by Sosuke Natsukawa
ISBN-13: 978-1529081480
First published 2021
217 pages
Publisher: www.picador.com
Cover illustration by Yoko Tanji
Translated by Louise Heal Kawai
4 / 5 Stars
Interesting book about a journey of self-discovery using the concept of a labyrinth to help guide us and the protagonist towards their goal.
But on a deeper level it is an expose of the phenomenon of hikikomori a Japanese term for young adults that do not leave home, isolate themselves from society and withdrawn into their bedrooms.
It can affect both boys and girls but mainly boys and strikes at adolescence and can last until early thirties or even a lifetime in some cases. Leaving home is always a combination of fear and opportunity but perhaps modern global society has lost sight of how traumatic it can be. Perhaps stories, from the Bible onwards, are designed to help fill that gap and prepare young people for a life on their own. Knowledge and self-growth, through reading. is the key it seems
There are other books referenced by Sosuke Natsukawa in the story;
by St. Exupery
- Night Flight
- Southern Mail
by Nietzsche
- Thus Spoke Zarathustra
by Rolland
- Jean-Christophe
by Alexandre Dumas
- The D’Artagnan Romances
by Osamu Daza
- Run, Melos!
by Goethe
- Faust
by Benjamin Constant
- Adolphe
by Gabriel Garcia Marques
- 100 Years of Solitude
The Eclectic Book Review 