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emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
informative
reflective
sad
A devastating contemplation of regret from the perspective of a ghost haunting Ueno subway station. A social history of the surrounding Ueno Park and neighbourhood--with a forgotten mass grave--recounted by unhoused elders who formed an encampment there. A nonlinear accounting of how the shaping of a contemporary Tokyo meant waves of loss for the city's most precarious residents. Main character Kazu helped build Olympics infrastructure, only for it to lead to his displacement . He found solace in a granddaughter only for a tsunami to sweep her away . His life milestones share overlap with the imperial family, setting a sharp contrast between their wealth and his deprivation, diverging only due to coincidence and circumstances of birth. How he died was a gut-punch that tied him to his geography and brought the story fully into focus.
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Graphic: Classism
Moderate: Animal death, Child death
Minor: Death of parent
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What I expected (naively) to be a lighthearted book was a beautiful and haunting tale of a tragic life. The narrator tells his life story in discontinuity from beyond the grave, detailing his two lives - the first as a laborer supporting his family and the second as a homeless man in Ueno Park. Miri's use of repetition and interjection is powerful, and I found myself touched by the futility of the narrator's struggle to keep trying to live.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I thought it was a really interesting read but I just couldn’t get super involved in it as much as I want to; it was interesting learning about the homeless population of Japan tho
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes