![]() ![]() Yet this is not a depressing read, but something which calms the soul through the reading of it.Īlthough the prose (translated by Polly Barton, for an effortless read) might appear straightforward, the life of the people who once lived in the sky-blue house when the “Spring Garden” book was published, the life of the house and Taro’s life seem to be mirror each other in subtle ways. Even his relationship with the artist, Nishi, is really only held together while they have the excuse of the photo-book to connect them. It feels as if Taro’s life is in limbo as we follow him through the minutiae of his world, and Tomoka Shibasaki’s writing is full of the sense that Taro’s humdrum existence is, like the hay day of the sky-blue-house, insecure and uncertain as to where it will be going next. ![]() ![]() The block Taro lives in has been there a while, but is due for demolition so he must, once again move on with his life. But it is more a meditation in what has been, what is now and what might be. This is a novel which doesn’t go anywhere fast. He has become particularly isolated after his father’s death, but is gradually drawn into a relationship with an artist living upstairs through her interest in the sky-blue house they can see from their apartment block. Living on his own, after a divorce, Taro occupies one of the few inhabited apartments in a block due to be torn down for redevelopment. ![]()
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