Welcome to Litsy!

Given its themes of endings, decline, decadence, and life-weariness, and its post-war setting, Dazai's novel cannot fail to be sad. Terminal illness, omens of death, addiction, emotional cruelty and suicide feature prominently, and Dazai died by suicide the year after its initial 1947 publication. But...
Despite her brother's dismissal of the old order as failed, and the new generation as dying on the vine, there is a scintilla of hope in ⬇️

"Mother uttered a faint cry."

#FirstLineFridays @shybookowl.

Who can resist some #bookstoretablescape? #HappyPlace #BookstoreOneSarasota

"Man was born for love and revolution." ❤️?

"People always make a serious face when they tell a lie. The seriousness of our leaders these days! Pooh!"

"From that day to the present, we have managed to continue our solitary lives in this cottage in the mountains. We prepare meals, knit on the porch, read in the Chinese room, drink tea - in other words, lead an uneventful existence almost completely isolated from the world."

My idea of paradise! ?

Next up, Dazai's novel of the decline of the Japanese aristocracy immediately following WWII. Published in 1947, the year prior to Dazai's death by suicide, it's tragic in tone.
The translator's introduction in this edition was written in the 1950s, and is itself an interesting, if brief, historical insight into a contemporary Westerner's perception of Japanese post-war culture.

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

I‘ve been at an executive retreat the past 2 days & part of the agenda was several sessions of sitting in silence from 20 to 45 minutes at a time. This morning‘s at 6:30 AM inspired this haiku.

There are no cameras/phones in the room while the practice is going on but I found this sunrise picture of our dojo‘s grounds.

Dojo at Sunrise

Bell sounds, rooster crows
Darkness eases into dawn
We sit in stillness

A boy has an innocent crush on a grocery clerk. He buys sandwiches daily just to see her, until classmates call her a “freak,” mentioning botched facial surgery. Shaken, he stops visiting, though he keeps drawing her. Lonely and unsure, he‘s nudged by his friend Tutti to face his feelings and seek the quiet connection he misses. A cute novella.

📸 Onomichi, Japan

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Skipped yesterday‘s haiku but I‘ll go ahead & post today‘s which is inspired by this picture & it being Wednesday & Hump Day 🐪 & me thinking how even if I‘m excited for the upcoming weekend, the 2 long days to get there will be exhausting. 😵‍💫

Hump Day Dunes

Getting over the
Midweek hump, descending fast
Like climbing sand dunes