Hello friends! I hope you are having a good week so far. Today I am thrilled to bring you a review of a Japanese story that was recently translated to English. As you will learn from the synopsis below, this is a well known story in Japan. When I received the invite for the blog tour, I wondered what kind of stories are popular around the world as coming of age stories, and I was excited to dive into this one. Set against the beautiful backdrop of Japan and junior high school time, How Do You Live? presents the everyday life of a teenager and all that he learns through various experiences. Let’s get started with the synopsis and content notes:
Publishing in English for the very first time, Japan’s beloved coming-of-age classic on what really matters in life.
The streets of Tokyo swarm below fifteen year-old Copper as he gazes out into the city of his childhood. Struck by the thought of the infinite people whose lives play out alongside his own, he begins to wonder, how do you live?
Considering life’s biggest questions for the first time, Copper turns to his dear uncle for heart-warming wisdom. As the old man guides the boy on a journey of philosophical discovery, a timeless tale unfolds, offering a poignant reflection on what it means to be human.
The favourite childhood book of anime master Hayao Miyazaki, How Do You Live? is the basis a highly anticipated film from Studio Ghibli.
Content Notes: Death of a parent (pre-novel), bullying.
Thoughts on How Do You Live?
If you could go back and relive your teenage years, thinking about the fights with friends, the love-hate relationship with school, the kind of problems you used to ponder, would you? Would an insight into your teenage mind help you solidify the lessons that you learned (and maybe never verbalized) that make you who you are?
How Do You Live? is a lovely story about Copper. He lives with his mom; his dad passed away when he was little. His uncle (mom’s brother) is a frequent visitor and confidant for Copper. Copper shares many things with his uncle, from his triumphs and thoughts to his vulnerable moments.
I loved the format of this book: each chapter began with Copper as the central character, and then, the narration switches to his uncle writing in a diary, putting words to the thoughts he had while Copper was sharing what had transpired. The intent is to give this diary to Copper eventually and I am a huge fan of chronicling a young life from the lens of an adult, bringing our knowledge of the world and what we have learned to help the young ones succeed. This offers a fantastic analysis of the big things in the little boy’s world and how that all fits into a big picture.
On Life Lessons
Copper is a thoughtful child. He is compassionate and caring and getting to know him through the book was a highlight for me. He feels for his fellow humans and is not afraid to go looking for answers, whether it is to someone’s home or to ask his uncle for guidance. There was a particularly heartbreaking bullying incident towards the end of the book where Copper found himself unable to take any action. I felt Copper’s pain of being a bystander and the tug of war between his body and mind. His mom told him a beautiful story about regrets and what they teach us. I will forever remember that one! It is an example of how we as adults can bring in our childhood to connect with and teach the kids.
There are multiple lessons about life scattered throughout this book. They are delivered, not as a lecture, but in the context of making Copper understand that these things happen and we can all persevere and be better humans. I loved how the concept of finding oneself was phrased. While following rules is important in school, in our adult lives, if we continue to blindly follow rules and never understand ourselves and our values, we would never be able to reach our full potential. This encouragement of the uncle’s for Copper to continue asking questions was beautifully imparted.
On Memories
Copper is a junior high and his classmates and experiences in school got me reminiscing about him. At one point in the book, the kids were listening to the radio and following along a game that was happening live. That reminded me of growing up in India, listening to live cricket matches. Sports always unite people and cast a spell on us that we can imagine what’s happening just from the commentary.
This is a very thorough book! I learned a lot about the world from it, including who built the first statue of the Buddha (did you know there was a Greek influence there?) as well as the life of Napoleon. The uncle has tons of worldly knowledge that he is able to impart to Copper and through Copper, I was able to collect some of that knowledge for myself to pass on.
I would love to learn Japanese one day! When the word ‘arigatai’ was examined in the book, I knew my journal entry was going to be about that!
Reading Experience Summary
Overall, How Do You Live? offers a comforting place to ponder childhood and put words to things we might have learned and internalized but never realized that had happened. This is a story I will come back to and hope to share with young kids.
Will you pick up this book?
How Do You Live? is available in the US now. It will be out in Canada early next year.
Be sure to check your local library and get this book through them so that it can reach more people!
Many thanks to the publisher for providing me a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you for reading this post. 🙂 For more translated books, check out this page!
Cover Photo: Photo by Dmytro Tolokonov on Unsplash
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