Sosuke Natsukawa has written a fantasy about self-discovery and the power of reading - an international bestseller featuring a talking cat, and the need to respect books. I thought I would enjoy this much more than I did, but still recommend it as entertaining for all these reasons.
Teenage Rintaro Natsuki has just lost his beloved Grandfather, a gentle man of few words who meticulously ran Natsuki Books, a tiny secondhand bookstore on the edge of town. Since he was a child, it had always been the two of them, and Rintaro has been steeped in the magic of books. Every day, the Grandfather would greet visitors with obscure classics - Nietzsche, TS Eliot, The Little Prince - just the book they needed.
In the week after the death, Rintaro begins skipping school, and classmates like pretty Sayo drop by to keep him from shutting himself away. Another visitor enters: a plump orange cat calling himself Tiger the Tabby. Yes, the talking cat is a droll wisecracker who asks for Rintaro's help. Books are being imprisoned and need Rintaro's rescue.
The store is one long aisle with towering shelves crammed with titles on either side ...but today, the end of the store becomes a bright light, and they enter a world of fantasy.
"Are you frightened Mr. Proprietor? If you are going to bail on me, then now's your chance."
The first 'labyrinth' is a library of thousands, imprisoned by a hoarding reader who has read them but refuses to let them go back into the world. A second 'labyrinth' features the mutilation of books - an attempt to streamline reading by condensing books down to a one line synopsis - there are too many books to read, why not enjoy masterpieces in an uncomplicated way. A third 'labyrinth' features World's Best Books, a publishing empire who only sell what sells, pumping out so many dross bestsellers they end up littering the world. Nothing eclectic or of value, the unusual books are long forgotten.
It is up to Rintaro to solve the final 'labyrinth' himself, after Sayo is captured by it. It involves the pleasure of reading, the compassion it instills for others, and the tremendous power in books. Books have a soul, the ability to give courage or change a mind, and must be protected from damage.
The structure of the labyrinth is a journey of self discovery. I wonder if the translation from Japanese lost something, for I found the fantasy obvious. I was disappointed to feel like I was told the message rather than discovering it as a reader. All the elements were there, but I was missing a level of depth which would have made it profound. It was simply written, as if it was aimed at young adults, but this did become a beloved bestseller.
So, maybe it's me. Wish I liked it more.
2017 / Hardcover / 198 pages
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