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The Fourth Treasure
Illustrated throughout with beautiful calligraphy, The Fourth Treasure is an original, surprising novel that weaves a suspenseful love story across and through two very different countries, cultures, and generations.
Tina Suzuki has just begun her first year of graduate study at the UC Berkeley Institute for Brain and Behavior Studies. Born and raised in San Francisco by her Japanese immigrant mother, Tina knows nothing about the rest of her family, and very little about her cultural heritage. But when her boyfriend’s Japanese calligraphy teacher suffers a stroke and loses his ability to communicate but continues to create magnificent calligraphic art, Tina knows she has stumbled across an ideal research subject.
However, getting the sensei to participate in her study poses a series of uncomfortable obstacles for the jealous opposition of her boyfriend, the political and (romantic) minefield of dealing with her professors and fellow students, and the willful reticence of her ailing mother. It seems that the blank personal history her mother had always presented is in fact a tightly wound scroll full of scandalous secrets. In ways she could have never expected, Tina’s studies will inevitably lead to revelations about her own family.
Juxtaposed with Tina’s story is that of the stricken sensei as a younger man, in Kyoto, and the history of the ancient inkstone he carries with him. The inkstone’s history, and the sensei’s art, reach back hundreds of years into a Japanese culture that no longer exists but that continues to reverberate on both sides of the Pacific.
As the dual narratives unfold, they are enhanced by intriguing marginalia that illuminate both the sensei’s Japanese calligraphy and Tina’s studies of the brain.
The result is a unique, unusually satisfying literary experience.
Tina Suzuki has just begun her first year of graduate study at the UC Berkeley Institute for Brain and Behavior Studies. Born and raised in San Francisco by her Japanese immigrant mother, Tina knows nothing about the rest of her family, and very little about her cultural heritage. But when her boyfriend’s Japanese calligraphy teacher suffers a stroke and loses his ability to communicate but continues to create magnificent calligraphic art, Tina knows she has stumbled across an ideal research subject.
However, getting the sensei to participate in her study poses a series of uncomfortable obstacles for the jealous opposition of her boyfriend, the political and (romantic) minefield of dealing with her professors and fellow students, and the willful reticence of her ailing mother. It seems that the blank personal history her mother had always presented is in fact a tightly wound scroll full of scandalous secrets. In ways she could have never expected, Tina’s studies will inevitably lead to revelations about her own family.
Juxtaposed with Tina’s story is that of the stricken sensei as a younger man, in Kyoto, and the history of the ancient inkstone he carries with him. The inkstone’s history, and the sensei’s art, reach back hundreds of years into a Japanese culture that no longer exists but that continues to reverberate on both sides of the Pacific.
As the dual narratives unfold, they are enhanced by intriguing marginalia that illuminate both the sensei’s Japanese calligraphy and Tina’s studies of the brain.
The result is a unique, unusually satisfying literary experience.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
July 23, 2010
Just finished The Fourth Treasure last night - a beautiful, complex, and very satisfying novel. I have to cop to the fact that I skimmed Antonio Damasio's The Feeling of What Happens last year based on an interest in emotion and cognition, and that I spent hours in Barnes & Noble at Christmastime whittling a mammoth stack of potential purchases down to one book - Kenneth G. Henshall's A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters, so I was very pleasantly surprised when the novel involved both of these fascinating subjects, weaving them into the structure and ideas of the narrative in such innovative ways.
I brought out my Henshall almost immediately with the novel, not because I needed it - Shimoda provides delicious sidebar notes on the technical terms and theoretical ideas of the novel - but because I was so excited to have the opportunity to use reading the novel as an excuse to begin learning about the Japanese characters. I found that Shimoda had expressed the essence of the information Henshall presents, but in a much more beautiful way, but it's still too much fun to cross-reference, so I did.
The narrative is a rich system of interconnected storylines with the two major themes of shodo (The Art of Japanese Calligraphy) and neuroscience. Throughout, there is the recurring discussion of which is better - to express something with technical perfection, or to express it with feeling or artistic interpretation. There's another thread - whether language creates experience cognitively, or whether emotion creates experience. There is the joy of the precision and artistic interpretation required to practice shodo. One major point of interest for me (because my spouse is a geologist) was the inkstone - a beautiful yet functional tool made of high-quality slate. I did basic web searches to find more information about slate inkstones - they're prized, and hard to come by if you want one as original as the one in the novel (forget most antique stores and eBay - that kind of hard to come by). The inkstone is another fascinating detail both for the fact that it was developed based on the geology of China and Japan - the availability of volcanics which are durable, not too porous, and which one can grind an inkstick upon - and that such amazing art developed as a result of the materials available. But enough about volcanics!
I highly recommend the novel. This is the kind of well-crafted narrative you will benefit from reading and re-reading. There is more to see in this book than one reading will allow because Shimoda builds such big ideas into the narrative, but at the same time the stories themselves are absorbing enough that you'll want to stay up late reading. A reader can truly take the path they wish to with this novel: read simply for story-content, or read the entire system of ideas in narrative balance with one another.
I brought out my Henshall almost immediately with the novel, not because I needed it - Shimoda provides delicious sidebar notes on the technical terms and theoretical ideas of the novel - but because I was so excited to have the opportunity to use reading the novel as an excuse to begin learning about the Japanese characters. I found that Shimoda had expressed the essence of the information Henshall presents, but in a much more beautiful way, but it's still too much fun to cross-reference, so I did.
The narrative is a rich system of interconnected storylines with the two major themes of shodo (The Art of Japanese Calligraphy) and neuroscience. Throughout, there is the recurring discussion of which is better - to express something with technical perfection, or to express it with feeling or artistic interpretation. There's another thread - whether language creates experience cognitively, or whether emotion creates experience. There is the joy of the precision and artistic interpretation required to practice shodo. One major point of interest for me (because my spouse is a geologist) was the inkstone - a beautiful yet functional tool made of high-quality slate. I did basic web searches to find more information about slate inkstones - they're prized, and hard to come by if you want one as original as the one in the novel (forget most antique stores and eBay - that kind of hard to come by). The inkstone is another fascinating detail both for the fact that it was developed based on the geology of China and Japan - the availability of volcanics which are durable, not too porous, and which one can grind an inkstick upon - and that such amazing art developed as a result of the materials available. But enough about volcanics!
I highly recommend the novel. This is the kind of well-crafted narrative you will benefit from reading and re-reading. There is more to see in this book than one reading will allow because Shimoda builds such big ideas into the narrative, but at the same time the stories themselves are absorbing enough that you'll want to stay up late reading. A reader can truly take the path they wish to with this novel: read simply for story-content, or read the entire system of ideas in narrative balance with one another.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 5, 2024
Wonderful 4.5
July 15, 2012
Review published in the New Zealand Herald, 22 February 2003
The Fourth Treasure
Todd Shimoda
(Vintage, $26.95)
Reviewed by Philippa Jamieson
Japanophiles will love this ambitious novel that combines calligraphy, neuroscience, and a story of lost love. Tina Suzuki, a neuroscience student in San Francisco, discovers an interesting research subject: her boyfriend's calligraphy teacher, Zenzen. Following a stroke, the teacher loses the power of speech and sits all day producing not calligraphy but mere doodles. Tina, with the help of a fellow student and the proprietary interest of two professors, tries to find out whether there is in fact meaning in Zenzen's brushstrokes; whether he is using them to communicate.
Meanwhile her mother Hanako has begun to suffer from multiple sclerosis, which she tries to hide, along with some other secrets from her past. Why did she leave Japan two decades ago to work in a tempura restaurant in America? Why did Zenzen make the same trip at a similar time? A Japanese detective is handily employed by the author to ferret out information, even though it starts to become obvious quite early on. Another layer of the story is set in seventeenth century Japan, providing an historical background for the calligraphy schools in the novel, and for the magical 'fourth treasure' of the title, the Daizen inkstone. This talisman enhances one's calligraphy and is passed down by each principal of the Daizen School to his successor.
Todd Shimoda, a third generation Japanese-American, has collaborated with his wife Linda, whose elegant illustrations grace the novel. The cover is simple and sylish, as is the internal design, until you try and read it. Two maddeningly small typefaces, footnotes in the margins, kanji (Japanese characters) and drawings all make for a cluttered look. A larger format would have been more accommodating, but even then the margin notes, mostly explanations of the origins of kanji mentioned in the text, and excerpts from Tina's neuroscience notes, are a serious distraction from the main story. It was enough just to focus on the different characters, time shifts and places, let alone be fed all this other information on the side, no matter how interesting.
Shimoda's writing is generally competent but occasionally patchy and wooden, and his characters need more development. Tina's personal relationships in particular are frustratingly skimmed over. Where the book really sings is in the poetic passages from Zenzen's stroke-struck mind, the abstract lines he draws in lieu of kanji, and Hanako's accompanying haiku-like interpretations. I longed for more exploration of the teacher's thought patterns and Hanako's responses, rather than the skilful but mechanical plotting. Still, it's a thoughtful read, examining the relationship between art and science, insider/outsider identities, and the contrasting cultures of Japan and America.
The Fourth Treasure
Todd Shimoda
(Vintage, $26.95)
Reviewed by Philippa Jamieson
Japanophiles will love this ambitious novel that combines calligraphy, neuroscience, and a story of lost love. Tina Suzuki, a neuroscience student in San Francisco, discovers an interesting research subject: her boyfriend's calligraphy teacher, Zenzen. Following a stroke, the teacher loses the power of speech and sits all day producing not calligraphy but mere doodles. Tina, with the help of a fellow student and the proprietary interest of two professors, tries to find out whether there is in fact meaning in Zenzen's brushstrokes; whether he is using them to communicate.
Meanwhile her mother Hanako has begun to suffer from multiple sclerosis, which she tries to hide, along with some other secrets from her past. Why did she leave Japan two decades ago to work in a tempura restaurant in America? Why did Zenzen make the same trip at a similar time? A Japanese detective is handily employed by the author to ferret out information, even though it starts to become obvious quite early on. Another layer of the story is set in seventeenth century Japan, providing an historical background for the calligraphy schools in the novel, and for the magical 'fourth treasure' of the title, the Daizen inkstone. This talisman enhances one's calligraphy and is passed down by each principal of the Daizen School to his successor.
Todd Shimoda, a third generation Japanese-American, has collaborated with his wife Linda, whose elegant illustrations grace the novel. The cover is simple and sylish, as is the internal design, until you try and read it. Two maddeningly small typefaces, footnotes in the margins, kanji (Japanese characters) and drawings all make for a cluttered look. A larger format would have been more accommodating, but even then the margin notes, mostly explanations of the origins of kanji mentioned in the text, and excerpts from Tina's neuroscience notes, are a serious distraction from the main story. It was enough just to focus on the different characters, time shifts and places, let alone be fed all this other information on the side, no matter how interesting.
Shimoda's writing is generally competent but occasionally patchy and wooden, and his characters need more development. Tina's personal relationships in particular are frustratingly skimmed over. Where the book really sings is in the poetic passages from Zenzen's stroke-struck mind, the abstract lines he draws in lieu of kanji, and Hanako's accompanying haiku-like interpretations. I longed for more exploration of the teacher's thought patterns and Hanako's responses, rather than the skilful but mechanical plotting. Still, it's a thoughtful read, examining the relationship between art and science, insider/outsider identities, and the contrasting cultures of Japan and America.
July 8, 2012
"Durante la sua vita in solitudine, scoprì dentro di sé la tristezza. Non era una sensazione deprimente, era piacevole, e diventò la sua compagna. Non dovette più cenare solo."
tre storie
tre momenti diversi
un unico amore
la pietra Daizen simboleggia l'amore per lo Shodo e per le antiche tradizioni
una donna è l'unico frutto di un amore mai vissuto, che perdura oltre il tempo in cui si è consumato, la cui eco pallida è nel sorriso di una studentessa che non conosce il suo passato
narrato su tre piani temporali il racconto procede spedito
l'unica costante è l'amore, quello per la tradizione e per lo Shodo che si intreccia con quello tra un maestro e la sua allieva e tra una madre e la sua unica ragione di vita, il frutto di una passione mai rivelata...
triste e poetico
"Quando intinse il pennello nella pietra il dolore, tutto il dolore, cominciò a dissolversi"
May 26, 2024
This was a reread, and even better the second time! I love shodo, the art of japanese calligraphy and I can't remember if I started practicing it before or after this book. I haven't done it in a really long time, but I love Japanese and Chinese characters and this book has beautiful illustrations, a fascinating story, and notes in the margin about different aspects of shodo and Zen thought and how the brain is wired and works. Practicing this type of calligraphy is one of those calming, centering activities even though all I mastered was the symbol for Love... Harder than it looks!
February 3, 2018
Set in modern San Francisco with flashbacks to 17th century Kyoto and Japan during the 1970s, this novel touches on differences between the West and the East, and between the past and the modern age of technology and science. Zenzen sensei, a calligraphy teacher who was once the senior sensei of the Daizen school, had an affair with the mother of Tina, a student at Berkeley (also the sensei's daughter), and disappeared — with the famous Daizen inkstone. Now he has a stroke and loses his ability to communicate, even in writing. His calligraphy becomes a pure form of expression, understood only by Tina's mother Hanako, who has been afflicted with multiple sclerosis and can no longer work at the local Japanese restaurant as a waitress. Meanwhile, Tina, struggling to keep up with the reading assignments at her neuroscience lab, takes on the sensei as an experiment for her doctoral dissertation. On and off, the reader is also sent back to the 70's, witnessing the affair between Hanako and the sensei after Hanako, a good student who fails college and becomes depressed with her life as a housewife, calls up the sensei and asks for calligraphy lessons. The reader also learns about the history of the inkstone, and how the stone, which seems to have important meaning, is really just a stone, but its experiences (the events it has unknowingly witnessed and "absorbed") make it important and valuable.
I liked the way the author put little notes (ostensibly from Tina's notebook or the fictitious Zenzen calligraphy school's manual) in the margin. I also learned a lot of tidbits about neuroscience, parts of the brain, terminology, calligraphy, etc. I especially liked the way kanji were represented and explained along the sides of the pages.
I liked the way the author put little notes (ostensibly from Tina's notebook or the fictitious Zenzen calligraphy school's manual) in the margin. I also learned a lot of tidbits about neuroscience, parts of the brain, terminology, calligraphy, etc. I especially liked the way kanji were represented and explained along the sides of the pages.
December 29, 2017
One of my all-time favorite novels, this story of Japanese brush calligraphy and calligraphers, which is my best-beloved Japanese art, and how it all can be the backbone of a life, enchanted me. The pain love brings and its shaping of lives, the working of the brain when injured, the way art and practice of art can mold a life into refinement, all these wind together in the beautiful pain of this book. Secrets and their destructiveness, pride and its devastation, love and its gifts, and the Japanese ability to relinquish, to cut attachment, build the bones of this story. The brush letters and figures strewn through the pages of the book, along with glosses of their meaning and the art of calligraphy, were a treasure in themselves and this keeps me returning to the book. The reader can feel how a culture paints lives and cuts paths and how an art, even a science, can heal them and make them beautiful. Splendid read!
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April 7, 2023read
November 1, 2011
Excerpted from the full review:
"In her praise of ‘The Fourth Treasure’, author Liza Dalby remarks that the novel “…has the depth and nuance of a skilfully calligraphed scroll.” As hyperbolic as such a statement sounds, her assessment is as precise as Shimoda’s writing and the rendering of a tale ornately-wrought, presented with deceptive simplicity.
If I were to name a point at which this book excels without exception, it is in its form, which is briskly engaging without being irritatingly self-involved (in my experience, most literary works of the latter ilk are both annoying and difficult to stomach.) The margins of the novel serve as room for annotations. From Tina’s neuroscience notebook, we learn of the complex framework of the human mind, as she neatly defines biochemical behaviours (while finding that equating them with individual consciousness remains a mystery). From the Instructor’s Journal from Zenzen’s School of Japanese calligraphy, we receive lessons in shodô, complete with exquisitely-rendered kanji and exacting guidelines for their creation. The text is also interspersed with the mysterious inkwork of Zenzen sensei, flanked by tiny segments of poetry, no doubt indicative of the disjointed thoughts of the shodô master. These brief lines are heart-rending. They combine Shimano’s yearning with cryptic phrasing and brevity of form to achieve a muted, haiku-worthy stream of thought. The effect is mesmerizing — I could read an entire novel composed of just these."
You can continue reading my full review of 'The Fourth Treasure' at Novel Niche! :)
"In her praise of ‘The Fourth Treasure’, author Liza Dalby remarks that the novel “…has the depth and nuance of a skilfully calligraphed scroll.” As hyperbolic as such a statement sounds, her assessment is as precise as Shimoda’s writing and the rendering of a tale ornately-wrought, presented with deceptive simplicity.
If I were to name a point at which this book excels without exception, it is in its form, which is briskly engaging without being irritatingly self-involved (in my experience, most literary works of the latter ilk are both annoying and difficult to stomach.) The margins of the novel serve as room for annotations. From Tina’s neuroscience notebook, we learn of the complex framework of the human mind, as she neatly defines biochemical behaviours (while finding that equating them with individual consciousness remains a mystery). From the Instructor’s Journal from Zenzen’s School of Japanese calligraphy, we receive lessons in shodô, complete with exquisitely-rendered kanji and exacting guidelines for their creation. The text is also interspersed with the mysterious inkwork of Zenzen sensei, flanked by tiny segments of poetry, no doubt indicative of the disjointed thoughts of the shodô master. These brief lines are heart-rending. They combine Shimano’s yearning with cryptic phrasing and brevity of form to achieve a muted, haiku-worthy stream of thought. The effect is mesmerizing — I could read an entire novel composed of just these."
You can continue reading my full review of 'The Fourth Treasure' at Novel Niche! :)
July 24, 2019
One thing I noticed about this novel was the juxtaposition. The initial switch from calligraphy footnotes to modern science definitions was jarring. However, I got more used to it as the tale went on, as it became clear the two would intertwine.
The writing is relatively simple, compared to lyricism and imagery familiar with Murakami's style, but one could still feel a calm and gentle atmosphere.
Something blatant hits you about 30 pages in, and I wonder if the author couldn't have been more subtle or a bit more dramatic in its reveal than simply having it as part of the narration.
After taking a long hiatus from reading, I must say that I did not have high expectations for my first novel back - but this one greatly surprised me. A gentle but firm love story with bits of the past woven in softly tugs at the emotions.
The writing is relatively simple, compared to lyricism and imagery familiar with Murakami's style, but one could still feel a calm and gentle atmosphere.
Something blatant hits you about 30 pages in, and I wonder if the author couldn't have been more subtle or a bit more dramatic in its reveal than simply having it as part of the narration.
After taking a long hiatus from reading, I must say that I did not have high expectations for my first novel back - but this one greatly surprised me. A gentle but firm love story with bits of the past woven in softly tugs at the emotions.
September 6, 2008
Both the story of the fourth treasure (an inkstone) and the people connected with it, this is an exquisite tale which switches back and forth in time. Illustrated by the author's wife, it also has marginal notes on calligraphy which can be read or left out as they aren't part of the story, but expand on the meaning of the written characters. Loses points for: personally I found the marginal notes on neurology too clinical, jarring, and un-necessary; possibly the author being unable to resist slipping in bits of his "other life" as a scientist.
August 13, 2011
I came across this title in a used book store, and made note to see if the library had it. It did, but I may be adding it to my "buy this" list. It deserves to be re-read, with more attention paid to the margin notes. The side-by side of the main story, with the various notes from Tina's notebook, etc. makes for an intricate and insightful telling of the tale. The interwoven narratives of the main story itself work well together, leading the reader without forcing things too much.
Shimoda does a very nice job of addressing the nuances of Japanese, Japanese-American, and American cultures.
Shimoda does a very nice job of addressing the nuances of Japanese, Japanese-American, and American cultures.
October 10, 2014
I read this because of the idea that a stroke victim would try to communicate via Japanese calligraphy. The Shodo master who suffered the stroke creates brushwork that looks like kanji, but it is not. Supposedly, growing up using the Japanese scripts and kanji develops different parts of the brain, and I wanted to see if he would develop a new way to communicate. Alas, this was only a small portion of the story, and the other characters were not quite as interesting. Still a pretty good read, tho'
September 1, 2012
This was a great book -- I loved the calligraphy information on the sides balanced with the story. Along with a great plot line, one that reaches back far in time and mixes with the future, you also get to learn more about the treasured art of calligraphy. The only thing that drove me crazy was the character of Mr. Robert, who was just absolutely creepy and infuriating. I hated him from the start till the end, but I think that was Shimoda's point.
May 19, 2007
Gosh, I read this ages ago! Sad to say, I don't remember half of what it was about only the moods it evoked: some nostalgia, bittersweetness and melancholic bits. I do remember enjoying it immensely, ie. couldn't not stop reading once started!
May 26, 2013
I really enjoy reading this book, I've read it possibly 4 times now. I like how the book breaks up the story with Japanese calligraphy that the writer translates to what the characters / pictures are trying to say. Definitely a book I will re-read again this year.
August 7, 2014
When you pick up a book at the secondhand bookshop in Manly (Desire Books) and start reading and only then you realise you've read this book before.
Yeah, that.
Loved it the first time.
Loved it the second time.
Yeah, that.
Loved it the first time.
Loved it the second time.
January 21, 2008
I really liked all aspects of this book. It combines a lot of different areas into one cohesive story. It also made me want to eat Japanese food.
June 4, 2008
A lovely book. I've read it twice and would read it again. The story is simultaneously epic and deeply personal, combining ancient Japanese culture and calligraphy with modern family struggles.
October 28, 2010
Really a 4.5.
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July 30, 2011Romantic and intriguing novel whose main characters are unable to communicate with those they love. I wish the book had ended differently; however, the book totally kept my interest.
August 8, 2013
A beautiful story. What makes the book unique was the examples of calligraphy.
September 30, 2013
Haunting, poignant
April 27, 2015
A very good treatment of Japanese culture and calligraphy in particular.
August 4, 2018
Finito nel 01/gen/1970 00:00:00
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews