Big in scope, the story weaves through the life of Hajime, from being a young teenager to being a successful middle-class man, owner of several high-end bars in Tokyo. Hajime recalls with relish, (and we relive) his obsessive romantic fantasies. I will leave it there in terms of the plot to avoid any spoilers.
Tag Archives: writing
Comforting Thought: Life On a Low Flame
One can live at a low flame. Most people do. For some, life is an exercise in moderation The best china saved for special occasions But given something like death What does it matter if one looks foolish now and then Or tries too hard, or cares too deeply? Diane Ackerman
Book Review: She Rises by Kate Worsley
She Rises is an erotic, sea-faring adventure by debut novelist Kate Worsley. Under the tutelage of mentor and maven of the historical novel Sarah Waters, Kate Worsley has created a beautifully sculpted jewel of a novel set in an Essex fishing village in 1740.
Book Review: The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Garcia wrote this essay in a series of newspaper articles in Bogota over 30 years ago. He tells the dramatised story of a sailor Luis Alejandro Velasco who sailed on a ship laden with contraband goods from Alabama in the US bound for Columbia. The ship encountered a turmultuous storm which threw all aboard into the sea with devastating consequences.
Quirky Insights Into Lost Worlds: Ex Libris Book Plates
Passionate devotees of books from throughout history share a common thread with all of us modern-day bibiophiles, they longed to celebrate their books and mark their ownership with an Ex Libris book plate. Ever since Pharaonic Egypt, marking one’s ownership of a book has been a thing. Ex Libris bookplates are more than the stamped or printed marks denoting ownership. They represent the taste, values of their owner, how they saw themselves and the aesthetic styles of the eras when they were made.
Book Review: How Not to Die by Dr Michael Greger MD
With its rather dramatic title ‘How Not To Die’ is a timeless guide to a lifetime of good health. If you only buy one book about health in your lifetime, let this be the one. How Not to Die’s scope is vast and covers all aspects of human health, disease and preventative medicine and provides an overwhelming amount of evidence about the simplest intervention possible – a plant-based diet.
Travel: The Enchanting Ogród Botaniczny of Kraków
The Ogród Botaniczny of Kraków has a long scientific heritage that dates back to 1783. They are the oldest scientific gardens in Poland and were established by Professor Józef Bogumił Rogaliński.
Throughout this time many inquisitive and curious minds have peered into the depths of floral wonders and the garden was pivotal during the Enlightenment period in Poland, as a centre for botanical research and the dissemination of botanical knowledge across Europe.
Q&A for Connection: If you could have any ability in the world tomorrow, what would it be?
If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be? This is based to this list of questions famously proven by social psychologists to foster friendship and connection among those who answer it. Please reply along with your own answer in the comments below or repost this toContinue reading “Q&A for Connection: If you could have any ability in the world tomorrow, what would it be?”
Book Review: Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg
This is a book about the raw majesty of St Kilda as a place, and about the spirit, community bonds and resilience of its people. But it’s also a tragic tale about the devastation of colonialism and 19th century morality.
Comforting Thought: James Baldwin on why art is important
If you can examine and face your life, you can discover the terms with which you are connected to other lives, and they can discover them too – the terms with which they are connected to other people. This has happened to every one of us, I’m sure. You read something which you thought only happened to you, and you discovered that it happened 100 years ago to Dostoyevski. This is a very great liberation for the suffering person, who always thinks that they are alone. This is why art is important. ~ James Baldwin
Content Catnip 