a mostly peacefully meditative book sprinkled with moments of intense discomfort. miyamoto has a talent for portraying the psychological complexity of persevering at the very edge of despair. his despair is of neither the dramatic western variety nor the deadened modern variety but is instead almost Christian in its preoccupation with sin. based on just inhabitation and this book, i’d say this seems to be his theme. this, and random women saving trash men lol

for craft, i’d give this book five stars. beautifully written characters and a smooth epistolary format. for implied ideology, minus one star. it’s oddly suffused with the ridiculous optimism of a japanese person raised during japan’s economic miracle, and for all miyamoto’s skill at portraying the emotion and experience of despair, his suggested solution is not very good.