Let me start by saying that I have a great love and appreciation for Asian culture, but that love was deepened exponentially by the (sadly brief) time I spent in South Korea. It opened up a whole new level of love and appreciation. So when I was browsing a small downtown bookshop and saw two books on display called “Days at the Morisaki Bookshop” and “Welcome to the Hyuanam-Dong Bookshop”… I had to get them. As the title suggests, I am only discussing the former in this post (I am still reading the latter at the time of writing this).
Days at the Moisaki Bookshop is Satoshi Yagisawa’s debut novel. It was published originally in 2009 and won a literary prize. The story takes place in Japan. When the main character, 25-year-old Takako, goes through a heartbreak, she becomes depressed. At this pivotal time, her uncle calls her out of the blue to insist she come live and work at his bookshop – the Morisaki Bookshop – in the real-life area of Jimbocho. At first, she has no interest in it, but soon, she rediscovers life and happiness through books and the bookshop.
This book hit close to home for me in many ways, and I could really appreciate Takako’s heartbreak, path to healing, and her discovered love of books. The book is a look at life and personal growth and healing, the journey through it, and how the most mundane or unlikely situation can put you on that path. Most importantly, and what speaks so deeply to me, is the power of books.
There were a lot of memorable quotes – I underlined and annotated a lot – but this one in particular spoke to me on a very personal level: “…maybe it takes a long time to figure out what you’re truly searching for. Maybe you spend your whole life just to figure out a small part of it.”
Days at Morisaki Bookshop is a great read and a quick one at only about 150 pages. I highly recommend it, and it is one that now lives on my nightstand for me to revisit again very soon!
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