Mina's Matchbox Quotes

“Yoneda-san was like the glittering white bits inside a snow globe. The scene of the Ashiya house was reflected in the glass of the globe. The rooms were all perfectly clean and tidy, the aroma of a delicious meal wafted here and there, laughter echoed through the house. You had only to invert the globe to send the snow falling, collecting on the floor, protecting the inhabitants.

But no matter how hard you shook it, the snow could never leave the globe. Breaking the glass would be a foolish mistake. Everything that had looked like snow before would become something much more uncertain, something dirty and viscous and unable ever to return to its original form. That’s why Yoneda-san could never be taken too far away from the house.”
― Yōko Ogawa, Mina's Matchbox

“Quant à l'endroit où se trouvait mon père, le jour de ses funérailles, ma mère me l'avait indiqué. C'est un peu loin, mais un jour ou l'autre nous irons le rejoindre, il n'y a pas à craindre de s'égarer. Ton papa est gentil, il est seulement parti devant pour voir comment c'était, m'avait-elle dit.”
― Yoko Ogawa, La Marche de Mina

“the box of matches she kept in her pocket. The matchboxes were her precious possessions, her talismans.”
― Yōko Ogawa, Mina's Matchbox

“Nothing was ever solved by waiting around.”
― Yōko Ogawa, Mina's Matchbox

“Did you know that shooting stars are made when stars die?' Mina asked.
'Really? I thought they were stars going on a trip.'
'No, they shine so beautifully because they get pulled in by Earth's gravity and burn up when they reach the atmosphere.'
'You're kidding me.'
'So, while we're watching them thinking how beautiful they are, they're literally burning up and dying.'
'Like matches that look most beautiful the moment before they burn out.'
'Did you know that it was the comets that brought the elements to Earth that created life? Comets are made of ice, and a gigantic one struck the Earth when it was just forming, and that made the oceans.'
'So, does that mean that part of us is in the Giacobini comet? ...How would we ever know?'
'I learned all this from the library books you borrowed, Tomoko. You're like a comet that brings books. But tell me, what are you going to wish for? When you see the shooting stars.”
― Yōko Ogawa, Mina's Matchbox