Scan barcode
ka_schulze's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
brettashleyyy's review
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This made me feel hollow inside, and for how quick a read it should be, it did feel like a drag at times. Beautifully melancholic and full of regret and yearning. I need a drink after this one.
roctothorpe's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This haunting little book follows Kazu, a recently deceased homeless man, whose spirit lingers in Ueno Park after death. In sparse and scattered memories, we piece together reflections on his past. They paint a picture of life that is exhausting and casually, senselessly cruel. What's the opposite of nostalgic? It's the feeling of reading this book, where the past is steeped in a sense of loss and bitterness.
On a large scale, this book is about social hierarchy and class divide. In quiet but angry strokes, Yu depicts the poverty and sacrifice of the working class that built modern Japan. On a small scale, this book reflects on the personal experience of homelessness, where you are simultaneously invisible as people walk past you but still laid naked in full view. The sections that hit hardest for me were scenes where Kazu overhears these mundane, insignificant conversations in the park as an observer but never a participant. In a lot of ways, these encounters reflect Kazu's broader existence as life passively occurs around him and he just continues existing. Astonishingly sad, and not in a cathartic crying kind of way but more of a numb and raw emptiness.
“I thought what a thing of sin poverty was, that there could be nothing more sinful than forcing a small child to lie. The wages of that sin were poverty, a wage that one could not endure, leading one to sin again, and as long as one could not pull oneself out of poverty, the cycle would repeat until death.”
On a large scale, this book is about social hierarchy and class divide. In quiet but angry strokes, Yu depicts the poverty and sacrifice of the working class that built modern Japan. On a small scale, this book reflects on the personal experience of homelessness, where you are simultaneously invisible as people walk past you but still laid naked in full view. The sections that hit hardest for me were scenes where Kazu overhears these mundane, insignificant conversations in the park as an observer but never a participant. In a lot of ways, these encounters reflect Kazu's broader existence as life passively occurs around him and he just continues existing. Astonishingly sad, and not in a cathartic crying kind of way but more of a numb and raw emptiness.
“I thought what a thing of sin poverty was, that there could be nothing more sinful than forcing a small child to lie. The wages of that sin were poverty, a wage that one could not endure, leading one to sin again, and as long as one could not pull oneself out of poverty, the cycle would repeat until death.”
linniescorner's review
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
hanschrock's review
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
kaehess's review
DNF @ 45% I’ll give this another shot later, and I’ll try reading over listening.
trinefuqit's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
froon's review against another edition
3.0
“i loved the concept more than the book” all of us reviewers say in harmony.
you can tell yu has a passion about the topics she writes about, specifically the story of fukushima and the homeless in ueno station. and she has moments of beautiful heartbreak and philosophy woven through the novel. however, missing is something to ground the narrative. instead, it feels more a sequence of poetic thoughts, tied together by two significant moments (koichi’s dead and kazu’s suicide ). unfortunately, the characters aren’t enough to carry this plotlessness, as kazu is mainly passive and the side characters are mostly one-off appearances.
i did like the cyclical nature of the story. it felt very apt for a narrative of this nature. also, kazu’s absence from his family’s life was a moving and devastating portrait of the sacrifice the poor must make for the hope of stability. those moments will stick with me the most.
overall, this is overwhelming successful for a “blind date with a book” read imo, so i’m going to be ending on this high note and never do that again!
you can tell yu has a passion about the topics she writes about, specifically the story of fukushima and the homeless in ueno station. and she has moments of beautiful heartbreak and philosophy woven through the novel. however, missing is something to ground the narrative. instead, it feels more a sequence of poetic thoughts, tied together by two significant moments (
i did like the cyclical nature of the story. it felt very apt for a narrative of this nature. also, kazu’s absence from his family’s life was a moving and devastating portrait of the sacrifice the poor must make for the hope of stability. those moments will stick with me the most.
overall, this is overwhelming successful for a “blind date with a book” read imo, so i’m going to be ending on this high note and never do that again!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide