Today I’m reading about the opening up of Japan to the world from 1853 to 1873: Western gunboat diplomacy, the end of the Tokugawa shogunate, the beginning of the Meiji era, a time of rapid change and modernization. This period keeps popping up on my Japan travels, it’s interesting.
Category: Read
Light Sunday Reading
Started into a new biography of J. Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI and its precursor through six presidents from 1924 up to his death in 1972. I expect the book will help me to better understand divisions in today’s America and reinforce my belief we mustn’t regress to the 1950’s.
Common Themes
On Tuesday I posted about “Men Without Women” prompting a friend to ask which author—Murakami (2014) or Hemingway (1927)? She correctly surmised Murakami. Today, continued my temporary couch potato life by reading Hemingway’s. It’s no accident Murakami used the title.
Tuning Out
A nasty cold has an upside: reading. Yesterday, I finally finished a book of short stories, “Men Without Women.” Today, cover to cover, a page-turner novel, “Sweet Bean Paste.”
AC Wins
Temperatures climbing to the mid-90’s provided an opportunity to nurture the inner couch potato.
A Physical Book
Finished an actual hardcover, nonfiction, paper book, but skipped the endnotes. Dwight wants to read it, then we’ll pass it on. Generally I read fiction, usually eBooks to save trees and storage space.
A Day Without News Media
I pay attention to the news; too much attention, some would say. We have digital subscriptions to the New York Times, Washington Post, and our local paper, the Star Tribune. We’re members of Minnesota Public Radio and the local public television station. My long list of online news sources includes Politico, BBC, NHK (Japan, in… Continue reading A Day Without News Media
Escape
Read a newspaper on my phone while waiting for a haircut.
Poverty and Homelessness in Japan
This afternoon I was a couch potato devouring a new novel, in translation: “Tokyo Ueno Station.” It depicts poverty and homelessness in Japan and deepened my understanding of scenes I’ve glimpsed in Japan. As I expected, the ending was not happy.
Good Day to Read
It’s a perfect day to be a couch potato: rain all day, and a novel just released in the US today.