Welcome to Litsy!

Yoshie‘s father dies along with his mistress and Yoshie and her mother have come to terms with both having a death and the circumstances.
And they do, after moving to an old neighborhood in Tokyo, where they live and work and eat. Again, food plays in important role in a Japanese story!
It‘s a very Japanese novel, quiet and melancholic. A light pick.

#ReadTheWorld2025 Book 3 #Japan 🇯🇵#ATY25 #IntriguingTitle

Welcome to my newest hyper fixation. I've finally started this behemoth. I've also got another translation on my Kindle that has footnotes and context if needed. I predict it may take me the whole year because I plan to go slow. I've heard it meanders in parts, so I'm ready for it. Wish me luck!

A very erotic portrait of the tail-end of a passionate love affair between a teenage girl and a much older man, both brought into close orbit again, years later, by the man‘s travels to Kyoto to see the city‘s temple bells ring in a New Year. This is Kawabata‘s last (completed) novel and an intensely psychological one at that, the tautness of his doomed love triangle softened by his painterly impressions of a Japan passing through her seasons.

Set in Tokyo in the dark night hours. I really enjoyed these interconnected stories. I‘m left with lots of images in my mind. A touching and magical read. ❤️

Not a typical whodunnit mystery, but more philosophical (existential) and social commentary as expected of Abe. While our nameless detective and other characters are not so likeable (though their aspirations or lack of was certainly relatable), the city he unravels bit by bit—as he searches for a budding alcoholic's missing husband—felt dark and real, captivating me into completing the story.

#TheTaleOfGenji #MurasakiShikibu #book #books #bookshelf #bookshelves #bookshelfie #bookshelfies #shelfie #shelfies #bookstack #bookstacks #bookstore #bookshop #bookshopper #bookshopping #booksale #bookdesign #bookdesigner #bookdeal #bookdeals #bookdealer #bookdragon #bookdragons #bookfeature #bookfeatures #bookfair #bookfan #bookfandom #bookfever #bookfanatic #bookfrenzy #bookgeek #bookgeeks #bookgeeky #bookgang #bookgasm #geek #geeks #geeky 🧡🧡

A newly acquired 1958 Folio Society edition of short stories originally published in 1686, in which Ihara is credited with creating the Ukiyo "Floating World" genre of Edo Period Japanese literature.
Folio covers are often difficult to photograph: this one is bound in a beautiful watchet-tinted silk ?
The end papers and title pages are beneath, and a detail of one of the woodcut illustrations to the left ❤️

#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

1/ always fun putting up the decorations

2/ Tale of Genji, not a snowflake in sight but I'm really looking forward to it as I've been on the waiting list on Libby for, something like over a year, and it just delivered it, a wonderful surprise

3 Stars • The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea is about Noboru Kuroda, a 13-year-old boy in a nihilistic gang, and his mother Fusako, who starts an affair with Ryuji Tsukazaki, a sailor. Initially, Noboru idolizes Ryuji for his adventurous life at sea. Ryuji's decision to settle down and marry Fusako is seen by Noboru and his friends as a betrayal of the sea's romantic ideal. The gang plots against Ryuji, leading to his murder by boys.

Sosuke and his wife Oyone lead a quiet, monotonous life in a shabby rented house in Tokyo. Although they live isolated due to past events, they are still relatively happy. However, when the events of the past gradually catch up with them, Sosuke is faced with a dilemma. How much obedience do you owe to those around you and what are the consequences when you choose to listen to yourself?