In Praise of Shadows | 
so-soI read this because of Christian Kracht. In one of his books he and a friend are desperately searching for this book, even thinking it might not even exist. Does this make me curious. Of course it does!
I'm not really into architecture or design, but it was still very interesting to hear about the importance of shadows in Japanese culture. The influence tiny things can have. Like what would happen if a Japanese person would've invented ⬇
I don't have a single purely #blackandwhitecover, so I will share the one which is closest to that.
Tanizaki is interesting and challenging to read. I can't fight the impression that he must've been an extraordinary snob... #MayBookFlowers
In the mansion called literature I would have the eaves deep and the walls dark, I would push back into the shadows the things that come forward too clearly, I would strip away the useless decoration. I do not ask that this be done everywhere, but perhaps we may be allowed at least one mansion where we can turn off the electric lights and see what it is like without them.
The parts about women are dated of course, but I still disliked reading them. Mainly because sometimes it feels like nothing's really changed.
The edition by the German editor Manesse is beautiful and I'm thinking of getting some more works by this author. They sure would look nice in my bookshelf 😎 9mo