Status Updates From 你想活出怎样的人生

Finished How Do You Live - Foreword

Neil Gaiman praised the book for how strange and extraordinary it is. It's a book-length essay about how we live our lives, interrupted by the story of a pre-war schoolboy in Japan dealing with friendship and bullying; or a story about growing up, bravery, cowardice, social class and finding out who we are, interrupted by essays about scientific thought and personal ethics.

Finished How Do You Live - Pre-Foreword

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Finished - A note from the Translator

Genzaburo Yoshino was born in 1899 and graduated from Tokyo Imperial Uni. At that time, Japan was becoming increasingly militaristic and authoritarian. Yoshino was put in prison because of his meeting with socialists. After he was released, he wrote this book to teach the younger generation about the importance of the humanities to society and to rebel against the government.

Finished How Do You Live - Chapter 10

As Copper thought about becoming a person who could treat everyone as if they were good friends, daylight was streaming through the window. The sun had broken through the haze and begun to throw fresh light on the earth. Copper came to live his life by this thought. And so this long, long story, for now at least, comes to an end. It ended with a question: "How will you live?"

Reading How Do You Live - Chapter 10

Copper woke up from a quiet, dreamless sleep. Feeling fresh, he slid open his window, watching the mist. feeling the crisp air outside. He heard the call of a nightingale and listened to its voice. Before long, Copper sat down at his desk and began writing his impression in his new notebook, saying he wanted to become a good person and that it was good to have friends around.

Finished How Do You Live - Chapter 9

His uncle told him that it took an abundance of effort to transfer Buddhist sculpture that travelled all the way from India to China and to Japan. Back then, it was a life-or-death venture through perils and difficulties. After hearing that, Copper was deeply impressed but didn't know how to put his feelings into words. It was a vast and marvellous prospect.

Reading How Do You Live - Chapter 9

Copper's uncle talked about the roots of Buddhism since they were in the middle of the Higan festival. It originated in India, but when he mentioned the first statue of Buddha, he said it was widely made by Greeks rather than Indians. Then he explained how it came to be a product of Westerners and Easterners. From the expedition of Alexander the Great to the colonisation of India.

Reading How Do You Live - Chapter 9

As plants and flowers began to bloom in Copper's yard. Copper found an isolated, lonely, struggling sprout raised from the earth. He strove to dig it out, but it was way deeper than he thought. He reached the end of the root at twenty centimetres and was astonished by its endeavour to work alone in the dark, just to climb above the earth to greet the Sun.

Reading How Do You Live - Chapter 9

As spring came, it was the day of the spring equinox, in the middle of the week of the Buddhist Higan celebration. Copper received a brand-new hand-bound notebook from his mother. She suggested that, from then on, he could record his own impressions, like what his uncle did. Copper couldn't find anything to write on it, as impressions don't float up out of the blue.