My husband became quite ill in the night with the flu, and the weather outside is typical of February in Illinois: rain mixed with sleet and cloudy overhead. Not that I mind very much. Poor weather always gives me an excuse to indulge my passion for reading.
I have begun reading All Hallow’s Eve by Charles Williams for a reading group at Wheaton College. He was one of the Inklings, a group comprised of J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and Owen Barfield on whom I would dearly love to eavesdrop were they still alive.
And, I am reading the rest of what I have planned to read for the Japanese Literature Challenge 12 because other events are also calling to me in March. (Boekenweek, celebrating Dutch literature in the Netherlands, and the announcement of the Man Booker International Prize long list for 2019.)
But, this. This book, The Emissary. It is everything I love about reading translated literature. Tawada’s writing is lyrical; the translation, masterful. I cannot imagine how words in Japanese can be so smoothly transitioned into English. Take this example:
Long ago, this sort of purposeless running had been referred to as jogging, but with foreign words falling out of use, it is now called loping down, an expression that had started out as a joke meaning “if you lope your blood pressure goes down,” but everybody called it that these days. And kids Mumei’s age would never have dreamt that adding just an e in front of it the word lope could conjure up visions of a young woman climbing down a ladder in the middle of the night to run away with her lover.
It is a wonderful book of a world turned upside down, in Japan, where the old get older and stronger, while the young become weaker. It turns what is often assumed to be true into a new truth, made visible through Tawada’s imaginative writing. I am enamored of Mumei, the apparently special needs great-grandchild of Yoshiro, who despite his gruff nature, is as tender and caring as anyone could hope his grandfather to be.
This was one of the books that took me by surprise last year and left me thinking about it long after I finished it. It’s haunting yet gentle and makes you think about the future and the kind of world we will leave to the younger generations. I loved this book.
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“…haunting yet gentle” is a perfect description! I almost don’t want to finish it, I am loving it so much.
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…writing felt smoothe…the book sounds interesting…hope I can read it. Madeline
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But, of course! I will save it for you. xo
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I just borrowed this from my library, so maybe this is the next one I should be reading for this challenge. Sounds very intriguing.
Also, hope your husband feels better soon.
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Thank you for the good well wishes, Michelle, and I’m so happy your library has this! It is truly special, in my opinion.
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This sounds like a marvelous book, Bellezza! Thank you for this post. I hope your husband feels better soon, and that you stay healthy. Have a terrific week!
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Thanks, Suko. Fortunately it was just a 48 hour bug, but it was bad while it lasted. It was a good day for reading, though, for me. 😌
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I am adding this book to my TBR ASAP! It sounds like something I would most definitely enjoy – so happy you read it and shared about it with us 🙂
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I think you really will enjoy it, Nadia, as you and I seem to so often agree over our beloved books and authors.
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This cover is so darling. How is your husband feeling now?
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The cover reminded me, a bit, of the Dick and Jane books I read as a child in Reading class. There’s something so innocent and playful about him (Mumei) in the picture, which is true of his character in the story. Darling wold be a good adjective. ☺️
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I must look for this one. Thank you!
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