양장제본, 256 pages
Published 2019년 4월 15일 by Knopf.
In this “exquisite personal blend of philosophy and engagement, inner quiet and worldly life" (Los Angeles Times), an acclaimed author returns to his longtime home in Japan after his father-in-law’s sudden death and picks up the steadying patterns of his everyday rites, reminding us to take nothing for granted.
In a country whose calendar is marked with occasions honoring the dead, Pico Iyer comes to reflect on changelessness in ways that anyone can relate to: parents age, children scatter, and Iyer and his wife turn to whatever can sustain them as everything falls away. As the maple leaves begin to turn and the heat begins to soften, Iyer shows us a Japan we have seldom seen before, where the transparent and the mysterious are held in a delicate balance.
I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, but Pico Iyer's thoughtful prose on the full spectrum of life, creativity, the seasons, Japan, Zen, and Table Tennis, resonates deeply with me.
I look forward to returning to this unusual mix of memoir and philosophy.
