Welcome to Litsy!

Finished reading on 28 May 2024.

So far really nice with introduction by Neil Gaiman,bittersweet and melancholic but not preachy or oversimplified

This Japanese children‘s classic, first published in 1937 & not translated into English until 2021 (by Bruno Navasky) surprised me with its subtle power. A year in the life of 12-year-old Copper in Tokyo is interwoven with scientific & historical information as well as philosophical musings. It grapples gently, yet seriously, with self-knowledge and the question of how to live a good life. #kidlit #allages #translation

If it weren‘t natural for people to live together in harmony, then why would we suffer when we felt a lack of harmony? If we should try to live a life of love and goodwill toward others but instead find ourselves driven by hatred and hostility, we feel unfortunate because of that, and for that reason, we suffer.

There is nothing more beautiful than people nurturing goodwill towards their fellow human beings.

It was the sort of crisp, clear autumn evening that closed tightly around his body and made him want to breathe deeply.

Sometimes the joy of books that seem to contain opposing elements is realizing that without both things, you would have a lesser book.
—Neil Gaiman, from the foreword to the tagged book

Now translated into English, this bestselling classic, first published in 1937, was the childhood favorite of Hayao Miyazaki and one of the most philosophical, introspective, and comfiest novels for young readers I‘ve ever read. This book follows Copper, a student in Tokyo as he learns the importance of free thinking, of science and the humanities, and how to create a meaningful and ethical life for yourself. Slow-paced and quiet but powerful.

I expected to love this: classic JPN lit, fiction plus nonfiction, up for Studio Ghibli adaptation. I was excited by the idea of an ethics book for young readers within a relatable middle grade story. It‘s all those things, but it didn‘t live up to my dreams. The dazzling opening and a moment with mom near the end touched me, yet other chapters lost sparkle and one was so wishy-washy I wasn‘t sure it was saying anything at all. Uneven but unique.

I LOVED THIS SO MUCH! ❤ Philosophical and super heartfelt! I'm excited about Miyazaki planning to make it into a film! 💕📚💕 #catsoflitsy #littenkitten #jupiterjazz

Really exciting book mail arrived today! 🎉🎉🎉

The last book in the Wake the Dragon series ended on a terrible cliffhanger, so I'm pretty eager to five right into this new one! I'm also fairly certain this is only a trilogy, so hopefully this third book will have a nice resolution! The tagged book is getting a lot of hype and has a forward by Neil Gaiman (😲😍!) So I'm excited about that one as well! I just love book mail days! ❤📖❤ #bookmail

Copper is fifteen and coming into his own as a young man whose uncle guides him through some of the bigger philosophical questions of his life. This book has shaped many Japanese lives, most notably the filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki who has come out of retirement to put this on screen. It would have made a deeper impression on me when I was younger, but this is the first time the book has been available in English and is an engaging, thoughtful read.

Made it through the semester and I‘m still alive 😮‍💨 So with my sweet, sweet free time I was finally able to finish this beautiful book. It was gentle and thoughtful and just altogether a very wholesome book. I really hope that schools will start to pick this up because the lessons taught in here are so valuable.

I‘m not even two chapters into this book and it‘s already dropping deep thought on me. I love it.

I have started Yoshino Genzaburo's Japanese YA classic How do you live? It was written in the thirties as a philosophy primer for Japanese teenagers, and banned in the forties as it was deemed unpatriotic. I am reading the brand-new French translation. I believe an English translation is about to be published (with a foreword by Neil Gaiman!), and a Studio Ghibli animé is in production.