A review by gayathiri_rajendran
The Bear and the Paving Stone by Toshiyuki Horie

4.0

I enjoyed reading this story collection. This book has three stories. The first one is about two friends who take a trip through France and reminisce upon the events of the past and the present. The second one is about an obsession with building a sandcastle on the beach and feeling satisfied when it is destroyed by waves.It also touches upon death and mourning. The third story in this book is about getting caught in an abandoned castle with no way outside.

All the three stories have very different themes and they feel melancholic. The word building is very fluid and it jumps back and forth between time periods. All the three stories have their own charm and left me in a bittersweet feeling.