Status Updates From Amrita

how something as traumatic as grief, memory loss etc., is played like just another event in an eventful life. anyways, great read! might take a yoshimoto break (not for too long, she's great!), but hopefully not a reading break as this is a ha it i want to keep. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

this often pairs really nicely with the magical realism. this didn't move me on such an intense level as kitchen/moonlight shadow, despite the much longer runtime it feels like i didn't connect with the other characters on as profound a level. however sakumi herself was a great protagonist, the mildly disorienting sequencing as she recovered her memory was really cool. there's something whimsical about this story of

thoughts and listening to her react to the mundane and the extraordinary. the afterword says that the book is 'about' how the relentless cycles of daily life, that tick along inspite of whatever amazing events you may experience. and i definitely appreciated that as i was reading, this tendency for the japanese authors that i have read to extrapolate on the mundane moments of life, breathing life into the ordinary.

i like that i've been able to use reading as a means to genuinely escape, don't think about my responsibilities, work etc., just for one hour a day.
now onto the book itself! overall, i really liked it. it is definitely a tier below kitchen/moonlight shadow for me, but still a really pleasant read. i loved following sakumi in her day-to-day life, maybe the prose is too internal (lol) but i enjoyed being with her

(till end) whoops i'm updating this at the end of the day! was running late for class again, as i tried to cram the remaning book into that scheduled reading time i have. listened to 'oscillation circuit - série reflection 1' this time. i'm not some expert on japanese ambience music btw, i just found a playlist lmao -_-. it just really helps for reading, because my mind is easily distracted with my thoughts and such.

- for the first time in my uni career, i got a high out of maths. and as i say this, the sun has come out to shine ... yes. i'm saying all this now, but the book turned sad and melancholic -_-

feel like i'm high or something lmao. hopefully this continues for sometime. yesterday i did impromptu standup, and it was terrible! but it was surprisingly fun, and i wasn't even that nervous. this would never happen normally, but is a sign of the times. for some reason i found joy in an assessed homework sheet that took me ages, but i persevered and got answers to everything. it felt like i accomplished something.

up my morning routine + i'm feeling tired too -_-. we're getting very close to the end, likely to finish this week. ends always excite me, but i will miss reading this as well. it has kept me sane over times of stress. i will also say that for the past two days i have felt weirdly happy and spiritually nourished, i'm not sure if i have inherited something from our protagonist here as he regained her memory. i almost

moving. first yoshio moving to a boarding school, and then junko running away and stealing their savings. that loneliness you experience when you spend a prolonged time with somebody only for them to leave is quite profound. i like how this and kitchen depict family, spend enough time together under the same roof and you become family regardless of blood ties. bit of a short read, annoying ass examples class messing

(chapter 18,19) listened to 'A I R - air in resort' (apparently this was composed for a skin care company as like a cheap promotional product, so it is pretty funny that it's actually really pleasant to listen to and has found new life on youtube). this was quite a sad read, the thing that initially interested me when i first was reading this was the unusual familial dynamics and to see that finally break was really

Finfin bok om å oppleve sorg, miste lysten på livet, oppleve rare ting, snakke med rare folk og la seg fascinere av livet igjen. Likner ikke på Naiv.super, men klør litt på samme stedet - et deilig og sårbart sted å bli klødd

own way, however, as someone who seems to exist in their thoughts more than the day to day. the book did explore that more in chapter 16, the joy of living. i may revisit that passage in the near future.

i do find myself missing the clarity, the focused writing of kitchen a bit though. it's nothing against this book, they're both aiming for quite different things i think. kitchen really was amazing in how they etched out these painfully loveable characters in such a short span of time, here, it is mainly the protagonist sakumi who i can latch onto. the incredibly internal prose is something that speaks to me, in its

seems to be setting things up to come to a close. it has been a really fascinating journey, so far. liking this quite a bit, overall.

coming from an author haha, but i believe it too. stories are beautiful. chapter 17 seems to advance the 'plot' quite a bit, with yoshio's dream/reveal, i wonder what will come of that. i wish i had more to say, it's been a few hours -_-. i was also a bit sleepy when reading, had to keep re-reading the occasional line - still enjoyed what i read of course, and i could also feel the gears begin to move as the story

(chapter 16,17) listened to 'flowering of the spirits'. i'm updating this after the fact, as i was running late for class. two very long chapters! a lot of it centred on sakumi suddenly regaining her memory, as she reads a childhood favourite book (not knowing such). it was quite a beautiful passage, how we create our own inner worlds as we read and how they are unaffected by time. maybe a bit self aggrandizing