A Perfect Day to Be Alone

A Perfect Day to Be Alone is a quirky story about a young, stubborn woman without a lot of drive finding her way after living with an elderly relative in Tokyo. It’s not incredibly exciting in terms of content, but it does grow on the reader.

Chizu moves in with Ginko, a distant relative with a house next to a train station in Tokyo after her mother moves to China. Chizu knows she doesn’t want to go to China, but she doesn’t really know what she does want. She’s drifting in life with a casual job and boyfriend and not a lot of interest in anything. The only thing she does seem to enjoy is trying to get a raise from Ginko – but always fails as Ginko is calm and quiet. Over the course of the novel, they get to know each other show more better. They both find boyfriends/companions, and Chizu finds more casual jobs. Chizu begins to open up to Ginko about her fears and concerns for the future, sounding more like an elderly person who is sick and tired of everything instead of a twenty year old woman.

Over the course of the year, Chizu grows more independent and less at odds with the world. She finds herself caring for Ginko more than she expected, even though their time together is relatively short and only a small part of each other’s lives. Not a great deal happens between Chizu’s relationships and work and the reader is less informed about Ginko’s past and current relationships, seeing it only through Chizu’s eyes. It’s a coming of age for Chizu as she realises she’s not old before her time and that not everything has to be negative. She even stops partaking in casual theft from others (not sure what it is about women stealing small objects from others in fiction lately – it’s the second book detailing this in as many months), finding no joy in it.

The story is told simply, divided into seasons across 150 pages. It’s easy to read this in a day or a single sitting as a slice of life novel. It’s not groundbreaking, rather more gentle like other Japanese novels. It’s also without the feelgood vibes of other popular Japanese novels, but is still enjoyable.

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Chuyện rất đời, rất thực, nhưng khổ cái diễn đạt (tác giả? dịch giả?)hơi chán với trúc trắc tí nên cứ trôi tuồn tuột.

Dù yêu thương thật nhiều nhưng chỉ nhận lại hờ hững, những cái nhìn chán ghét, rồi sự xa cách.
Mình hiểu mà.

fun!