How Do You Live by Genzaburo Yoshino
Picture of snail taken in the southwestern part of Chongqing Municipality - Dazu Rock Carvings at Mount Baoding
The reason I picked up this book is that I am a massive Hayao Miyazaki fan. This is the book that inspired him and to me, that means without this book there would have not been the films such as Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle. His movies are responsible for some of my favorite memories thus I had to see what all the fuss about this book was.
Heartwarming, inspirational, and offering a unique perspective on the world; How Do You Live, by Genzaburo Yoshino, is a book that everyone should be trying their hardest to get their hands on. Written in 1937, Genzaburo Yoshino paints a coming of age story that is not only stunning to read but also makes the reader think about some of life's hardest questions, issues that are still relevant nearly 90 years later. How Do You Live tackles political and philosophical topics that have been debated for countless years and presents them to the reader from the perspective of a fifteen-year-old boy Hond Jun’ichi, otherwise known as Copper. Through this narrative not only does the reader feel the nostalgia of an era long past but can connect the events in Copper's life to their own, or at least I did.
Copper is growing up in pre World War II Japan, in a society that is a mix of modern and traditional values. His father has passed on leaving his mother and uncle to raise him. The uncle is the catalyst for deep reflection, presenting Copper with a myriad of questions and philosophical teachings about how to live. The book progresses by presenting the reader with events in Copper's life and his conversations with his Uncle in which they try to put the puzzle together that is life. The uncle also creates a journal detailing their conversations with added advice for the young boy on the issues they discuss, a great idea I cant wait to try when I am a father someday, hopefully, I will have something good to write.
The part of this book that resonated with me the most was the discussion of poverty. Cooper has friends from all aspects of society, from the wealthiest to those that struggle daily to earn a living. What I took away from their conversation on these relationships was that it does not matter if you are rich or poor but what you produce for society and those around you as a whole. To view life not in dollar signs but from a creation standpoint is something that is not seen a lot, especially in western society. To judge a person's importance not based on how nice their house is but by what they provide for others is refreshing. You can have all the money in the world, but if you don’t create something that can benefit others what is the point? We take so much from society but what do we give back? Through their discussion, the development of my blog has a new meaning for me. Through this blog as a medium, I can create and try to give back to others through exploring literature and expressing my inner thoughts. While this blog was important to me before reading this book I did not fully understand why. The realization that I am creating something for others is such a wonderful feeling and while my current base of readers is small I find self-fulfillment in what I am doing. Maybe someone comes along and reads this post and gives this book a chance. In turn, this makes their life better, I can not ask for anything better as I created something that gave back to the world.
I will not be posting a link to amazon for this book but feel free to buy from their site. I feel that this book deserves more than a quick link at the bottom of this post and to monetize having someone going and buying such a thoughtful book just feels wrong.
