Abinash Elanggumar > Recent Status Updates

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

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

before. today's read was quite pleasant, we've finally returned to japan as well. it might also be my own mood as well, but i found it to be a very melancholic read. the bit about mayu was really sad, and the return to japan, the dead trees, cd weather - it all felt very sad.

(chapter 14,15) listened to 'through the looking glass' - midori takada. probably not the right pick for a read (potentially distracting), but it worked on this particular occasion, there's quite an intense percussive track towards the end that timed perfectly with the events at the end of chapter 15 (saseko's performance). i keep getting weirdly lucky with these random japanese ambience albums i've never heard

rest of the cast. that is the one thing that distances me from this arc. i miss sakumi's unconventional family, that was definitely the most interesting part of the book so far. so i am a little eager to return to japan, but i am intrigued as to what will happen when yoshio shows up in saipan!

/atrocities of that nature. this sense of places having a spirit, 'genius loci' (i haven't heard that name, but i just looked it up), it is a phenomenon that i find quite interesting. i can see how this diversion is being used to explore such themes, and i find that to be quite nice to read. also, the saseko vibrator story is diabolical lmao. kozumi and saseko for whatever reason just don't feel as lived in, as the

(chapters 11,12,13) listened to 'bioçic music: four seasons'. what a cliffhanger to end on! i wonder what yoshio was trying to say... the saipan stuff is growing on me, i think the imagery regarding the dead japanese spirits, the sea cucumbers, and the mental toll of listening to their cries but not being able to do anything to soothe them. it is quite beautiful, obviously reminds me of gaza, sudan, eelam and things

i feel about the introduction of saseko, a more explicitly supernatural figure. i always prefer these things to be in the background, and not the foreground. we'll see how it goes, though!

felt like set up for future events, so i can't say it was an amazing read like previous passages but i get it, we'll see where this leads. i loved the remaining bit of sakumi and yoshio's retreat, and the scene where ryuichiro proposes to sakumi in the aquarium. the description of the sunfish(?) slowly moving through life but constantly bumping into the glass wall was funny and relatable to me. i don't know how

(chapter 8,9,10) was listening to extended versions of cosmic cove galaxy, jolly roger bay themes. jolly roger bay probably didn't suit the reading ambience i'm looking for but cosmic cove definitely did. what a hypnotic piece. this passage feels like we're transitioning between the previous stuff about yoshio and his mental state to a new arc with ryuichiro, sakumi - a trip involving a spirit medium? this passage

way through the world of literature. i'm not sure why I've gravitated towards j-lit, but there's definitely something about japanese writing that appeals to me. never beating the weeb allegations.

also it just feels like things have moved along on this read, which is nice. i'm really enjoying this so far, honestly. it's strange how yoshimoto, murakami are the authors whose prose i enjoy so much but i'm reading their work in translation. so how much of the credit goes towards their translators? i'm sure there's actually a million authors out there whose prose i can get addicted too, but i'm slowly finding my

, his premonition re: his mother's trip, and then eventually saku and yoshio's retreat (eiko getting beaten up too ;__;). there's a beautiful line about people who spend too much time indoors, assimilating to their surroundings. looking like furniture as they step outside, trying to avoid eye contact. that kinda sounds like me sometimes ... i love magic realism, unexplained magical events used to evoke pure emotion.

(chapter 5,6,7) listened to ken ichiro isoda's 夢のさざなみ (shameless copy-paste there). it is the one with a beach sunset as the album cover - what a coincidence, as today's read ended with a very vivid description of a sunset, as saku and yoshio take a trip to a beach! finally managed to get a longer read in today, which i am very grateful for. a very eventful read, yoshio revealing his inner turmoil, the ufo sighting

i will feel about this by the end. either way, i definitely love yoshimoto's prose and i'm glad to have found another author that i find to be so readable. maybe i do like reading!

hyperactive and scattershot. which makes sense. i can relate to that too, constantly thinking about random events and things except i don't have memory loss. this is not a bad book to have been reading one short chapter a day of, i will say. it feels right, surprisingly even if this was not my intention. i won't compare this to kitchen because it seems to be operating on a different wavelength, i really do wonder how