It was as if, without realizing it, I had opened a door I had never known existed. That's exactly what it felt like.
From that moment on, I read relentlessly, one book after another. It was as if a love of reading had been sleeping somewhere deep inside me all this time, and then it suddenly sprang to life.
Hello book lovers! It's me your ridgette again and for today, allow me to relapse a little haha. Looking back I can't remember a time when I hated books because I always have loved them. The moment I learned how to read, my love for them increased more and at some point, it even became an obsession. There were nights when I forgot to sleep because of my eagerness to finish a book, especially when it's a series. Every story became a new world for me—a world where I could immerse myself. Books became my haven and later on, my escape as my life became tougher.
Also, the smell of books was just something else and since I had a lot of memories about them, I really felt nostalgic everytime I smelled its musty scent. So when I encountered this book recommendation in one of my social media accounts—the word bookshop immediately piqued my interest, and that became my cue to look for a physical copy of it online. And now, I finally received and finished reading it, so join me for a while as I share with you a portion of Takako's life as she resides inside one of Jimbocho's secondhand bookshops: Morisaki Bookshop.
About the Book
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop is a debut novel written by Satoshi Yagisawa, and it was originally published in 2009. The version I'm reading is already translated from the original Japanese novel by Eric Ozawa. Despite being his first novel, it won the Chiyoda Literature Prize, and after reading its entirety—it was no surprise that it did. So to give you a gist of what's this novel all about, it's basically like a love letter to all books out there—an appreciation of the pleasures you get from them. The way Satoshi-sensei describes the feeling of reading a new book, discovering new genres and exploring the works of different authors was really relatable.
Its story was shared from Takako's point of view—a twenty-five-year-old woman who was never good at expressing her feelings. She'd been living adequately for the past 25 years, however despite that lifestyle she still was able to find a boyfriend, which was quite a miracle for her. He was her ideal man and she never once considered the possibility that he was with anyone else—and that she was only his second option. So when the bomb of truth was dropped, Takako was wrecked beyond repair. She cried and cried and cried for days and weeks. Even in the middle of her working hours, tears just keep on coming until she can't endure it anymore.
She reached her limit both physically and emotionally so she quit her job—and all at once she lost both her douche boyfriend and precious job. She was still moping when a voicemail reached her—an invitation from her Uncle Satoru. At first, she's against the idea of staying with him because she finds her uncle quite peculiar, however in the end he was still able to convince her. So when summer began she started living at the Morisaki Bookshop and there she spent that period of her life on the second floor, along with the towering stacks of books. But little did she know, that's where her real life would start because if it wasn't for those days at the Morisaki Bookshop the rest of her life would have been bland and lonely.
Reading it was like a breath of fresh air to me because the way the author portrayed Takako was so casual and relatable. He didn't use fancy words to make the story nicer to read, rather he used its simplicity to make the story more interesting to read. I admit that I'm kinda fond of fancy words because I always look forward to learning new words, but here its story made me forget the hunt for fancy words. Unlike my reading experience on my last read, I have lesser notes about it because most of the time I just got absorbed to Takako's world. Also, I got absorbed with how she also shares the lives of other characters—especially her Uncle Satoru's life.
Like most cheerful people I know, her uncle also was carrying a big burden that he often hid behind his preppy attitude. I don't want to spoil what his burden is all about because I know it'll be much better if you read it from the novel itself. The way the author had made the plot was honestly ordinary—it doesn't have a mind-boggling mystery nor a grand plot twist—but I guess it's in its simplicity that made it more hooking. Its dialogues, although not riddled with profound words, still their messages were definitely meaningful. Also what makes me more hooked to it is that I'm curious about Momoko's character development.
Further, I read the moments she had been so down, like down-down and those moments really resonated well with me. Although mine isn't romance-related, still I experience those times where my grief was so high to the point I just randomly cried without a sound. Tears just keep on falling as if nothing can stop them, and the next thing I know I'm just crying uncontrollably. Like her, I also transcended beyond that crying stage because there are really those days when I'm so sad that I can't cry anymore. I just wanted to sleep the whole day to forget that I was in pain—and it's so similar to her experience.
That's why I couldn't help but also shed some tears for her because the way she shared her pain made me reminisce about mine. It's really astonishing how affecting this novel has become to me. I don't know if it has the same effect on other readers but for me how this story presents itself was so sincere and real that it felt like I was not only there, but instead, I'm Takako, herself, who experienced a lot of new things. Also, her enthusiasm with books is kinda contagious because it made me enthusiastic while reading each chapter. By the way, this novel consists of two parts and each part has its own highlights. The first part focuses more on Takako's healing and moving on, while the later part is somehow diverse.
All in all, this book was totally one of the books that I thought I wouldn't like. Like I said, its plot isn't that unique—that's why it had been one of my worries while I'm waiting for its coming is that it would easily bore me out. Slice of life stuff may be relatable but there are of 'course slice of life books that I've read before that felt dragging to read. I guess the pacing of how the story unfolded made this novel hooking for it didn't drag too long on details, rather it rushes to important events of Takako's stay in Morisaki Bookshop.
After reading this heightened my will to really visit a physical bookshop—preferably a secondhand one like the ones in Jimbocho. I'm quite tight on the budget so hopefully, I can visit one where I also can buy some books, but for now, I'll just stick with affordable books online. And before I could completely forget it, I'd rate this one a little lower than five, so it probably would be 4.9/5.
So that would be all for today, bookworms. I hope you enjoyed my book review and always keep in mind that it's not spoiler-free, so beware!
All the pictures used were taken by yours truly, ridgette while the last picture was edited in Canva.