A Single Rose
Registered by SqNutZips of Silver Spring, Maryland USA on 3/21/2023
This book is in a Controlled Release!
2 journalers for this copy...
This book is by the author of "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" which I have on my TBR pile.
This book is one of several books I purchased last week from one of my favorite indie bookstores, Politics & Prose in Washington DC. I got this book for the around the world, 6 continents, 6 counties /continent book challenge. This book is set in Japan.
It is currnetly cherry blossom season (early) here in Washington DC. The cover art attracted my attention. The simple art, the pink and hotpink cover showing a spare black branch with several tiny white cherry blossoms attracted my attention.
This book is one of several books I purchased last week from one of my favorite indie bookstores, Politics & Prose in Washington DC. I got this book for the around the world, 6 continents, 6 counties /continent book challenge. This book is set in Japan.
It is currnetly cherry blossom season (early) here in Washington DC. The cover art attracted my attention. The simple art, the pink and hotpink cover showing a spare black branch with several tiny white cherry blossoms attracted my attention.
A story about a woman who is called to Japan for the reading of a will of a father she has never known. Beautiful descriptions of traditional Japanese architecture, Zen gardens, Buddist temples, food, drink and culture.
I am releasing this book to fellow BC'er and friend 6of8. We R both particpating in a BC reading challenge, where U read books from the six continents, six books from 6 different countries/continent. This book is set in Japan for Asia.
Thanks Zippy! I am excited to add this to the shelf and have a less grim book for Japan (the one I was considering is about a very violent murder of a child). Besides, I can count it for my Author With Same Name as a Grandparent goal because my dad's mother was Muriel.
This book was selected because it allowed me to cross off two items -- Japan for the 666 Challenge and Author with the Same Name as a Grandparent for Stina's 2023 Challenge (my father's mother was Muriel). It was lent me by a friend who spoke highly of it. And it was short.
I cannot summarize this book in any satisfactory way -- I cannot even manage to think or feel about it privately in a way that can be captured. Rose comes to Kyoto for the reading of her father's will -- a father she has never known, a country she has never been to, a language she does not speak, and a culture she struggles to comprehend. During the days before the meeting with the lawyer, per her father's instructions, she is taken on a succession of days to the various temples of Kyoto. In each one she is changed bit by broken bit into something greater than she had been. The style of writing in this book -- and of the translation to English -- has the same rhythm of a Zen garden, the same sense of removal from reality, the same sense of perspective from a distance. I never once felt a connection to any of the characters, yet I felt that they spoke to me in a way deeper than I could comprehend. In many ways I am reminded of a silent animated film consisting of serene images drawn on rice paper with a brush and ink and fading from scene to scene. I feel as though I want to save this book and reread it at intervals in my life to find the true heart of it, like a Zen koan.
There were many evocative images and concepts in the book. I have noted 3 brief passages that spoke to me most strongly. -- Many people give in order to receive, out of a sense of duty, or because it’s the done thing, a sort of automatic reflex. -- Even at the heart of the sublime, you’re in the company of the child you used to be. -- "In the end we all die, yes," said Beth, "so we might as well let life improvise the music we play."
I cannot summarize this book in any satisfactory way -- I cannot even manage to think or feel about it privately in a way that can be captured. Rose comes to Kyoto for the reading of her father's will -- a father she has never known, a country she has never been to, a language she does not speak, and a culture she struggles to comprehend. During the days before the meeting with the lawyer, per her father's instructions, she is taken on a succession of days to the various temples of Kyoto. In each one she is changed bit by broken bit into something greater than she had been. The style of writing in this book -- and of the translation to English -- has the same rhythm of a Zen garden, the same sense of removal from reality, the same sense of perspective from a distance. I never once felt a connection to any of the characters, yet I felt that they spoke to me in a way deeper than I could comprehend. In many ways I am reminded of a silent animated film consisting of serene images drawn on rice paper with a brush and ink and fading from scene to scene. I feel as though I want to save this book and reread it at intervals in my life to find the true heart of it, like a Zen koan.
There were many evocative images and concepts in the book. I have noted 3 brief passages that spoke to me most strongly. -- Many people give in order to receive, out of a sense of duty, or because it’s the done thing, a sort of automatic reflex. -- Even at the heart of the sublime, you’re in the company of the child you used to be. -- "In the end we all die, yes," said Beth, "so we might as well let life improvise the music we play."
Journal Entry 6 by 6of8 at -- Mail or by hand-rings, RABCK, meetings, etc, Virginia USA on Saturday, June 17, 2023
Released 10 mos ago (6/18/2023 UTC) at -- Mail or by hand-rings, RABCK, meetings, etc, Virginia USA
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Taking the opportunity to return this book to Zippy at BCinDC's meet-up.
Any future reader or recipient of this book is encouraged to leave a journal entry here on the BookCrossing site to let prior readers know the fate of the book. You can make an anonymous entry without joining the BookCrossing movement, but if you are interested in joining, it is a free and spam-free community where your contact information is not shared with others. Best of all, members receive private messages via e-mail from books like this one when those books are journaled, allowing for long-term relationships between books and readers.
Any future reader or recipient of this book is encouraged to leave a journal entry here on the BookCrossing site to let prior readers know the fate of the book. You can make an anonymous entry without joining the BookCrossing movement, but if you are interested in joining, it is a free and spam-free community where your contact information is not shared with others. Best of all, members receive private messages via e-mail from books like this one when those books are journaled, allowing for long-term relationships between books and readers.
Thank U 6o8 for returning this book. Glad U enjoyed it.
Releasing this book to friend & fellow BC'er 6of8 to hopefully travel to NZ to be released there if space in suitcase permits.
To the person who finds this book.....
Keep it or release it, read it or not, but please make a journal entry to let me know it's been found. Keep it, pass it on to a friend or release it into the wild.... let the journey continue.....
If you are new to BookCrossing, welcome! You can remain anonymous or join BookCrossing, it's free, spam free and advertisement free and loads of fun.
By joining BookCrossing you can keep track of where the book has been and where it's going.
To the person who finds this book.....
Keep it or release it, read it or not, but please make a journal entry to let me know it's been found. Keep it, pass it on to a friend or release it into the wild.... let the journey continue.....
If you are new to BookCrossing, welcome! You can remain anonymous or join BookCrossing, it's free, spam free and advertisement free and loads of fun.
By joining BookCrossing you can keep track of where the book has been and where it's going.
Zippy passed this book back to me as a possible tag-along on my trip to Australia and NZ. I spoke by videocall to my sister-in-law and brother and they were saying I should bring more clothes and fewer books (I'm not sure why they think I might get the balance wrong, lol). I think my sister-in-law -- who burns through books pretty quickly -- would actually enjoy reading this book and can probably get it done during the time I am in Sydney so that I can also take it to the Uncon in Waiheke NZ.
Journal Entry 10 by 6of8 at Waiheke Island, Auckland Province New Zealand on Friday, October 13, 2023
Released 6 mos ago (10/13/2023 UTC) at Waiheke Island, Auckland Province New Zealand
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Taking the opportunity to share this book while attending the Waiheke Island Uncon. I brought it fir Meganh but she has read one for Japan since I left home. It went to kiwiinengland instead; she is the organizer of the 666 Challenge
Any future reader or recipient of this book is encouraged to leave a journal entry here on the BookCrossing site to let prior readers know the fate of the book. You can make an anonymous entry without joining the BookCrossing movement, but if you are interested in joining, it is a free and spam-free community where your contact information is not shared with others. Best of all, members receive private messages via e-mail from books like this one when those books are journaled, allowing for long-term relationships between books and readers.
Any future reader or recipient of this book is encouraged to leave a journal entry here on the BookCrossing site to let prior readers know the fate of the book. You can make an anonymous entry without joining the BookCrossing movement, but if you are interested in joining, it is a free and spam-free community where your contact information is not shared with others. Best of all, members receive private messages via e-mail from books like this one when those books are journaled, allowing for long-term relationships between books and readers.