Welcome to Litsy!

I really liked the beginning. Then, it fell off for me. #japaneseliterature #translated #review

Where I work my way through The Setting Sun by Osamu Dazai translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter https://www.suzs-space.com/the-setting-sun-by-osamu-dazai-translated-by-juliet-w...

Thank you so much @tdrosebud for this book. I now have the whole series. And if you can believe it, I had never had Dove until recently because I thought they only did dark chocolate. I was missing out. It is delicious! I love everything in this #Jolabokaflodswap package. And I had to show the wrapping paper. It was so pretty I almost didn‘t want to rip it open. Happy Holidays.

Today I finished an audio reread of The Tale of Genji. I did not listen nearly as carefully as I read the first time a few years ago, but I found it interesting how some scenes were so familiar from the previous read. It is still a beautifully written but infuriating story.

#1001books #Reading1001 #audiobook #Translated

The poignancy of this book snuck up on me. Ogawa did such a wonderful job of writing through the eyes of a child, capturing the way the world seems at that age. And using the snapshot nature of the story to portray the way that life is - you are immersed in powerful moments and then things continue on, and try as you might, you can‘t get back there. I loved this.

I am loving the tagged book so far. And I can relate to Mina‘s reaction on a spiritual level. 😁📚

View from the passenger‘s seat on my way home yesterday. #beautybreak

First published in 1958 this book, according to Towles, launched the mystery genre in Japan. Having read it, I understand why. A crime that, on the surface, doesn‘t appear to be one. An airtight alibi. A grizzled veteran investigator who can‘t escape a sense of doubt, a young investigator who knows something isn‘t quite right. It has all the elements and Matsumoto‘s revealing of the truth is really well timed. I really enjoyed this one.

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 ⬇️