On The Nightstand – Across The Nightingale Floor – 4/21/2018

“Mon zen no kozō narawanu kyō wo yomu.”

It’s a Japanese saying that translates roughly to “An Apprentice Near A Temple Will Recite Scriptures Untaught” and it suggests that a person can learn and grow simply by being in the right environment and surrounded by the right people.  This one resonates with me and I can see its truth when I think back to the time I spent in Japan.  I had two opportunities to live and work in Japan for a total of 7 years and both were important learning and growth experiences for me.  I’ve met many Americans who fell in love with Japan and saw the country, its people and it’s culture as more meritorious than their own.  That’s not me.  There are many things about Japan for which I developed a deep and abiding appreciation.  I’m also objective enough to recognize the negative aspects of it’s culture.  On balance, however, I find it a fascinating and admirable country and I’m very thankful for the chance to have so thoroughly experienced all it had to offer.

Some of the aspects of the culture that I most appreciated and that affected me most fundamentally:  1) the sense of community and the importance of group identity, 2) the personal discipline so critical to fulfillment and success, 3) the expectation that respect, consideration and courtesy permeate all human relationships, 4) a commitment to a shared set of values that define both the person and the nation.  For a young man, still in the process of defining himself as a person and a professional, those are not the worst set of foundation stones upon which to build.  I can’t say that I was a perfect student but all left their mark as I learned to work with and relate to my Japanese colleagues and peers.

This book captures many of those elements and I appreciated both the refresher course and the memories it conjured up.  This is an older book – published in 2002 – based on a fictional country and culture modeled on that of medieval Japan.  It’s one I’ve always been aware of and interested in but never purchased or read.  I finally took the opportunity to do so this week and it was a pleasure.  The two protagonists – Shigeru and Takeo – are portrayed in such a way that they either embody or strive to reflect those values.  They’re juxtaposed against a set of antagonists – Noguchi and Iida – that exemplify some of the more negative aspects of the culture.  As with so many Japanese stories – or stories about or modeled after Japan – death is the defining experience.  The story makes it clear that death is preferable to the dishonor of a poorly lived life and how and when you choose to die or accept death is the ultimate measure of the individual.

The Author – Gillian Rubinstein – an Englishwoman who eventually moved to Australia and who wrote this series using the pseudonym Lian Hearn – definitely resisted the temptation to satisfy her readers with a typically American happy ending.  A whole host of characters that you come to respect and appreciate do not survive the story and those that do are forced to make tortured decisions regarding their future – denying or deferring love – refusing the opportunity to embrace power and fame.  Ultimately, that is what makes this story so interesting and so very Japanese.  Your choices define you and life makes no promise with respect to easy decisions or joyful outcomes.  The needs and desires of the individual are, by necessity, subjugated to the needs of the larger group or to the demands of dignity, duty and honor.  Happiness is not a goal worthy of pursuit if it asks the individual to violate a higher or greater set of obligations to family, society, justice or nature.

I would think that many who read the book will find it sad – I only see nobility of intent and purpose in the protagonists and that is one of those aspects of Japan which I often – not always but often – experienced and did come to truly and deeply appreciate.  I am very glad I finally read this one and it has me thinking about a return to Nihon after a 17 year absence.

The series is called “Tales Of The Otori” and it consists of three volumes – the second and third being:  1) “Grass For His Pillow” and “Brilliance Of The Moon”.  I would recommend them to anyone interested in considering a very different way of thinking about what we’re placed on this world to do or how we should live.

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9 Responses to On The Nightstand – Across The Nightingale Floor – 4/21/2018

  1. Brilliant review- I was just discussing this book with Bookstooge, cos I apparently read it and didn’t remember it at all (apparently I liked it though, cos I gave it a high rating on Goodreads) The only thing that seems familiar after this is the names of the protagonists. But it makes sense to me now why I gave it a good rating and I’d definitely like to give it a go- so thanks for this! 😀

    • admin says:

      Thanks so much – both for the kind word and for taking a look. Very glad to be in touch and look forward to visiting your site. Cheers, Brian

    • admin says:

      I visited your site – beautifully done and glad I found it. I’m sure it’s just my ineptitude but I couldn’t find a subscription button. I’d really like to subscribe and follow. Cheers

      • Bookstooge says:

        Do you know where you can edit your followers/follows on your site? You should be able to simply input Orangutans blog link somewhere there and you’ll be following then.

        I’ve run across the same situation, so I learned to copy/paste the link in my settings. But I’ve got the wordpress site, so it’s probably a little different for you.

        • admin says:

          Thanks Bookstooge – I’ll give it a try. I was just surprised that I couldn’t find a subscribe option on Orangutan’s site. I assumed I must just be missing something. Cheers

  2. Bookstooge says:

    Actually, there are a total of 5 books in the Otori series. A fourth”sequel” that finishes things off and then a prequel that shows how things came to be for Nightingale Floor.

    I really enjoyed my read of these and ended up buying them all in hardcover as they came out.

    OrangutanLibrarian just put up a post about forgotten books she’s read and she mentions this one.
    https://theorangutanlibrarian.wordpress.com/2018/04/21/forgettable-books-already-forgotten/

    I posted a link to your review so she could see if she wants to re-read it to remember it or not. Hope you don’t mind.

    Cheers!

    • admin says:

      Bookstooge:

      Sincere thanks – both for passing on the post and for opening my eyes to the two additional books in the series.

      I have the three I mentioned in hardcover but it looks like I have a couple more to track down. 🙂

      Hope all’s well with you.

      Cheers!

      • Bookstooge says:

        Hey Brian,
        No problem. Always glad to help a fellow bookworm.

        On a complete side note:

        I am still not getting notifications, either through the wordpress notification bar OR through email, about your replies to my initial comments. Or even my replies back. I have to come to your site and check the “Recent Comments” sidebar to see what’s going on.

        And another side note. Do you get a lot of spam? Just wondering since you have comment moderation on for all comments. I know wordpress has various levels of comment mod available.

        • admin says:

          My miss on this one – I still haven’t had the chance to check in with WP on the notification issue. I’ll try to do that tomorrow. I’ve never actually had a spam problem – I just went with comment moderation as a default. I should probably just turn it off and see what happens. Cheers

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