Abinash Elanggumar > Recent Status Updates

(house of ghosts) listened to 'the body is a message of the universe' which was so perfect?? it began with this eerie atmosphere which fit the ghost story so well, crescendoed at some of the big moments ... really added to it for me ;_;. this was a really nice short story, a very sweet romance about two lonely people discovering their purpose and feelings for one another in time. the supernatural touch was also great

a more vulnerable, bitter adult is really interesting to me. i enjoy that dynamic in fiction a lot.

(chapter twelve - corpuscules of light ~end) really lovely book! love how the apartment and the windows became it's own character as well. simple read but very evocative imagery and writing. really connected with the protagonist and her relationship with her daughter. i really enjoy stories about raising children especially when they're as honest as this, the contrast between the endearing innocence of a child and

(chapter eleven - flames) honestly the daughter is so cute, another great chapter

(chapter ten - the earth's surface) this chapter was really sad ... the loneliness of being a single mother, and then when you let go of your daughter having noone else.

(chapter nine - the body) today's three chapters done. i don't have a lot to say that i haven't already, it's a really nice read. a very empathetic portrayal of single motherhood. very simply done, but still really moving.

(chapter eight - red lights)

(chapter seven - the dunes) nooo the windows ;(

(chapter six - the magic words) i like how honest the narration is, how flawed she is. how she feels bitterness towards her daughter, but you understand how her difficult circumstances inspire these unpleasant feelings. you can really empathise with the amount of strain she is under.

(chapter five - the sound of a voice) 0_0

(chapter four - a dream of birds)
i don't have that much to say, another quietly affecting chapter.

i could continue actually but for my own sake i will stop here. i don't think this is the kind of book you should binge in one day, in an ideal world i would have read this over 12 days, starting the day with a cup of tea and a chapter from the book. you gotta let the moments seep in ... it has been a very pleasant, easy read so far. the imagery very evocative. liking it!

other single woman, sleeping on the bench, and then the subsequent revelation about her future fate ... wow, haha. okay. kind of darkly funny but also horrifying.

(chapter three: sunday in the trees)
i see why the book is structured like this now. each chapter is like an individual vignette over the span of the novel. it's very readable, with each chapter tying itself together really nicely. this chapter highlights the strain of being a single mother, the exhaustion of balancing all of these roles, and never being able to put yourself first. the imaginary conversation with the

(chapter two: the water's edge)
i really liked this chapter. it all came together really nicely, the stuff with water, the rain sea, the silver sea. the narrator and her daughter really well characterised too. just an endearing read, i can't say exactly why.

(chapter one: territory of light)
very simple, matter of fact narration. nice to be back to first person ... weird preference of mine, i just find myself endeared to people's narrations of their lives? i don't have that much to say atm, but i feel like the book being so short is split into twelve for a reason, so im going to write whatever is on my mind after each chapter.

(part two) goddamn, ok. i definitely found myself more invested as time went on. komako really is quite a tragic figure, and you do also get a sense of the emptiness of shimamura's life. ending is surprisingly high-key for this book, but definitely affecting still. i think i would appreciate this book more on a reread, so that i can pay more attention to the nature and imagery ... still, i did like it. good read.

part one leaves us at an interesting point. i take it we'll pick back up after a timeskip where the two leads reunite after years of repressed feelings for another. this genre of story is always very compelling to me. so, as of now, it's intriguing to me - can't say i have fallen in love with the prose (which i think is the main draw), but may do so in time. blame it on my own struggles as a reader.

emphasis is on subtle behaviours and characterisation. i think some of the imagery and scenery is going over my head, which i think is what kawabata is known for ;_;. my adhd ass sucks at internalising descriptive writing. i mainly remember this reccuring imagery of a window as a mirror, with the reflection superimposed over the scenery. that was quite a cool image. yoko's red cheeks against the snow white mountains.

(part one) i logged the wrong book edition in goodreads ;_;. this is the penguin leatherbound classics or something, it's really cool. the form-factor feels great in the hand, it's really lightweight. looks cool too. this would have been a good book to have ambient music playing for, but alas. it took me some time to get into the swing of it, but i think it has been pleasant so far. i like stories like this where the

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