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A review by scarletohhara
Autumn Light: Season of Fire and Farewells by Pico Iyer
5.0
Is Autumn really the end? Do we have to feel bad when the leaves change color and fall off, my mother always says -it feels sad to know that all these beautiful colors will go away. Or do we think of it as prequel to the beautiful and vibrant spring?
Whatever it is, Autumn is beautiful, with its colors, smells and the chilling breezes. And that season is made all the more beautiful by Iyer in his book, which feels like it has no plot but makes you realize that, that is the whole point.
In this book, which feels like it is about Autumn, Iyer explores a variety of dimensions - his love for the beauty of Kyoto; his calm neighborhood and the everyday normalness around there; his ever topping and energetic ping-pong teammates with their backstories and character traits; his love for his mother who lives far away, the father he lost a while ago, the father-in-law he lost a few days ago and his mother-in-law who is losing her mind slowly, his relationship with his step-children, random thoughts about the brother-in-law that he never met, my favorite of his protagonists, the Dalai Lama himself; and above all, the calm way he takes you back and forth in time to when he fell in love with Hiroko twenty-eight years ago and is still in love with, with the same fervor making this book feel like a long love letter to his darling wife, worshipping her in her everyday moments making them beautiful for the reader too.
This book is beautiful in its melancholy even when it feels morbid as it reminds you of the fact that everyone you love with die and all you can do is be with them and enjoy every moment and relive those moments as memories.
As always, impeccable prose, to the point of being poetry itself, this book reminded me again on why my love for Iyer is undying, he really is the best there is!
Whatever it is, Autumn is beautiful, with its colors, smells and the chilling breezes. And that season is made all the more beautiful by Iyer in his book, which feels like it has no plot but makes you realize that, that is the whole point.
In this book, which feels like it is about Autumn, Iyer explores a variety of dimensions - his love for the beauty of Kyoto; his calm neighborhood and the everyday normalness around there; his ever topping and energetic ping-pong teammates with their backstories and character traits; his love for his mother who lives far away, the father he lost a while ago, the father-in-law he lost a few days ago and his mother-in-law who is losing her mind slowly, his relationship with his step-children, random thoughts about the brother-in-law that he never met, my favorite of his protagonists, the Dalai Lama himself; and above all, the calm way he takes you back and forth in time to when he fell in love with Hiroko twenty-eight years ago and is still in love with, with the same fervor making this book feel like a long love letter to his darling wife, worshipping her in her everyday moments making them beautiful for the reader too.
This book is beautiful in its melancholy even when it feels morbid as it reminds you of the fact that everyone you love with die and all you can do is be with them and enjoy every moment and relive those moments as memories.
As always, impeccable prose, to the point of being poetry itself, this book reminded me again on why my love for Iyer is undying, he really is the best there is!