Month February 2023

The sentence: “It was strange at once to be so familiar yet so separated.” sums up this novel venry well. A novel about family, art and language. A meditative novel without much of a story. The narrator alternates thoughts about the nature of life with memories, sparse conversations with her mother and phonecalls with her sister.

A beautiful, unassuming book. The narrator Kazu lives in a camp for the homeless near Ueno station. He tells the story of his life. Born in the same year as emperor Hirohito he lived a humble life paralel to that of the emperor.