The Fourth Treasure

This is a wonderful, wandering novel about many things and many human beings, but at its core it explores Japanese calligraphy/shodo (its history, formation, competions and disciplines) and the neuroscience/neuroanatomy between language, understanding and communication. It involves an accomplished sensei at Berkely who has a stroke and can no longer do traditional kanji - but creates his own hybrid symbols in an effort to either ease his mind or communicate. He connects the other characters, including a Japanese woman (recently diagnosed with MS) who moved from Japan in the 70s, her daughter (a neuroscience Phd student) and their various friends. The writing, artwork and excerpts from other sources are beautiful and thought provoking. show more Although there is a pretty structured plot, this is more an exploration of the mind, the art of shodo and neuroscience/neuroanatomy, so it wanders quite a bit. The language centers of the brain are so complex and not well understood, so there are many theories, guesses and ideas of what a person goes through when communicating and feeling. That said, I loved it. If you are up for just sitting back and soaking up a new subject, you will really enjoy it. I did not give it five stars because the plot defies reason, but that said, it is a bit fable-like, so it did not bother me all that much. Highly recommended for something mystical and off the beaten path. show less

So this Japanese calligraphy teacher (living in America) has a stroke, and loses the ability to communicate - he still draws characters, but they just aren't actual Japanese kanji any more, just... shapes that look as though they could mean something. And this neuroscience (I think?) postgrad student decides she wants to use him as a case study, because - well. Because it's interesting, I guess.

And it has the story of the teacher's past, and the student's mother's past, and the student's life outside of studying all mixed up in there, to make it into an actual book rather than 'ooh neuroscience is shiny! The End.', which is all good too. The student's boyfriend is American, but he knows more about Japanese culture and language and show more things like that than she does, even though she's Japanese-American.

So yeah. Good book :) show less

This novel takes readers from Japan to the San Francisco Bay Area, from 1655 to 1998, with a significant pause in 1975.
The book is illustrated by calligraphy (which in Japan, is regarded as both art and a means of communication). Many pages also contain sidebars: these are not footnotes since they are not clued to any specific points in the text. One can choose to scan them simultaneously with the text or read them at the end of the chapter ~~~ they should not be missed!

The Daizen Inkstone is an inanimate object with a long history, and is of great value. All the people we meet in the book are affected by its presence.

Enjoyed.