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I honestly admit that I don't quite know what to think of this booklet. It contains many attractive aspects: the poetic style, the wise message, the pent-up tension in the scenes on Japanese soil (which reminded me of the style of the Japanese Grandmaster Kawabata), the beautiful images on nature, the smooth narration ... But at the same time, there are several things in the story that made me hesitate: the main character Hervé is in the beginning a man who let’s life "happen” to him and he remains impassive at his rather adventurous life; therefore it is very incredible to me that he suddenly gets a crush on a concubine in Japan that he knows only by sight; also the relationship with his own wife Hélène, which will ultimately prove crucial to the plot, is not as bad as suggested, on the contrary; and so there are more things that make the story falter.
Also in the reviews on this site, one can see that this short story provokes very different interpretations. Some read it as beautiful love story, for others it’s about the absurdity of having aspirations for things that can never be, or about the tragedy of desiring something far away while one remains blind for the beauty that is nearby; and still others interpret it as a symbolistic story about the tension between being and aspiring. There’s something of all this in it, and of course that is a feat in itself. But again, I'm not entirely convinced. I postpone my final verdict, until I have read more by Baricco.
Also in the reviews on this site, one can see that this short story provokes very different interpretations. Some read it as beautiful love story, for others it’s about the absurdity of having aspirations for things that can never be, or about the tragedy of desiring something far away while one remains blind for the beauty that is nearby; and still others interpret it as a symbolistic story about the tension between being and aspiring. There’s something of all this in it, and of course that is a feat in itself. But again, I'm not entirely convinced. I postpone my final verdict, until I have read more by Baricco.