I shouldn't like Days at the Morisaki Bookshop as much as I do. It has a lot of cliches in the "bookshop" genre that seem to get repeated:
- A non-reader would suddenly start reading books just because she's surrounded by them. (I'm sure something like this has happened in real life, I've just never observed it)
- A romance is started by accidentally (or deliberately) sharing a book. (I'm sure it's happened in real life, I've just never observed it)
- A mysterious crazy uncle helps the protagonist, and somehow his backstory makes his behavior somewhat more understandable.
Set against that is that the prose (despite being translated) is transparent and direct. The book is also short, and therefore never overstays its welcome, and finally, the protagonist is uncharacteristically surprised by the behavior of other people, breaking with the stereotype of the empathic female character. Events move quickly, and you're never stuck wondering what is the point of the story.
I enjoyed the references to Japanese literature (some of which has never been translated into English and therefore difficult to find or reads for non-Japanese audiences), the used bookstore district in Tokyo (sounds like a wonderful place, but again, if you're not Japanese what incentive do you have to visit?), and the character development that takes place with the protagonist, who does discover the power of stories to heal and empower.
It's an easy book to like and enjoy. Of course, it nowhere comes close to Among Others. If you haven't read Among Others, and you like Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, you owe it to yourself to grab Jo Walton's superior novel.
1 comment:
Jinbōchō (神保町) is worth visiting even if you can't read Japanese, because its back streets still have some of the feeling of old Tōkyō and because it has a few old-school cafes) and it's fairly near some universities, so still retains a bit of the old-time student feeling.
(There are also a few bookstores with new/used English-language books or comics.)
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