How Do You Live?

by Genzaburō Yoshino

Other authorsNeil Gaiman (Foreword), Bruno Navasky (Translator)
Hardcover, 2021

Description

Told in two voices, fifteen-year-old Copper struggles to confront inevitable and enormous change after his father's death and his uncle writes to him in a journal, sharing knowledge and advice in 1937 Japan.

Publication

Algonquin Young Readers (2021), 288 pages

User reviews

LibraryThing member bibliovermis
This lovely novel was both complicated and very simple. It combines a lot of things that may not seem related at all—philosophical musings on morality, intelligence, poverty, and bravery; a story of a boy's school days in the 1930s; the effects of globalization on humans and production; really
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detailed descriptions of the process of making tofu; a kind of in-depth overview of the life and works of Napoleon... there's a lot going on but it all works! It kept my interest, and reading this now with a historical perspective certain things jumped out as really fascinating, for example: the words highlighting fairness, justice, the need to end poverty worldwide, and respect for laborers—all issues we are still, still struggling with today—from an author who would shortly be ostracized by his increasingly militarized government; and the parallels between the ideas and actions of the bullying older boys at Copper's school and the hallmarks of the way that fascism would shortly rise, and continues to rise, in many societies. This all makes it sound really intense, but really the feeling of the book is primarily coziness. It has a sweet, profound quality that would appeal to those who enjoy works like The Little Prince.
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Language

Original language

Japanese

Original publication date

1937

Physical description

8.25 inches

ISBN

1616209771 / 9781616209773
Page: 1.4574 seconds