重力、実家、ハリネズミ、走る。
Last week, I switched one of my days off with one my coworkers so that I could help out at the first aid tents for a huge marathon held here every year. I now know how to properly advise people to treat blisters (something I've always dealt with as a soccer player) and the word for glaucoma in Japanese, and also that it is some type of problem with one's eyes.
Work is tolerable and going smoothly, and there's been a lot of rainbows here due to all the rain, which reminds me of my hometown. One great thing about working out on the pier is that I get to see reef life in the wild. I've seen box fish, goat fish, Moorish Idols, Ika, Green Sea turtles, Puffer fish, Manini, Jellyfish, and spinner dolphins as I work.
I also visited the Aquarium and the Public Library on my day off about a week ago, too.
And again, another book roundup, because apparently, all I ever do now in my spare time is read books:
重力ピエロ (Gravity's Clown) - Isaka Kotaro
Isaka Kotaro is still my favorite Japanese author so far. Of all of his works, I think that this is one of his best. The story is about a pair of brothers in their twenties, of which the younger was born from a rape case. Add an arson-graffiti mystery and theory on what traits are inherited from genes and which are brought out with the help of your family, an awesome pair of parents, and a Michael Jordan bat, and you get a thought provoking novel with strong themes of family. It's hard to explain how despite how slightly dark and negative the story can be, it can also be very touching at the same time.
”ふわりふわりと飛ぶピエロに、重力なんて関係ないんだから”
”そうとも重力は消えるんだ。”
”どうやって？”
”楽しそうに生きてれば、地球の重力なんてなくなる。”
”その通り。わたしやあなたは、そのうち宙に浮かぶ。”
Mother: "For a clown flying so lightly in the air, gravity doesn't even matter"
Father: "Rather, gravity disappears"
Son: "But how?"
Mother: "For someone living so happily, the world's gravity will disappear."
Father: "That's right. Sooner or later, you and I will also start to float into space."
走れ、メロス (Run, Melos)- Dazai Osamu
Apparently, this short story is one that is taught routinely in Japanese schools as a classic. Interestingly, it's a Greek story written by a Japanese author. It does read well, and is a touching story based on the theme of friendship. Melos, after being sentenced to death by the wary, tyrannical king of a certain city, runs to restore this king's faith in humanity. In order to do so, Melos makes the promise to run back to his pastoral town to plan and hold a wedding and back within three days, with his best friend taken hostage by the king to die in his place if he doesn't make it back in time.
I like greek mythology, and because this was set in that time period, I enjoyed it all the same.
サウスポイント (South Point) - Yoshimoto Banana
This was an interesting read because it's about my home island, but from a Japanese author. Very few people visit this island, and this is only the second book I've heard about written about it from someone who isn't local. There were a few things that I liked about the story, but I think it could have been better by strengthening its plot and characterization, but this is a problem with most of Yoshimoto Banana's works. She also recognizes this in the afterward message.
The protagonist, as usual, is a young girl with no personality, with a past that is slightly traumatic but saved by her childhood love, who moved away to Hawaii just when they were in the middle of experiencing their young love. They end up living their own lives apart for many years, and of course the girl is lonely until she hears a song that has lyrics that sound awfully familiar, and things start moving from there.
One thing I did enjoy was the author's explanation of my hometown, which was pretty much
"It's a lovely place, so slow paced that it's like time has stopped, and always raining."
Yoshimoto Banana always deals with the themes of death and healing, and her secondary female character who deals with it in this book was a lot more realistic and likeable than her protagonist. I'll point out here as well that she was also a character born and raised in Hawaii.
Overall, I'd give this book 2 1/2 to 3 stars.
The Elegance of the Hedgehog -Muriel Barbery
Five out of five stars for this one, no doubt. I was reading this one for a while and ended up taking a break from it because it was very theory and information-dense, and light on plot. It was good, but the plot was taking a while to pick up, and thus, I was getting a little antsy. I finally decided to pick it up again after a few weeks. Then, the plot really started to pick up and I really couldn't put it down until it was done. I finished it while drinking black tea lemonade at Starbucks, but was so overwhelmed by it that I sat in my chair for a while doing nothing and probably looking like I ran into a wall, just absorbing everything I'd read. It was written so well, with the vocabulary, ideas, and sentence complexity of a classic, yet the chic and simple style of modern lit.
This is the kind of book for people who know what it is like to appreciate things that other people don't, like art and literature and manga and intelligence in women. It's also for people who hide their true selves in order to fit in, and people who are just too school for cool. (Yes, I've been on a P!nk kick for a while, now.)
Sometimes, I see myself in these characters. There's two protagonists, and sometimes I feel like the author was describing me when she writes from the viewpoint of the younger, Paloma, an intelligent 13 year old who is critical of the world due to her precociousness. Her hobbies and ways of thinking are a bit similar to mine, as well. I just wish that I could be as smart as she is.
"Tea and Mangas instead of coffee and newspapers: something elegant and enchanting, instead of adult power struggles and their sad aggressiveness."
"That I "hide" is is not true, anyway; I go off to be alone in a place where no one can find me."
"So what if I know there are adults who wear masks that are all sweetness and light but who are very hard and ugly underneath, and so what if I know that all you have to do is see right through them for their masks to fall."
Other non-fictionbooks:
The Best American Essays, 2010
The Literature of the Law
Humorists- Paul Johnson
The Ultimate Guide to Reef fish of Hawaii
Work is tolerable and going smoothly, and there's been a lot of rainbows here due to all the rain, which reminds me of my hometown. One great thing about working out on the pier is that I get to see reef life in the wild. I've seen box fish, goat fish, Moorish Idols, Ika, Green Sea turtles, Puffer fish, Manini, Jellyfish, and spinner dolphins as I work.
I also visited the Aquarium and the Public Library on my day off about a week ago, too.
And again, another book roundup, because apparently, all I ever do now in my spare time is read books:
重力ピエロ (Gravity's Clown) - Isaka Kotaro
Isaka Kotaro is still my favorite Japanese author so far. Of all of his works, I think that this is one of his best. The story is about a pair of brothers in their twenties, of which the younger was born from a rape case. Add an arson-graffiti mystery and theory on what traits are inherited from genes and which are brought out with the help of your family, an awesome pair of parents, and a Michael Jordan bat, and you get a thought provoking novel with strong themes of family. It's hard to explain how despite how slightly dark and negative the story can be, it can also be very touching at the same time.
”ふわりふわりと飛ぶピエロに、重力なんて関係ないんだから”
”そうとも重力は消えるんだ。”
”どうやって？”
”楽しそうに生きてれば、地球の重力なんてなくなる。”
”その通り。わたしやあなたは、そのうち宙に浮かぶ。”
Mother: "For a clown flying so lightly in the air, gravity doesn't even matter"
Father: "Rather, gravity disappears"
Son: "But how?"
Mother: "For someone living so happily, the world's gravity will disappear."
Father: "That's right. Sooner or later, you and I will also start to float into space."
走れ、メロス (Run, Melos)- Dazai Osamu
Apparently, this short story is one that is taught routinely in Japanese schools as a classic. Interestingly, it's a Greek story written by a Japanese author. It does read well, and is a touching story based on the theme of friendship. Melos, after being sentenced to death by the wary, tyrannical king of a certain city, runs to restore this king's faith in humanity. In order to do so, Melos makes the promise to run back to his pastoral town to plan and hold a wedding and back within three days, with his best friend taken hostage by the king to die in his place if he doesn't make it back in time.
I like greek mythology, and because this was set in that time period, I enjoyed it all the same.
サウスポイント (South Point) - Yoshimoto Banana
This was an interesting read because it's about my home island, but from a Japanese author. Very few people visit this island, and this is only the second book I've heard about written about it from someone who isn't local. There were a few things that I liked about the story, but I think it could have been better by strengthening its plot and characterization, but this is a problem with most of Yoshimoto Banana's works. She also recognizes this in the afterward message.
The protagonist, as usual, is a young girl with no personality, with a past that is slightly traumatic but saved by her childhood love, who moved away to Hawaii just when they were in the middle of experiencing their young love. They end up living their own lives apart for many years, and of course the girl is lonely until she hears a song that has lyrics that sound awfully familiar, and things start moving from there.
One thing I did enjoy was the author's explanation of my hometown, which was pretty much
"It's a lovely place, so slow paced that it's like time has stopped, and always raining."
Yoshimoto Banana always deals with the themes of death and healing, and her secondary female character who deals with it in this book was a lot more realistic and likeable than her protagonist. I'll point out here as well that she was also a character born and raised in Hawaii.
Overall, I'd give this book 2 1/2 to 3 stars.
The Elegance of the Hedgehog -Muriel Barbery
Five out of five stars for this one, no doubt. I was reading this one for a while and ended up taking a break from it because it was very theory and information-dense, and light on plot. It was good, but the plot was taking a while to pick up, and thus, I was getting a little antsy. I finally decided to pick it up again after a few weeks. Then, the plot really started to pick up and I really couldn't put it down until it was done. I finished it while drinking black tea lemonade at Starbucks, but was so overwhelmed by it that I sat in my chair for a while doing nothing and probably looking like I ran into a wall, just absorbing everything I'd read. It was written so well, with the vocabulary, ideas, and sentence complexity of a classic, yet the chic and simple style of modern lit.
This is the kind of book for people who know what it is like to appreciate things that other people don't, like art and literature and manga and intelligence in women. It's also for people who hide their true selves in order to fit in, and people who are just too school for cool. (Yes, I've been on a P!nk kick for a while, now.)
Sometimes, I see myself in these characters. There's two protagonists, and sometimes I feel like the author was describing me when she writes from the viewpoint of the younger, Paloma, an intelligent 13 year old who is critical of the world due to her precociousness. Her hobbies and ways of thinking are a bit similar to mine, as well. I just wish that I could be as smart as she is.
"Tea and Mangas instead of coffee and newspapers: something elegant and enchanting, instead of adult power struggles and their sad aggressiveness."
"That I "hide" is is not true, anyway; I go off to be alone in a place where no one can find me."
"So what if I know there are adults who wear masks that are all sweetness and light but who are very hard and ugly underneath, and so what if I know that all you have to do is see right through them for their masks to fall."
Other non-fictionbooks:
The Best American Essays, 2010
The Literature of the Law
Humorists- Paul Johnson
The Ultimate Guide to Reef fish of Hawaii