...in every direction, it felt as if they were being pulled down into the profoundest depths of the earth. The view was unchanging. The staircase walls were lit at intervals with lamps, in between which there were random piles of books. Some were brand new, others older, but what they all had in common was their title: Recommendations for a Whole New Way of Reading. From time to time, men in white coats would pass them, coming up the stairs with an armful of books, but they would hurry on by, paying the trio absolutely no heed. All of a sudden Sayo cried out. “Beethoven?” Rintaro stopped to listen. It was true—faint music was filtering up from far below. “It’s Beethoven’s Symphony Number Nine, the third movement I think.” “Beethoven’s Ninth?” Rintaro said. The vice captain of the wind ensemble club nodded confidently. As they continued downward, the music became louder, and Rintaro could clearly make out the refined melody of the string section. “The second theme.” Right as Sayo called it, the melody changed, and a more expansive, slower theme began. The three adventurers seemed to be pulled in by the swell of strings and wind instruments, and their pace visibly Rintaro could make out that he was holding a book in his left hand; in his right, a pair of scissors. To everyone’s shock, he appeared to be chopping up the book. With every movement of the scissors, pieces of paper flew into the air and the book became less and less booklike. The sight of this broad man in a white coat, immersed in such a bizarre task, was curious to say the least. “What the . . .” Sayo was at a loss for words. Even the tabby cat could do nothing but stare. Of course, the blasting sound of the Ninth Symphony only added to the weirdness of the scene...
Novels and other longer books provide more of a problem... he stretched a fleshy arm toward the boom box and turned the volume even louder. Ode to Joy was now playing... “I’m currently working on Goethe’s Faust. The goal is to get it down to two minutes...
Books Have Tremendous Power!--That was Grandpa's Mantra...
~~~
Reading a Book is Not Like Climbing a Mountain...
Reading can be Grueling...
Rintaro Natsuki was alone for the first time in his life. He had lost his family over the years until there was only his grandfather. And now his grandfather had also died... Rintaro looked around him, not knowing what to do now... Finally he decided. He had to acknowledge first that Grandpa was gone... Now what? Yes, he understood that there would be a funeral where people would come and pay their last respects. But Rintaro really didn't know what death itself was and as he looked at the man with whom he had lived for most of his life, he stared, wondering where Grandpa was now... Finally, an aunt was located from a distant city and came to begin to look after his grandfather's end-of-life activities...
Rintaro had become an avid reader since his grandfather had owned a second-hand bookstore which was filled with books of all ages, including a complete set of William Shakespeare! Rintaro had been in his shop since he was little and had come to know, if not all of them, the majority of the names of books and where they were located. And when they had no customers, Rintaro would pick out another book to while away the hours that the store was open...
But, after his grandfather passed, Rintaro found himself not wanting to go out anywhere, especially not to school... But soon, two students who lived nearby had stopped in to see how he was doing and talked about people missing him, wondering when he'd be back... At first, Rintaro, just didn't believe them--nobody would miss him if he wasn't there. And while his aunt was very nice, she had a home in another state and started talking about his moving rather than staying alone... Rintaro did not want his life to change at all! His grandfather had not been much of a talker and thus Rintaro was not either. But when Grandpa got started talking about books, he would light up with smiles and talk about books being His, and Rintaro's, greatest friends! There was a close understanding between the two as they worked together in the bookshop... Could Rintaro even think of not being there where he loved to be?!
So, up until the time that a tabby cat came strolling from the back of the store, readers might think we are reading a coming of age book of a young Japanese new orphan... But, when that day came, yes, a cat magically finding its way into the shop and then started talking to Rintaro... True enough, even if Rintaro could not accept it was really happening. Readers know that the book is a fantastic fantasy story, like NO other!
He had met The Cat Who Saved Books! And the Cat was asking Rintaro to help him in his work, pointing out that he knew about books, loved books, and would know what to say when confronted with those having different opinions about keeping and owning books... Now that's a job I could get into! You?!
But, this was not an easy task, as some of you may realize, as we face more and more people who want to ban books in America and across the world. So what kind of problems were to be faced in order to save books? There were four of them:
The First Labyrinth - The Imprisoner of Books
Of course, the title of the situation gives a good sense of what the problem was to be solved... I could be one of those Imprisoners, how about you? I enjoy having books surrounding me, as part of my living space. But, in this case, some may go to extremes, while claiming that they love books... We meet the man who reads continuously and, when finishing a book, he will immediately lock the book up as part of a sealed environment, never to be ever touched again... It was Rintaro's responsibility to talk to the imprisoner and help him understand that books are meant to be shared, to be free to move from reader to reader...
Next you will meet The Mutilator of Books, The Seller of Books, and a final and dangerous situation. One of Rintaro's friends has been kidnapped and taken into one of the labyrinths... In case you're interested, each of these labyrinths are accessed through the back of the Bookstore of which Rintaro is now the proprietor... A strange blue light appears, which when followed will take the small cat and Rintaro into a strange world where books were always present and activities were taking place regarding those books... The sample above relates to selling books... This was the most interesting for me, since we already know about speed reading and how that can assist you in job performance, for example. But the director was always trying to ensure books were available that would meet the rapidly changing preference for books by all people... His idea was to give a short synopsis which would be just a few lines, or, in some cases, a few words! Well, we all know, as readers, that could never fulfill our desires for fully developed books that tell the story, no matter how long it takes to read that book!
I found this fantasy an enjoyable escape from reality, where the final fulfilling ending would always be, preferably, completely satisfied for readers of each and every book. We know that can't happen among the millions of readers, but by fantasizing a little, we can learn much about how, exactly, books do become a meaningful part of each of our lives!
And, that, a young teenager who has not yet graduated from school, can, indeed, be an effective proprietor and a meaningful contributor to the lives of each and very reader in the world! Fun, sensitive, and engaging to young readers who are now capable of reading an entire book of any size... leaving the very long one for when we are older, or just because we liked the title... Isn't that how you decide which books to read? LOL
The writing is wonderful and the translator even shared a little about how she decided to handle some of the translations in her own special way, which I thought was very cool. I've reviewed books from all over the world and I was glad to visit Japan in this heart-warming story of a young boy lost without family, but still living daily within his shop of his book friends... And in the end, he was easily able to make a decision. He wanted to do exactly what his grandpa had taught him to do. He learned after all that he had been through that if he couldn't move on, by believing in himself... How could he ever move on if he didn't believe in himself? Great gift idea for young readers!
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