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. I loved the descriptions of bookstores, falling in love with reading, & sharing your favorite novel. Some things felt like they were lost in translation. I didn’t feel much of an emotional connection to the main characters, but some of that might have been a cultural difference. It seemed like the book headed in a very different direction in the second half. Definitely still enjoyed it, but I was wishing for something I couldn’t put my finger on. “I don’t think it really matters whether you know a lot about books or not. That said, I don’t know that much myself. But I think what matters far more with a book is how it affects you.” “It's only in secondhand books that you can savor encounters like this, connections that transcend time. And that's how I learned to love the secondhand bookstore that handled these books, our Morisaki Bookshop. I realized how precious a chance I'd been given, to be part of that little place, where you can feel the quiet flow of time.” One day twenty-five year old Takako is stunned when her boyfriend announces over dinner that he is getting married. It doesn't sound like a proposal. Come to find out, he has been in a relationship with another woman at their workplace since before they began dating. But don't worry, they can still see each other. Horrified, she quits her job and holes up in her apartment, sleeping thirteen hours a day. As her savings run low, she moves into a room above her uncle's bookshop, in exchange for opening the store in the mornings. Slowly she comes out of her depression, discovers the joys of reading, and reconnects with her uncle whom she hadn't seen in ten years. I enjoy books about books and was looking forward to a light novel about readers. Unfortunately this one was even lighter than I expected, and my ignorance of modern Japanese authors made it difficult for me to appreciate the book talk. There is a sudden shift midway through the book, and the second half takes place a year and a half later with the return of her uncle's estranged wife. It felt like two stories cobbled together. Although the book didn't work for me, it was an inoffensive easy read, and not a bad way to spend a couple of hours. I appreciated the translator's note, which listed which books mentioned in the novel are available in translation. Cozy heartwarming books set in Japan and relating to books seem to be my jam lately, and this book is no exception. I did find the cover slightly misleading because there is no cat in the book (that would have made it five stars), but the story is great regardless. I would love to visit that bookstore district and that coffee shop! Wow, this was exceptionally bad. At times I thought maybe it just translated bad... Like maybe this award-winning story really was fantastic in the Japanese but this translator was merely 10 years old so I should give him some credit. But no, I think the story is just bad. Unless the author is 10 years old --- in which case I'd say, keep going, buddy! I'm usually a sucker for a book about a bookshop and that's why I picked this one up at Barnes and Noble a few days ago. I think it's important to read works by people from cultures very different from me and for that, I give this book 1-star. I appreciate the opportunity to read books translated from other languages. I appreciate that people will do the work of translation. But this book sucks and there's just no getting around that. There is no story, no plot. There is no character development. At. All. Takako is the flattest character I've encountered lately and her interactions with her aunt and uncle grossed me right out. He is way too creepily attached, she (aunt) is just slightly less creepy because she is not so attached. Takako lets life happen to her and slumps like a pile of regurgitated phlegm at every opportunity. So I wondered... maybe all the beautiful, award-winning, magical nuances are just lost in translation. But then I get to chapter 3 and realize. Nope. It still just sucks. Chapter 3 is the climactic turning point at which angsty 16-year-old teenage boy writing turns to obnoxious, middle-school kid picking his nose and not showering for a week writing. Well, that's about all I got for tonight. If you thought this review was stupid, wait 'til you read this book. no reviews | add a review
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Twenty-five-year-old Takako has enjoyed a relatively easy existence, until the day her boyfriend Hideaki, the man she expected to wed, casually announces he's been cheating on her and is marrying the other woman. Suddenly, Takako's life is in freefall. She loses her job, her friends, and her acquaintances, and spirals into a deep depression. In the depths of her despair, she receives a call from her distant uncle Satoru. An unusual man who has always pursued something of an unconventional life, especially after his wife Momoko left him out of the blue five years earlier, Satoru runs a second-hand bookshop in Jimbocho, Tokyo's famous book district. Takako once looked down upon Satoru's life. Now, she reluctantly accepts his offer of the tiny room above the bookshop rent-free in exchange for helping out at the store. The move is temporary, until she can get back on her feet. But in the months that follow, Takako surprises herself when she develops a passion for Japanese literature, becomes a regular at a local coffee shop where she makes new friends, and eventually meets a young editor from a nearby publishing house who's going through his own messy breakup. But just as she begins to find joy again, Hideaki reappears, forcing Takako to rely once again on her uncle, whose own life has begun to unravel. Together, these seeming opposites work to understand each other and themselves as they continue to share the wisdom they've gained in the bookshop. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)895.63Literature Literature of other languages Asian (east and south east) languages Japanese Japanese fictionLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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The second half of the book is centred on Takako’s uncle, Satoru, whose wife Momoko had left him five years earlier. Her sudden reappearance sends shockwaves through the whole used-bookstore community. Satoru enlists his niece’s help in ferreting out both why Momoko left and why she came back, and, more important, whether she is back for good.
This second story is ultimately both very sad and heartwarming. So be prepared for tears and joy. Such sentimentality is perhaps not unusual in Japanese popular fiction and no doubt explains why this book was such a success in Japan.
Gently recommended. ( )