投稿者: akapan

『地下室の手記』ドストエフスキー, 1864年感想 | 自意識に閉じこもった男の独りよがりの手記

★★★★☆ 地下室という自意識に閉じこもった男の独りよがりの手記という小説。とことん根暗で、嫌味妬みだらけで、捻くれてて、混乱してて、まさに「好感」という言葉の正反対なところにある。

🔽 基本情報 🔽
地下室の手記
ドストエフスキー, 1864
Notes from Underground
Записки изъ подполья
Fyodor Dostoevsky, 1864
285 ページ
2020.07 読了

🔽🔽 読書記録 🔽🔽

現代語訳。
とことん根暗で、嫌味妬みだらけで、捻くれてて、混乱してて、まさに「好感」という言葉の正反対なところにある。

気が触れてるとしか思えない独白から始まり、小説というかストーリーへと続く。

救いようのない暗さ、滑稽なほどの暗さ。
短いからなんとか読み切れるけど…
地下室という自意識に閉じこもった男の独りよがりの手記という小説。

🔽 関連ページ 🔽
English review
“Notes from Underground” Fyodor Dostoevsky (1864) Review | From a dungeon called ego

🔽 買えるところ / あらすじ、詳細 🔽

●●● アマゾン ●●●

地下室の手記（光文社古典新訳文庫）

●●● 楽天 ●●●
地下室の手記 （新潮文庫　トー1-8　新潮文庫） [ ドストエフスキー ]
価格：649円（税込、送料無料) (2026/2/25時点)

2026-03-02

“Bisexuality in the Ancient World” Eva Cantarella (1988) Review | Then suffer from machismo

★★★★★ A man marries woman as a social obligation, a man has a relationship with a younger man for education in Greece, and for his manliness in Rome - and the societies get tired. Fascinating to see we've always suffered from the same things, patriarchy and machismo.

🔽 log 🔽
Bisexuality in the Ancient World
Eva Cantarella, 1988
Secondo natura
286 pages
Read 2025.06

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
I've had this for long, but didn't really realise it was so academic, written by a university professor in Milan.

Bisexuality here is not the same definition as today, as in, loving men and women at the same level.
It means that men are socially obliged to marry women, but also to love men, for different reasons in Greece and Rome.

In Greece it was about education and sophistication, and only men could educate boys via semen.
Rome was about machismo, men conquer at wars and in life they conquer women and other men.
In the end both cultures were extremely misogynistic.
It's all about how men should be higher than women.
In Rome, then came the religion (made by men of course, then it spread to Greece) misogynistic as ever, but this time to protect men's superiority they told people to focus on reproduction, just marry and have sex with women who will give more births.
She argues that, however it was not Christianity that changed this attitude of loving men, men were already a bit tired of being forced to be macho constantly, times change, people change, so it was more that Christianity came at the right time.

The book expects you to know the basics of the ancient world which I don't so I now need further readings, especially Sappho.

But even after 1000s of years, we're still suffering from the same problems - patriarchy and machismo.

🔽 Where to buy / Summary and more info 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

Bisexuality in the Ancient World

●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
Bisexuality in the Ancient World 2e: Second Edition (Nota Bene) 

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●

Secondo natura

2026-03-02

“The Golden Road” William Dalrymple (2024) Review | Powerful and exciting
```
★★★★★+♥ My favourite historian, absolute. It proudly shows off the soft power of Ancient India. It's so vast geographically and in the topics that it leaves you speechless. Powerful and exciting.
```
🔽 log 🔽
The Golden Road
How ancient India transformed the world
William Dalrymple, 2024
432 pages
Read in 2025.03

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
My favourite historian. How lucky are we to have a favourite?
The signed special edition that I finally got my hands on, sure I could buy a regular one on Amazon in Italy, but no, it had to come through the whole long process.

So naturally I had a very high expectation, and, it completely exceeded it

I follow his podcast, tweets and instagram, yeah stalking him, so I knew what kind of things would be in the book, yet, every single page contains mind blowing facts.
How is it that I or we didn’t know this history, why was it hidden?
How is it that we didn’t know India’s soft power spread around south east Asia in an efficient way and the famous ancient Chinese trades were actually via India? Silk road? Yeah it was India who made a huge profit.
Or that “Arabic numerals” are as a matter of fact, “Hindu-Arabic numerals”?
That it originated in India in the first century and Europe only started to use it in 11th, 12th century?

As always the history and facts that Dalrymple uncovers for us are fascinating but it’s his sheer enthusiasm that is the gem of his work, and the reason he is admired and loved. Who else can be called “rock star historian”? Aren’t historian supposed to be boring people?
He’s so intelligent and intellectual yet he gets told off for spilling beans on the podcast, that he’s not great at simple maths, and that he sometimes gets emotional and cry on the podcast. Rock star yes, but kawaii yes too.
He simply loves history, and can’t help to share it with us. And if he didn’t know something, he’d go “oh I didn’t know that, tell me more” with (I can easily imagine) his twinkling eyes.

Eye opening, mind blowing, brain exploding, curiosity fulfilled, he writes what he loves, so us readers can’t help but be fascinated. His books have that power.
It’s a love letter to India from a historian who’s completely in love and unapologetically curious.
Did I say he was my favourite historian yet? I did, but I’d repeat again and again.
```
🔽 Where to buy / Summary and info 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World - Hardcover
```
```
Amazon.co.uk (UK)
The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World - Paperback

Amazon.it (Italy)
The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World


La via dell'oro. Come l'India antica ha trasformato il mondo
```
2026-03-02

“Japan cruel stories 1, flock of poor people” Miyamoto Tsuneichi (1959) Review | The history of the majority

★★★★★ Normal, majority of Japanese people were poor. And their lives where cruel to them, yes, but can we just simplify this side of history, the history of the majority. Great Anthropology.

🔽 basic info 🔽
Nihon Zankoku Monogatari 1
(Japan cruel stories 1, Flock of poor people)
Miyamoto Tsuneichi et al, 1959
日本残酷物語1 貧しき人々の群れ
宮本常一 他
Read 2025.02
(Not available in English)

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
Miyamoto is my favourite Japanese anthropologist.
He focuses on folklores and local traditions, and he firmly believes on going to places on foot to meet the locals to learn about their local customs, of the normal people.

Normal people in Japan were poor. Many foreign travelers from 100 years ago or so all talk about how poor Japan was centuries ago. An English explorer Isabella Bird is a famous one among those.

Just over 100 years ago, majority of people in Japan suffered from poverty, living lives of thefts, killings, selling their bodies, disposing some family members (often their children of elderly) - to survive.
You might have heard of the tradition of getting rid of the elderly in the mountain, or newborns in the river "before they were considered living human of the family" the latter famously being considered incredibly cruel by Western Christians that time.
There are endless examples in this book, examples of how the poorest and weakest of the society had to survive.
In the meantime, today we love to focus on the rich and powerful like samurai, shogun and rich merchants of Edo period, and how Japan was "sophisticated".
That's not the reality, the life was cruel, people were cruel.
But do we dismiss them only as "cruel"?
Parents who had to select which babies would survive, did they have a choice?
What did the government do while the rich had their sophisticated lives?
The sad history of villages attaching trading ships or another village to eat, were they merely cruel?

In one chapter they specifically talk about female.
Female are always the victim, especially when the time is hard.
Female were considered impure and inferior. They were always fighting, in society, in family, with elder female members.
How dare they give birth to more mouths to feed, it's the female's responsibility and "fault" how insane.
A chapter on women working in the mining was also great, they carry their family, society, finance on their shoulders, and my god they were strong.

This is the kind of history we should learn at school, this is the real history of Japan.

🔽 Where to buy 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

日本残酷物語〈1〉貧しき人々のむれ (平凡社ライブラリー) Paperback Bunko

Amazon.co.uk (UK)
日本残酷物語〈1〉貧しき人々のむれ (平凡社ライブラリー) Paperback Bunko

Amazon.it (Italy)
-

2026-03-01

“Cod A biography of the fish that changed the world” Mark Kurlansky (1997) Review | Our ugly selves exposed by, cod
```
★★★★★ Nobody had imagined that one day, cod would reduce in number and lead us to wars. We had to expose our ugly selves, all because of, yes, cod.
```
🔽 log 🔽
Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World
Mark Kurlansky, 1997
Read 2025.03

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
Being a Japanese person, cod is not something I understood fully.
It’s the fish and chips, northern Europe seem to fish a lot, and in southern Europe they eat dried fish as specialty.
And yet that IS the history, Spanish eat a lot of cods that they don’t have nearby, why. And as always things are so exaggerated with the modern technology that the cod, which thought to be forever plentiful, is decreasing in number and wars occur, and xenophobia will triumph because it’s always someone else’s fault that there’s less fish.
Funny yet totally understandable that the most of the Atlantic world eat non-fresh cod, because that’s how it fed the mass, and they last long.
Expensive bits to the rich, and cheap versions to the slaves in the West Indies’ slaves.

It’s written in 1997, today it’s more commonly known that the most environmentally harmful act is the trawling, scooping up everything from the bottom of the sea.
It also leaves the plastic rubbish which we should actually focus more, than plastic straws.
Fishermen are not the enemy, the big corporations are, as always.

It’s written in 1997, today it’s more commonly known that the most environmentally harmful act is the trawling, scooping up everything from the bottom of the sea.
It also leaves the plastic rubbish which we should actually focus more, than plastic straws.
Fishermen are not the enemy, the big corporations are, as always.
```
🔽 Where to buy / Summary and info 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World Paperback
```
```
Amazon.co.uk (UK)

Cod Paperback

Amazon.it (Italy)

Cod Paperback (Inglese)


Merluzzo. Storia del pesce che ha cambiato il mondo Paperback
```
2026-03-01

“Smash and Grab” Sunanda K. Datta-Ray (1984) Review | A dynamic history of Sikkim

★★★★★ A dynamic history of the kingdom of Sikkim that got annexed by India. I love this area of the east of Himalaya, it's a total mix of cultures. Soon after gaining an independence from Britain, India "colonised" a small kingdom, a dark page of history that nobody should talk about.

🔽 log 🔽
Smash and Grab
Annexation of Sikkim
Sunanda K. Datta-Ray, 1984
433 pages
Read 2025.01

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
The book I had to look for everywhere but couldn't find as a physical book as it was practically banned as soon as it was published.

And, no wonder it was banned (well not banned, as that would be too scandalous, they just did not allow to print any more) it is by a journalist who personally knew the Chogyal, the king, so it's detailed and it's what he saw, heard, conversed and felt, as well as collection of newspaper articles.

And it doesn't look good for India.
India, who had until recently suffered the Imperialism is now putting Imperialism on Sikkim.
Lies, manipulations, false promises, guaranteeing personal gains, not to mention violence. Anything you can think of that is morally wrong, was done to Sikkim.
Cleverly manipulating the media to make people believe the Chogyal was the bad guy. They then tricked the modest simple people - you don't like the monarchy, this bad guy, then vote to be annexed by India.
The Indian officer in Sikkim already had all the power he wished, and the last blow was easy, just lie.

As mentioned in this book, the snap referendum was based on manipulations and physically impossible to run it in the remote area so quickly. Of course, if you vote against the annexation you'd likely beaten up, too.

It's very detailed and was difficult to follow for me who had no basic understanding of Indian politics.
But what was happening was clear, you cannot believe what you are reading with your eyes, it's incredibly similar to what British did to India; concentration of power in the hands of foreigners and dirty politics.
Yes the Chogyal was hostile towards Nepali, but there was certainly a room for compromise and he probably would have been the Chogyal for all.
It could have been a republic, also.
But no, India wanted it, the perfect location at the border, and took time to absorb it slowly but surely.
Now I'd like to know how Indian people think if this today, or maybe first of all if they are at least taught everything.

🔽 Where to buy 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

SMASH AND GRAB:ANNEXATION OF SIKKIM Kindle Edition

●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●

SMASH AND GRAB:ANNEXATION OF SIKKIM Kindle Edition

●●● Amazon.it (Italia) ●●●
-

2026-02-28

“Fanny Hill Memoirs of a woman of pleasure” John Cleland (1749) Review | One of the most banned books
```
★★★★☆ One of the most banned books in English literature. She's not only a mere woman of pleasure, but she gets rich! A free and lively woman who gets rich, yeah an enemy of the decent society.
```
🔽 log 🔽
Fanny Hill
Memoirs of a woman of pleasure
John Cleland, 1749
176 pages
Read 2024.5

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
One of the most banned books in English literature.
It took a while to properly start reading it, but for me it’s excessive.
That is the point of this book as it’s said to be the first pornographic novel, but, less descriptions would have made the book more interesting, to me, but obviously that would reduce the charm and the meaning of this book.

One of the critics says the writer is a homosexual, because of the obsession with the description of male bodies, yes it’s obsessive compared to that of female bodies.
Well, it was written centuries ago so it must have been shocking, that the women find pleasure without any regret or shame!
Normally these femme fatale stories end with the woman regretting her past, or getting punished.
Take Lolita, she is made to be happy by settling in the countryside as a wife (while Tanizaki’s Naomi continues with her life style, that’s what makes Tanizaki great)
Here, Fanny does not regret, but not only that she even gets rich, such a bad ass enemy of the (patriarchal ) society.
```
🔽 Where to buy 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (Immortal Classics) 

●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
Memoirs Of Fanny Hill

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●
Fanny Hill. Memorie di una donna di piacere (Italiano)
```
2026-02-28

“A BRIEF HISTORY OF TEA” Roy Moxham (2003) Review | An informative history book around tea

★★★★☆ An informative history book around tea - which obviously focuses heavily on Britain, China and India. It is a nasty colonial history that we must not forget.

🔽 log 🔽
A BRIEF HISTORY OF TEA: 
Addiction Exploitation and Empire (Brief Histories)
Roy Moxham 2003
258 pages
Read in 2020.08

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽

Very informative, it calls itself "brief" because it's the name of this series but it's not that brief, don't take it lightly.

A history book around tea - which obviously focuses heavily on Britain, China and India.
How British spoiled and destroyed the moral of China, with the famous final blow with the Opium War, and how they took advantage of India completely and systematically, simply for the benefit of British. 
It is a nasty colonial history that we must not forget, that Britain today is based on. 

Almost the same fate as chocolate, it's originally outside the European vicinity, so they decided to move to Africa which is close enough for easy trade and of course the cheap labour.
Cheap tea is made closer to to Europe, in Kenya today.

🔽 Where to buy / Summary and more info 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

A Brief History of Tea

●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
A Brief History of Tea

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●
A Brief History of Tea: Addiction, Exploitation, and Empire (English)

2026-02-28

『(茶の歴史)』ロイ・モクサム, 2003年感想 | 情報の詰まった茶の歴史本

★★★★☆ 茶の歴史、ということで地域としてはもちろん英国、中国、インドを中心とした歴史の本で、つまりは英国がいかにシステマティックに中国のモラルを破壊し、インドを陥れたか。

🔽 基本情報 🔽
(茶の歴史 
中毒と搾取と帝国)
ロイ・モクサム 2003
A BRIEF HISTORY OF TEA: 
Addiction Exploitation and Empire (Brief Histories)
Roy Moxham 2003
2020.08 読了

🔽🔽 読書記録 🔽🔽

Brief、簡潔なという名のシリーズだけれどかなりの情報量でさらっと読むものではない。

茶の歴史、ということで地域としてはもちろん英国、中国、インドを中心とした歴史の本で、つまりは英国がいかにシステマティックに中国のモラルを破壊し、インドを陥れたか。
お茶が好きな誰もが忘れてはいけない植民地主義の歴史。

現在はヨーロッパにもっと近いアフリカのケニアで安価な茶葉が作られる。
同じような運命をたどったのはチョコレートで、同じくアフリカでかなり安く作られる。
砂糖もそう、嗜好品の歴史はどれも苦い。

🔽 関連ページ 🔽
English review
"A BRIEF HISTORY OF TEA" Roy Moxham (2003) Review | An informative history book around tea
tag ; 食文化　植民地主義

🔽 買えるところ / あらすじ、詳細 🔽

●●● アマゾン ●●●

A Brief History of Tea: Addiction, Exploitation, and Empire (Brief Histories)

●●● 楽天 ●●●
ーー

2026-02-28

“Hotarugawa, Doro no Kawa” Teru Miyamoto (1977) Review | To live in post war Japan

★★★★☆  What is means to live in the post war Japan, to live at the bottom of the society, and to be awaken to the bitter sweet but honest self discovery. It's a layer of emotions, that blossoms in the end with fireflies.

🔽 log 🔽
Hotarugawa, Doro no Kawa
Teru Miyamoto
208 pages
Read 2025 .01
(Not Published in English)


🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
Short stories, Doro no Kawa "muddy river" won Dazai Osamu Award and Hotarugawa "River with fireflies" won Akutagawa Award.
Doro no Kawa tells a story of post war Osaka. A boy from a modest family befriends with a family one summer; a girl, her younger brother and her mother who is a prostitute, who live on a boat floating on the muddy river. 
What is means to live at the bottom of the society during the post war, where everyone was poor, and a delicate momories of growing up. It's so calm and subtly unforgettable.

Hotarugawa is about an adolescence. The protagonist is already big enough to know love. 
His detest towards his old father whose business got busted, and his frustration towards the fact that his best friend fell in love with the same girl he loved - the messed up adolescence, the tangled up layers of emotions that everyone experience, but one day, your life will flourish, the cloud of the post war will clear. 

what is amazing is the description of the scenes the characters are watching, you experience the post war Japan together, and in a weird way you feel nostalgic of the past you didn't experience.

🔽 Where to buy 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●
螢川 (角川文庫) Paperback Bunko

Amazon.co.uk (UK)
蛍川・泥の河 (新潮文庫) Paperback Bunko 

Amazon.it (Italy)
螢川 (角川文庫) Paperback Bunko

2026-02-27

“On Anarchism” Noam Chomsky (2013) Review | Power of collective actions

★★★★☆ What's important is what works for the large population, rather than only clinging to an idea. And the collective power can bring a bright future.

🔽 log 🔽
On Anarchism
Noam Chomsky, 2013
128 pages
Read in 2020.07

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽

To think it was published in Obama era, that was actually a good old time, even though people did have different political ideas.
With Trump it's way beyond just a difference in political ideology, what he promotes is selfishness. (*I read it in his first administration)

Chomsky believes in the ideology but he is also a practical man, what's important is what works for the large population, rather than only clinging to an idea.
And the collective power can bring a bright future.

It is a difficult book to read for someone who never really studied about the various political thoughts.
Had to skip good chunk of Spanish civil war bits simply because I had zero knowledge!

🔽 Where to buy / Summary and more info 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

On Anarchism

●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
On Anarchism

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●
--

2026-02-27

『アナーキズムについて』ノーム・チョムスキー, 2013年感想 | 大衆のパワーは明るい未来へと導く

★★★★☆ 大衆にとって良いことは、イデオロギーにしがみつくことか。いや、ごく一部のエリートを投げ倒すことのできる大衆のパワーは私たちを明るい未来へと導く。

🔽 基本情報 🔽
(アナーキズムについて)
ノーム・チョムスキー, 2013
On Anarchism
Noam Chomsky
128 ページ
2020.07 読了
日本未出版

🔽🔽 読書記録 🔽🔽

オバマ政権時代に出版された本、当時は確かに政治的アイデアの違い、イデオロギーの違い、だった。
でもトランプ政権の時代のアメリカは、ただの政治の違いではなく、いかに数人の金持ちがより金持ちになるかという、わがままの販促のためのゲーム。

チョムスキーはイデオロギーを信用しているけれど、それよりも実際的であるものに重点を置いているように思える。
大衆にとって良いことは、イデオロギーにしがみつくことか。
いや、エリートを投げ倒すことのできる大衆のパワーは私たちを明るい未来へと導く。

それにしても、政治学に詳しくない私にはかなり難しい本だった。
スペイン内戦に詳しくないのでそこはさらっと読むしかなかったし、まだまだまーだ、知らないことや学ぶことが山積み。

🔽 関連ページ 🔽
English review
"On Anarchism" Noam Chomsky (2013) Review | Power of collective actions
tag ;

🔽 買えるところ / あらすじ、詳細 🔽

●●● アマゾン ●●●

On Anarchism (Penguin Special) (English Edition)

●●● 楽天 ●●●
On Anarchism【電子書籍】[ Noam Chomsky ]
価格：970円 (2026/2/25時点)

2026-02-27

『くっすん大黒』町田康, 1997年感想 | パンクなんです

★★★★☆ 普通の人の普通の日々、と思ってたらちょっとずつずれていって、かなりロックなのかパンクなのか、とにかく突っ走ってる。笑いと恐怖は常に紙一重。パンクなんですね。

🔽 基本情報 🔽
くっすん大黒
町田康, 1997
192 ページ
2020.09 読了

🔽🔽 読書記録 🔽🔽

不思議な短編二本。
日常の異空間。
普通の人の普通の日々、と思っていたらちょっとずつずれていって、かなりロックなのかパンクなのか、とにかく突っ走ってる。

で、後書きを読んでみると、なるほどパンク歌手という肩書きなんですね。
笑いと恐怖は常に紙一重。
そう、笑っていいのかわからないチャアミイや、二本目の「河原のアバラ」の遺骨の件で会う人など、面白いんだけどヤバい。
ヤバいけど笑える。

パンクなんですね。

🔽 買えるところ / あらすじ、詳細 🔽

●●● アマゾン ●●●

くっすん大黒 (文春文庫 ま 15-1)

●●● 楽天 ●●●
くっすん大黒 （文春文庫） [ 町田 康 ]
価格：627円（税込、送料無料) (2026/2/25時点)

2026-02-27

『暮らしの図鑑お茶の時間』暮らしの図鑑編集部, 2019年感想 | おしゃれな感じに

★★★★☆ おしゃれな感じが好きな人向けに広く浅く分かるお茶の本。そういえばあれって、という時に簡単に手にとって調べたり。

🔽 基本情報 🔽
暮らしの図鑑 お茶の時間
楽しむ工夫×世界のお茶100×基礎知識
暮らしの図鑑編集部, 2019
224 ページ
2020.08 読了

🔽🔽 読書記録 🔽🔽

広く浅く分かるお茶の本。
そういえばあれって、という時に簡単に手にとって調べたり。
図鑑なので内容的には色んなお茶を美味しく飲む方法が書いてある。

おしゃれな感じが好きな人向けで、マニアを踏み入れてる私のような人には深さがなくて物足りないかもしれないけれど、そういうものとして見て楽しむべき、という前提で。

🔽 関連ページ 🔽

tag ; 茶

🔽 買えるところ / あらすじ、詳細 🔽

●●● アマゾン ●●●

暮らしの図鑑 お茶の時間 楽しむ工夫×世界のお茶100×基礎知識

●●● 楽天 ●●●
暮らしの図鑑 お茶の時間 楽しむ工夫×世界のお茶100×基礎知識 [ 暮らしの図鑑編集部 ]
価格：1,980円（税込、送料無料) (2026/2/24時点)

2026-02-26

“Gabriel’s Gift” Hanif Kureishi (2001) Review | Rock and London

★★★☆☆ A little book about boyhood, growing up, London and rock'n'roll.

🔽 log 🔽
Gabriel's Gift
Hanif Kureishi, 2001
196 pages
Read in 2020.06

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽

A little book about boyhood, growing up, London and rock'n'roll.

I wanted the brilliantness of My Beautiful Laundrette, but here there's only the ode to pop culture and music.

It's a fairytale, of a modern and urban, specifically London, family life seen from a boy's perspective whose parents were living rocknroll lives knowing rocknroll people back then. 
Which, in itself perfectly likeable if you are into it, just that I'm not familiar with that vibe.

🔽 Where to buy / Summary and more info 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

Gabriel's Gift

●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
Gabriel's Gift

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●
Il dono di Gabriel (italiano)

2026-02-26

“Killing floor” Lee Child (1997) Review | Jack Reacher series
```
★★★★☆ Jack Reacher series. Explosion of adrenalin. Murder, violence, good women, all the cool elements but not much story, but maybe that's not what's expected in the "hard boiled" - it's an action movie in a book.
```
🔽 log 🔽
Killing Floor
Lee Child, 1997
525 pages
Read in 2025.02

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
The first book of Jack Reacher.
It was recommended by someone ages ago, and didn’t realise it was that Reacher.
I think it’s better in movies/TV, it’s got actions, excitement and adrenaline.

Killing and violence and good looking women. But not much story, not much tangling up of people’s melodrama, that I always seek and love.
The only interesting character was Finlay, the chief detective who actually had a story to tell.

Good ol’ hard boiled action thriller, that rightly Tom Cruise played.
It’s not that it’s not good, it’s just not my type, but maybe it gets better as it develops.
```
🔽 Where to buy 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

Killing Floor (Jack Reacher) Mass Market Paperback
```
```
Amazon.co.uk (UK)

Killing Floor: The first Jack Reacher novel in the No.1 Sunday Times bestselling thriller series (Jack Reacher, 1) Paperback

Amazon.it (Italy)

Killing Floor: 1 Mass Market Paperback


Zona pericolosa Paperback – Big Book
```
2026-02-26
“The Dream-Pedlars Parade” Mark Bowsher (2025) Review | Darker sequel
```
★★★★★ Second Myrthali book. The first was more physically challenging and about finding his stronger self, and the second is more about doubting, the scenes are darker.
```
🔽 log 🔽
The Dream-Pedlars Parade
Mark Bowsher, 2025
594 pages
Read 2025.04

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
Second Myrthali book.
The first was great, and this second one is even better.
As it was suggested, this is certainly darker, and it makes sense as Krish has grown up since his first adventure.
The first was more physically challenging and about finding his stronger self, and the second is more about doubting, the scenes are darker (also literally, it’s the endless nighttime) and the protagonist more mature.
Must say, I simply love that his partner came back!

I love the fact that the story background subtly challenges the “typicalness” – his own race (though importantly, this is not a story of “a journey of an Indian boy” it is a “journey of a boy who wants to save his mother”) or that disability of some characters are clearly stated, and it quietly challenges the gender stereotype, as well as other stereotypes like age or ability, without making it about it.

It’s full of imagination, I’d say more than the book 1, it is rather long-ish being over 500 pages, but doesn’t feel like it, it’s full of thoughts and actions… and well, we’ll all have to wait for the book 3!
```
🔽 Where to buy 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

The Dream-Pedlars' Parade: Book 2 in the exhilarating Myrthali series
```
```
●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●

The Dream-Pedlars' Parade: Book 2 in the exhilarating Myrthali series

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●

The Dream-Pedlars' Parade: Book 2 in the exhilarating Myrthali series
```
2026-02-26

“The Wisdom of Psychopaths” Kevin Dutton (2012) Review | Attractive and decisive

★★★★☆ Attractive and decisive. If you add violence they become a criminal, if they can control it they become socially successful people. And yes, you can create a psychopath.

🔽 log 🔽
The Wisdom of Psychopaths
What saints, spies, and serial killers can teach us about success 
Kevin Dutton, 2012
Read 2025.02


🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
The book is not about how Psychopaths are psycho and dangerous and crazy. It's more about how these psychopaths are among us, and usually as our leaders.

Decisive, attractive, focused, adventurous, and doesn't care about other people's opinions.
If some kind of violence is added to the character, they become criminals, but if they can control that themselves, they become socially successful.
For example, they can be those people who can easily fire their employees because they simply focus on the company's profit.

The book talks about nervous system, and that if you can manage to give the right nudge, the person could be a psychopath temporarily.
Yes, that you can make psychopaths.

Another interesting point is that a saint "as an occupation" is suitable for a psychopath. Yeah maybe it makes sense that those who have been enlightened have the same characteristics as psychopaths.
They can focus "now" and "here", without meditation or trainings.

So psychopaths are not always "bad" for the society.
The problem comes when these clever folks decide to abuse their ability.
It's not that this book is teaching us how to be psychopaths, but rather if you could think like psychopaths, you could be socially successful. Not sure if I'd like to though.

🔽 Where to buy 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success Paperback

Amazon.co.uk (UK)

The Wisdom of Psychopaths Paperback

Amazon.it (Italy)

The Wisdom of Psychopaths Paperback

2026-02-26

“Mary Seacole” Ron Ramdin (2005) Review | Determination to help her “sons”

★★★★★ Jamaican British nurse whom British and Nightingale rejected for being non-White, but she pushed her way through serve her mother country in Crimea regardless and was loved.

🔽 log 🔽
Mary Seacole
Ron Ramdin, 2005
190 pages
Read in 2020.07

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽

Biography of a Jamaican British nurse who pushed her way through to Crimea to serve her mother country.

Contemporary to Florence Nightingale, Seacole chose to be closer to the battlefield, not only financially funded her way through to the battlefield, she established a sort of restaurant business to support herself while working as a nurse.

Why did she have to make her money to help the wounded British soldiers? 
Because the British government and Nightingale rejected her, precisely for being non-White.

It's a revelation of the dark side of Nightingale, as well as the determination of the mixed race woman, who paid little attention to the colour of her skin but more to serve the Britain and her dying and wounded "sons" (she called soldiers sons). 

But Britain did not show the gratitude she well deserved. 
As it's been said many times elsewhere, it's not correct to refer to her as "a black Nightingale", they were very different and the impression we get today from the record is, a very strict Nightingale didn't appreciate Seacole much who gave not only care to the wounded but also joy.

🔽 Where to buy / Summary and more info 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

Mary Seacole

●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
Mary Seacole (Life & Times)

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●
Mary Seacole (English)

2026-02-25

『猛スピードで母は』長嶋有, 2005年感想 | 強さと弱さのリアルな日常

★★★★☆ ドラマチックではないし、ふんわり系でもなく、リアルな日常と人には伝えにくい心情の動きや行動がそこにはある。

🔽 基本情報 🔽
猛スピードで母は
長嶋有, 2005
110 ページ
2020.07 読了

🔽🔽 読書記録 🔽🔽

二本の短編。
ふんわり系と思っていたら、違う。
最初のストーリーには、少女の目線からの親の離婚とその愛人のことが、
もう一つには少年から見たシングルマザー母のことが。
ドラマチックではないし、ふんわり系でもなく、リアルな日常と人には伝えにくい心情の動きや行動がそこにはある。

初めての作家で女性かと思ったら男性だった。
なのに女の子の心の動きや強い女性のちらりと見せる弱さの背景の動きなどが心地よい。

🔽 買えるところ / あらすじ、詳細 🔽

●●● アマゾン ●●●

猛スピードで母は (文春文庫)

●●● 楽天 ●●●
猛スピードで母は　【電子書籍】[ 長嶋　有 ]
価格：448円 (2026/2/24時点)

2026-02-25

“A Pale View of Hills” Kazuo Ishiguro (1982) Review | slight malice of “normal” kind people
```
★★★★★  Ishiguro's stories always have some subtle sarcasm and slight malice of seemingly "normal" kind people. Here you get some madness. It's quiet but it squeezes out our bad intentions we'd like to hide.
```
🔽 log 🔽
A Pale View of Hills
Kazuo Ishiguro, 1982
183 pages
Read in 2025.02

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
His debut novel. Actually they just released a Japanese film based on this book as I write this post.

As always his books are both so Japanese and so English at the same time and there is nobody else in the world who can write with this mixed sentiment.
His stories are always slightly twisted with a hint of evil of ordinary people.
Here there’s a small madness of Sachiko and her daughter always hanging in the air, while everyone else is perfectly polite, but all slightly selfish. Brilliant, I mean that’s how we all are, aren’t we.
The struggle of loss and the post war, past and present. Women with regrets. Women trying to close their past, Etsuko trying to come to terms with her past.

True, like Etsuko the narrator says, memories are not reliable. Her memories are vague, for her sanity, to comfort herself. And what is wrong with that, she hurt herself enough, she struggled enough.

A book by Ishiguro, always a pleasure to read. They are quiet, but they squeeze out who we are deeply inside.
```
🔽 Where to buy / Summary and info 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

A Pale View of Hills Paperback
```
```
Amazon.co.uk (UK)
A Pale View of Hills: Kazuo Ishiguro Paperback

Amazon.it (Italy)
Pale View of Hills Paperback - English


Un pallido orizzonte di colline Paperback
```
2026-02-25

“Nanisama” Ryo Asai (2012) Review | Unintentionally funny

★★★★☆ It's a collection of short stories of regular people in Japan, you know one or two of these people. So diligent, awkward and unintentionally funny. I should have read the previous book in the series though

🔽 log 🔽
Nanisama 
Ryo Asai, 2012 
何様
朝井リョウ
Read 2025 .03
Not available in English


🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
My first time reading Ryo Asai.
6 short stories, but who know there was a book before this in the series, called Nanimono.
Both titles meaning something along the line with "who do you think you are"

It's mainly about job hunting, and in Japan they still mass recruit college students in their last year, so that if they successfully graduate, they can work directly from April of the year (if you don't get expected grades, they can cancel their offer)
In winter, you see all the 21, 22 year olds going around Japanese cities in their "recruitment suits" with the same hairstyles, same bags, same nervous faces, memorising the perfect answers to what they know their recruiters will ask.
Anyway so the protagonists are at the verge of new challenges; just got recruited, new start at college, instructor of recruitment.
Their struggles are so normal, they are awkward, but aren't we all a bit awkward?
You want to do thing correctly but end up unintentionally funny, loveable ordinary people.

🔽 Where to buy 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

何様 Paperback Bunko Japanese Edition

●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
-

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●
-
Not available but the prequal "Nanimono" is here;
Voglio essere qualcuno

2026-02-25

“Hunted” Abir Mukherjee (2024) Review | Keep reading keep chasing

★★★★☆ It demands you to keep reading. Kids "seeing wrong people" and become extremists. A Muslim dad whose life turned upside down but would still run, to save his daughter. Adrenaline full throttle. A page-turner.

🔽 log 🔽
Hunted
Abir Mukherjee, 2024
468 pages
Read 2025.05


🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
Action movie type of book.
Parents chasing after their each of their kids before police catch them as they're "misled" to join terrorist actions.
Police officer who is also a mother also joins the chase from her own perspective.

Probably the most interesting character is the father, Sajid.
A Muslim dad whose life turned upside down but keeps running for his daughter. 

But I was right to pick this as a partner of the long flight. A page-turner.

🔽 Where to buy 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

Hunted: A Thriller

●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●

Hunted: Discover the new pulse-pounding, twist-packed thriller

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●

Hunted: Discover the new pulse-pounding, twist-packed thriller

2026-02-25

『とりつくしま』東直子, 2011年感想 | ふんわりと包み込む

★★★★☆ ふんわりと包み込むような世界。死んでしまってちょっと後悔はしてる。後悔していいんだよ。大切な人の元に戻って言いたいことがある、うまくは伝えられない。それでもいいんだよ。

🔽 基本情報 🔽
とりつくしま
東直子, 2011年
224 ページ
2020.07 読了

🔽🔽 読書記録 🔽🔽

東直子のふんわりとした包み込むような世界。

とりつく、とはちょっと怖いイメージもあるけど、優しく受け入れるという表現が近いと思うというか、それでいいんだよ、という感じがいい。

死んでしまってちょっと後悔はしてる。
後悔していいんだよ。
大切な人の元に戻って言いたいことがある、うまくは伝えられない。
それでもいいんだよ。

視点が面白くて、死者の世界だから正義とかじゃなくて、ただそこにあるのは、想い。

🔽 買えるところ / あらすじ、詳細 🔽

●●● アマゾン ●●●

とりつくしま (ちくま文庫) 

●●● 楽天 ●●●
とりつくしま （ちくま文庫） [ 東直子 ]
価格：660円（税込、送料無料) (2026/2/24時点)

2026-02-24

『暮らしの哲学やったら楽しい101題』ロジェポルドロワ, 2001年感想 | 全部やってたらおかしくなる

★★★☆☆ ここに書いてあることをやってみて、哲学とは、生とは、みたいなことを体感してみよう的なもの。比較的に簡単にできるのもばかりだけど、全部やってたら絶対に気が狂う。

🔽 基本情報 🔽
暮らしの哲学
やったら楽しい101題
ロジェ＝ポル・ドロワ, 2001
101 Experiences de Philosophie Quatidiene
Roger-Pol Droit
213 ページ
2020.07 読了

🔽🔽 読書記録 🔽🔽

ここに書いてあることをやってみて、哲学とは、生とは、みたいなことを体感してみよう的なもの。

比較的に簡単にできるのもばかりだけど、全部やってたら絶対に気が狂う。
切り落とされた腕や脚が山積みにされた光景を浮かべる、見ず知らずの人に美しいと言う、墓地でジョギングする…確かに書いてあることが理論的にわかるけど、実践はできない、少なくとも私は。

どこかで、この文庫版はかなり内容が削られているとか。

さらっと読めるけど、変なあと味。

🔽 買えるところ / あらすじ、詳細 🔽

●●● アマゾン ●●●
暮らしの哲学: やったら楽しい101題 (ヴィレッジブックス N ト 1-1)

●●● 楽天 ●●●

[商品価格に関しましては、リンクが作成された時点と現時点で情報が変更されている場合がございます。]

【中古】暮らしの哲学やったら楽しい101題ヴィレッジブックス／ロジェ＝ポルドロワ(著者),鈴木邑(編者),長崎訓子
価格：220円（税込、送料別) (2026/2/24時点)

2026-02-24

“Yellowface” Rebecca F Kuang (2023) Review | Facts are not important
```
★★★★★ I knew it was super popular, and I agree, it's an absolute gem. Facts are not important here, just like over here in the society we live in. It's like I'm watching (peeking) something I shouldn't, and addictive, can't stop it. 
```
🔽 log 🔽
Yellowface
Rebecca F Kuang, 2023
319 pages
Read 2025.06

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
I knew it was very popular but I didn’t know anything about the story, and it was not what I expected from the title (not that revealing except it’s to do with Asian) and definitely better than what I expected.
I thought it’d be more simple, more like a story from Athena’s point of view, but no, it’s June’s story, how the white average girl envied the beautiful and talented Asian girl, and went too far and caused such a mess.

It’s exciting, it’s difficult to pigeon hole, and it’s so now, so true and so entertaining.
It’s a story of a bunch of narcissists bitching about everyone else, the facts are no longer important but that’s life and life moves on.

And I know Kuang’s new book, Katabasis, is out, and I have to reduce my tsundoku (tbr) to at least 100 to get even more books… if I can resist.
```
🔽 Where to buy / Summary and more info 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

Yellowface: A Reese's Book Club Pick
```
```
●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
Yellowface: The instant #1 Sunday Times bestseller and Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick from author R.F. Kuang (colour may vary) 

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●

Yellowface - Italiano Mondadori
```
2026-02-24

『(メアリ・シーコール)』ロン・ラムディン, 2005年感想 | クリミア戦線の看護婦

★★★★★ ジャマイカ出身の混血の看護婦。クリミア戦争で肌の色を理由に英国ナイチンゲールに拒否されるも自費で向い戦線で兵士たちの心と身体の傷を癒す。「混血版ナイチンゲール」ではない。彼女はシーコールという一人の独立した英雄である。

🔽 基本情報 🔽
(メアリ・シーコール)
ロン・ラムディン, 2005年
Mary Seacole
Ron Ramdin, 2005
2020.07 読了

🔽🔽 読書記録 🔽🔽

ジャマイカ出身の混血の英国人の看護婦の伝記。
幼少期から医療や看護に携わるも混血であること、女性であることで大きく差別を受ける。
クリミア戦争のとき英国のボランティア看護師を志願するも、白人でないことでフローレンス・ナイチンゲールに拒否される。

それでも自分の経験と知識は役に立つと信じ、自費でクリミアに入り、ナイチンゲールたちが後方の安全なエリアで看護をしている中、戦場にかぎりなく近い場所で看護施設を設ける。
食堂のようなビジネスを立ち上げ資金稼ぎにするという偉業。
戦場で兵士にとってのくつろげる場所を提供し、その売り上げを兵士の身体的な傷を癒す。

拒否られようが差別されようが、とにかく怯まない、自分の能力を最大限に使って人を助けるために生きる、すごい。

英国人、白人である兵士たちを「息子たち」と呼び、彼らからも信頼され愛される存在になる、これはのちに彼女が破産したときに当時の兵士たちが助けたということでも証明されている。

逆に神経質で有名なナイチンゲールの暗い部分を浮かび上がらせる話でもある。
人手が足りないのに人種差別を優先したあとも、戦線で生き生きと兵士たちの心と体の看護に徹したシーコールを、兵士に酒を飲ませた、うるさい、と非難。
そして英国という国もシーコールの偉業を100年近く闇に葬り、ナイチンゲールのみを全面的に「天使」化した。

決して忘れてはいけないのはシーコールは「混血版ナイチンゲール」ではない。
彼女はメアリ・シーコールという一人の独立した英雄である。

🔽 関連ページ 🔽
English review
“Mary Seacole” Ron Ramdin (2005) Review | Determination to help her "sons"

🔽 買えるところ / あらすじ、詳細 🔽

●●● アマゾン ●●●
Mary Seacole (Life & Times) 英語

●●● 楽天 ●●●

2026-02-24

“No one is too small to make a difference” Greta Thunberg (2019) Review | And she made a difference
```
★★★★☆ When written it makes it even clearer that her claims are constant, simple and strong. She did make a difference, and we listen.
```
🔽 log 🔽
No one is too small to make a difference
Greta Thunberg, 2019
68 pages
Read 2024.1

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
A collection of her speeches.
When written it makes it even clearer that her claims are constant, simple and strong.
She did make a difference, more young people are conscious and they’re aware they too have power to change, and also shown the world the power of people with Asperger Syndrome and Autism.
It’s also shown the world there are these people, of the olden times, who think it’s ridiculous to listen to her, and these adults personally bully her, not her claims but her appearance etc – completely off the point.
But her aim is crystal clear and she will continue to fight, whether the old men are scared of her or not.
```
🔽 Where to buy / Summary and more info 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference Paperback
```
```
●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference: Greta Thunberg Paperback

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●

Nessuno è troppo piccolo per fare la differenza (Italiano)
```
2026-02-24
“Tea, the drink that changed the world” John Griffiths (2007) Review | Tea, very close to the hearts and pride of British
```
★★★★☆  A very thorough book, about tea and all about tea. Very British, it's just like how they know how to dissect wine, but tea is a lot closer to their hearts and pride.
```
🔽 log 🔽
Tea, the drink that changed the world
(Tea: A History of the Drink That Changed the World)
John Griffiths, 2007
373 pages
Read 2024.2

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
A very thorough book, about tea and all about tea.
As the author is a British politician as well as a son of a tea garden manager, it’s detailed, and definitely well researched, it goes into a lot of politics and figures, rather than sensibilities of tea as a culture.

It talks about tea by topic per chapter, which somehow made it difficult to read for me but it’s justifiable because it touches a lot of aspects.
Very British, it’s just like how the British know how to dissect wine, but tea is a lot closer to their hearts and pride.
```
🔽 Where to buy 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

Tea: A History of the Drink That Changed the World

●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
Tea: A History of the Drink That Changed the World

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●
-
```
2026-02-23

“(Arrogance and Virtue)” Mizuki Tsujimura (2019) Review | Not so comical “Pride and Prejudice” in Japan

★★★★★ "Pride and Prejudice" in Japan, where the society has a very strict "standard". And you realise you also measure people with those yardsticks. The reality of everyone who has ever been told "you should be married by now"

🔽 log 🔽
Gouman to Zenryou
(Arrogance and Virtue)
Mizuki Tsujimura, 2019
傲慢と善良
辻村深月
Read 2025.7

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
I had never read books by her, but glad I did.

Japan has a very strict "standard".
Be a good boy, a good girl, listen to your parents, don't like, don't stand out.
This is how you get educated since you are little - "when I was young this is how it was, so you should do the same"

It seems to be a modern love story, at least at the beginning, then his fiancée disappears completely.
Slowly we learn about her way of thinking and her past, and I'd dare say any Japanese young people "at the marriageable age" will understand both sides, that THIS is the reality they are forced to live in.

Until our parents' age, it was not unusual to have arranged marriage in Japan, but today they have to go on their "konkatsu" a marriage hunting (rather than a job hunting), using websites, seminars, or apps without help from family or community - what exactly are we looking for in someone you wish to marry?

It might be difficult for people who grew up in the West to completely understand, because they did not receive the similar education when they were 14, or 8 or 5 years old.
Or it might be difficult for people from other Asian countries where arranged marriage might be still normal, because you have a backup from both families.
In Japan, it doesn't belong to either. You cannot stand up for your opinions, or you cannot reply on the safety your family provides.
Konkatsu is a lonely battle.

I can't say much without revealing the plot, but just one thing, no you don't need to give up.

🔽 Where to buy 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

傲慢と善良 Tankobon Hardcover (Japanese)

●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
傲慢と善良 Tankobon Hardcover (Japanese)

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●
傲慢と善良 Tankobon Hardcover (Japanese)

2026-02-23

“The Paying Guests” Sarah Waters (2014) Review | But who manipulates who
```
★★★★★ As expected, it's gripping, exciting, and a great storytelling. The woman who lives quietly with her mother falls with a beautiful young wife of the tenant, they're in love but who manipulates who? 
```
🔽 log 🔽
The Paying Guests
By Sarah Waters, 2014
595ページ
Read 2024.3

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
As expected, it’s gripping, exciting, and a great storytelling.
The story is more straightforward than Fingersmith, but definitely not less curious.
It has all the good female characters.

After the war a woman now lives modestly with her mother, they decide to rent out a room but she falls for the young beautiful wife. And yes it all goes wrong.
They’re in love but who manipulates who? But is it manipulation or true love?
They find a tiny corner in the hostile society where they love blindly.
```
🔽 Where to buy 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

The Paying Guests
```
```
●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
The Paying Guests: shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●

Gli ospiti paganti (Italiano)
```
2026-02-23

“Rethinking Japanese History” Yoshihiko Amino (2005) Review | “Common sense” was wrong

★★★★★ Also in Japan, they teach you that "Japan was always isolated and agriculture was the main industry". This book teaches you instead that how that "common sense" is wrong.

🔽 log 🔽
Rethinking Japanese History
Yoshihiko Amino
日本の歴史をよみなおす(全)
網野善彦 2005 (1991-)
Read 2024.3


🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
I started reading this thinking it's just another history book.
How wrong I was.
This book is actually about how you should forget what they taught you as "common sense"

We have always been taught in Japan that it's made up of islands, thus isolated, and we only focused on agriculture.
But when you stop and think about it, how is it possible that Japan was surrounded by the sea but we only ever made rice and vegetables?
And of course, Japan had culture and technology to go beyond the sea to have trades.
Japanese culture (or cultures, anyway it was only recently united) was complicated, very liberal with sophisticated technologies and commercial power.
Oh yeah.

🔽 Where to buy 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

Rethinking Japanese History (Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies) (Volume 74)

●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
Rethinking Japanese History: Volume 74 (Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies)

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●
Rethinking Japanese History: Volume 74 (Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies) (English)

2026-02-23

“Zen and Japanese culture” Daisetz T. Suzuki (1940) Review | Japanese means zen

★★★★★ A classic book on Japan and Zen. Zen is so ubiquitous in Japan that being Japanese means Zen. It was written for the Western audience so it's explained logically. A real starting point to study Japanese culture.

🔽 log 🔽
Zen and Japanese culture
Daisetsu Suzuki
Daisetz T. Suzuki
禅と日本文化
鈴木大拙
Read 2024.4

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
It was a collection of lectures on zen by Daisetsu Suzuki in 1938, first published in English and in 1940 it was translated to Japanese.
This book remains as a very important source for anyone who's interested in Japan and zen - in a serious way.
Today, "I love Japan" is something I hear so much that it basically has no meaning - unless they can name a few real Japanese things.

Anyway, it might be difficult to read in a sense that it's old, but because it was for the Western audience explanations are logical so in that sense it's easier to understand, even for Japanese today.

It's not an introduction to zen as such, but if you are truly interested in zen and Google search won't help you much, then this is the book to turn to.
When a book on zen is for Japanese audience (and if it's translated to other languages) it tries to make you "read the room" to grasp the idea of zen.
On a separate note. Interestingly, there's an argument (elsewhere, not this book) that because in Japan, zen or Buddhism is indeed in the air, you cannot shut it off so that is why Japanese people don't need to feel strongly about being Buddhist or religious or spiritual it's part of their lives anyway, many Japanese will declare that they are not religious.
However, in places like US, Christianity is not in the air, you must go to the church to feel it, so they feel strongly about being Christian or religious, or not.

Zen is intuitive, it is not something you explain through theories, but with ink painting or haiku, even tea ceremony or garden.
Minimalism and the love of the nature, that spirit is naturally in Japanese arts and lifestyles, therefore being Japanese is being zen.

It's true, I do feel that it's true, I want to it to be forever true, but I am not sure if it continues to be true.

It is the Japan that hundreds of thousands of foreign tourists fantasise, but isn't it the Japan that only exists in our naïve imaginations?
The rapid economical growth of the 90s is in the past, and the people of that generation worked hard to aim for better lives, more luxury, better education for their kids - admittingly something that is far from zen.
Today, young people in Japan do not believe that their lives would get better when they grow up.
Frankly they are not interested. They don't want more stuff, and they don't need more.
So, are we going back to zen?
Does that mean, after all, we come back to the statement that, yes, being Japanese means being zen?

🔽 Where to buy 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

Zen and Japanese Culture (Princeton Classics)

●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
Zen and Japanese Culture (Princeton Classics)

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●

Lo Zen e la cultura giapponese (Italiano)

2026-02-22

『ブッダが教える愉快な生き方』藤田一照, 2019年感想 | 学ぶことは変わること

★★★★☆ 学ぶことは変わること。藤田老師のあの笑顔で優しく、でもきっぱりと語りかけられているかのような一冊。次に『現代坐禅講義』を読むので予習に最適。さっと読めるのに深いです。

🔽 基本情報 🔽
ブッダが教える愉快な生き方
藤田一照, 2019年
111 ページ
2026.02 読了

🔽🔽 読書記録 🔽🔽

学ぶことは変わること、の一言に衝撃を受けた。
小さい「自我」と、大きな根本にある「自己」。

何事も、自分の意思ではないところの大きなものの意思で動くから、しがみついていても仕方がない。
よく聞くことだけれど、でも確かに何度も何度も自分を言い聞かせることで結構効いてくる。
自分の考えや感情は変わるもの、自分は感情のなかに生きているのではない。

そういうことを、ただ単に分かりやすく書いてあるだけでなく、ロジカルな説明で書いてある。
次に同じ著者の有名な『現代坐禅講義』を読む予習としてパーフェクトな一冊。
読みやすいけれど、わかりやすく、深い。
苦しむことを美化しない。

これはやっぱり老師がアメリカで禅を教えていたことに由来すると思うけど、アメリカ人や欧米人は感覚だけでは納得しない。
日本人なら雰囲気でわかるでしょ、ということも、そこを曖昧にするときちんとコミュニケーションが取れない。
藤田老師のあの笑顔で優しく、でもきっぱりと語りかけられているかのような一冊。

🔽 関連ページ 🔽
tag ; 仏教

🔽 買えるところ / あらすじ、詳細 🔽

●●● アマゾン ●●●

NHK出版 学びのきほん ブッダが教える愉快な生き方 (教養・文化シリーズ NHK出版学びのきほん) 

●●● 楽天 ●●●
NHK出版　学びのきほん　ブッダが教える愉快な生き方 （教養・文化シリーズ） [ 藤田 一照 ]
価格：737円（税込、送料無料) (2026/2/19時点)

2026-02-22

『パパは家出中』ハニフ・クレイシ, 2001年感想 | ロンドン、ロックンロール

★★★☆☆ ロンドン、ロックンロール、そこで大人になっていく少年。ロックな両親の元に生まれ、両親のロックな環境で育ち、そういう感じが好きな人はきっと楽しめる一冊。

🔽 基本情報 🔽
パパは家出中
ハニフ・クレイシ, 2001
Gabriel's Gift 
Hanif Kureishi
2020.06 読了

🔽🔽 読書記録 🔽🔽

ロンドン、ロックンロール、そしてそこで大人になっていく少年。

『マイ・ビューティフル・ランドレット』の脚本家なのであの素敵な青春を予想していたけれど、ここはほぼ純粋にロック音楽への賛歌。

ロックな両親の元に生まれ、両親のロックな環境で育ち、でも小さいときに双子の兄弟を失った主人公。
そういう特殊な子供時代を少年の目で見つめる、という感じで、そういう感じが好きな人はきっと楽しめる一冊、ただ私はその辺については鈍い。

🔽 関連ページ 🔽
English review
“Gabriel’s Gift” Hanif Kureishi (2001) Review | Rock and London
tag ; 音楽　ロンドン

🔽 買えるところ / あらすじ、詳細 🔽

●●● アマゾン ●●●

パパは家出中

●●● 楽天 ●●●
ーー

2026-02-22

“Beauty is a wound” Eka Kurniawan (2002) Review | Mix of history, religions, power, and abuse
```
★★★★★ The mixture of history and race, religions and politics and power, and abuse of all above. A great storytelling, of drama of strong beautiful women who are, as it always happens, cursed by their men. Yes, an epic.
```
🔽 log 🔽
Beauty is a wound
Cantik Itu Luka
Eka Kurniawan, 2002
480 pages
Read 2024.4

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
It IS a book full of violence, love and curse of the beauty.
A great storytelling, of drama, an epic, of strong beautiful women who are, as it always happens, cursed by their men.

One day the town’s dead prostitute comes back to life see her daughters.
She cannot leave this life until she sees them, especially the ugly one, who is leading a happy life, because the outer beauty is nothing but a wound, wound that cannot be healed.

Survived the colonial past and the invasions, their story and history are so unique that this book could have only emerged from Indonesia.
The mixture of history and race, religions and politics and power, and abuse of all above. Full of stories, and yes, an epic.
```
🔽 Where to buy 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

Beauty Is a Wound
```
●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
Beauty is a Wound (Pushkin Press Classics)

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●

La bellezza è una ferita (Italiano)
2026-02-22

“Power Systems” Noam Chomsky (2013) Review | Power is systematic

★★★★★ Power is systematic. We live in a society that's governed by selfish people. But, we have democracy, it's a system that's made by us, for us and we can and should use it effectively.

🔽 log 🔽
Power Systems
Conversations with David Barsamian on Global Democratic Uprisings and the New Challenges to U.S. Empire Empire.
Noam Chomsky, 2013
178 pages
Read 2024.4


🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
A collection of conversations from 2010 to 2012.
So some things are old, like the use of the Internet has changed completely, the US president has changed twice since, but fundamentally not much changed, we're stil living in the same era.

It's a lot about American politics that I wouldn't pretend to understand but his position is constant. 
He is empathetic to the others. He is very much against anything and anyone selfish, and the fact is we are ruled by these selfish groups of people. 

He still spoke of hope, that a government is owned by the people and we should recognise it and use it. 

But 10 years on, did things get better? No.
What we can do, or what we can hope for, is even more limited.

🔽 Where to buy 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

Power Systems: Conversations on Global Democratic Uprisings and the New Challenges to U.S. Empire (American Empire Project)

●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
Power Systems: Conversations on Global Democratic Uprisings and the New Challenges to U.S. Empire

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●
Power Systems: Conversations with David Barsamian on Global Democratic Uprisings and the New Challenges to U.S. Empire (English)

2026-02-22

“The Talented Mr. Ripley” Patricia Highsmith (1955) Review | Cold and nervous

★★★★★ We've all watched or heard of the movie. I watched it, but it still got me. He's cold and nervous, and on the contrary the Italian sky is so blue and open.

🔽 log 🔽
The Talented Mr. Ripley 
Patricia Highsmith, 1955
252 pages
Read 2024.4


🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
The famous Mr. Ripley.
As expected it's a great story, which of course I already knew, but I didn't know it was written by a woman, the same writer as Carol, and it was a series. 
It focuses a lot on what's on his mind, how he's cold and nervous, contrary to the blue sky of Italy. 
Japanese title is "Full of the sun", this alone doesn't make sense, but you get the idea behind it once you finish reading the book. 
The sun was so bright, too bright.

There is a remake on Netflix (yet again!) that I should watch too, it's a story that can be told again and again.

🔽 Where to buy 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

The Talented Mr. Ripley

●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
The Talented Mr Ripley: Patricia Highsmith: 1 (A Ripley Novel) 

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●

Il talento di Mr. Ripley

2026-02-22

“Demian” Hermann Hesse, (1919) Review | Growing up, so universal

★★★★★ Boyhood and growing up, away from the safety of parents' arms and the light, and eventually he becomes a man. It's short but goes deep into the self awareness of the boy, so it's universal, that should be read especially by young people.

🔽 log 🔽
Demian
Hermann Hesse, 1919
135 pages
Read 2024.4


🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
It's a story about boyhood and growing up, away from the safety of parents' arms and the light, and through discovering evil - and eventually he becomes a man.

It starts with realistic touch and ends with the ultimate reality, the war, but by then Sinclair has discovered himself through friendship with Demian, his influences and departing from these influences, and a bit of magical experiences. 

The world was clear for him, like it was clear for all of us when we were small, divided into good and evil. 
But he discovers that the world is both, and there's a meaning for you to be there...
It's short but goes deep into the self awareness of the boy, it's been over 100 years since it's published but still loved, so it's universal.

🔽 Where to buy 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth (Penguin Classics)

●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth (Penguin Classics)

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●

HESSE - DEMIAN - HESSE - DEMIA

2026-02-21

“Spectacles a memoir” Sue Perkins (2015) Review | My fave TV personality
```
★★★★☆ My favourite TV person in UK, definitely the best in BBC. The book is full of love that she is full of love, though she would not say it. 
```
🔽 log 🔽
Spectacles a memoir
By Sue Perkins, 2015
377 pages
Read 2024.4

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
I even went to an event about this book at South Bank and queued to get it signed, and only reading it now.
Maybe one of the few of my favourite people on British TV, one of the few gems of BBC. She’s funny, clever but silly, honest, uncomfortable, a bit reckless but mostly humane. A lovely human being.
Who didn’t love her on GBBO, the Bake off?

And you get all that in the book, it’s full of love that she is full of love, though she would not say it.
And what surprised me is she’s older than I thought, but was still doing all that crazy stuff.
```
🔽 Where to buy 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

Spectacles

●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
Spectacles: Sue Perkins

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●
Spectacles: Sue Perkins
```
2026-02-21