カテゴリー: おすすめの洋書

平易な英語で読みやすいかなと思ったら、英語ノンネイティブの主人公が徐々に英語を学んでいくという設定のため、（あえて）文法のエラーが多く、その点読みにくさがありました。

相手の負荷も考え、ある程度正しい文法で話すことが必要だなと感じつつ、この勇敢な少女のお話を読み進めました。

This books starts off with terrible news to the protagonist, a fourteen-year-old Nigerian girl. She was told that she has to marry an old guy as his third wife. Every time I encounter the story of child marriage like this book, I feel there is no hope in this world. I am wrong, of course. So many people have fought against the issue without turning away like I do. The girl called Adunni in this book is one of them. Her desire to study at school to be a teacher was so intense and unwavering no matter what she went through.

The story carried me from child marriage to unexpected tragedy to illegal child labor. This is the story in 2015, and the abhorrent activities are still ongoing.

Aside from the social issues, the book has elements of mystery and glittering moments that come from interactions between Adunni and good-hearted people.

Yet, it is heartbreaking to read this through, facing issues that have rooted down in the area. I was saved by Adunni’s courageous and determined attitude throughout. She is hope itself. I believe her intelligence and kind heart is what we need for the world down the road.

主人公Eilish Stackは、科学者であり4児の母親です。独裁政権と化した政府に夫が突如連れ去られ行方知れずとなります。本を読んでいるあいだ、戦火に逃げまどい、故郷を追われる難民のことが頭から離れませんでした。現代の写し絵のようなこの物語をデストピアン小説と呼ぶなら、我々はどう抗えばいいのでしょうか。予言者の歌（Prophet song)はとうに聞こえてきているはずなのに。

Where is the boundary between dystopian novels and reportage? I guess there isn’t any.

In this story, the government in Ireland morphed into a dictatorship seemingly overnight, capturing people unjustly labeled as insurgents. In reality, they were just ordinary people who never plotted to overthrow the country. However, most of them ended up being executed after or during torture. Eilish Stack, a mother-of-four protagonist, lost her husband at the onset of turmoil. As I read it, the image of refugees fleeing from sheer violence flashed into my mind. How could I leave our house, feeling my loved one might come back home any time soon, then we might be able to go somewhere safe together?

Yet, you notice the blast of shells flying over your head and bombs dropping very near your house. Each of us is utterly vulnerable. Besides, it is some of us that can be veritable enemies, not the governments. Those who hoard money by taking advantage of the desperation of others. I do not feel any sentiment from them, let alone empathy. Even worse,  the international response to local conflicts is excruciatingly slow.

How can we counter this story, or reality, although the Prophet’s song has already sang for every single one of us?

ある洋書会で1年以上かけて読みました。

あくせくするのを少しストップして、心の声に耳を傾けてみる。

モモと一緒に本当に大切なものは何かを考えてみる、そんな読書時間でした。

The book is titled Momo which is also a name of the protagonist in this book. She was just an ordinary girl except that she was an exceptionally great listener. Not giving advice or anything, Momo gazed at speaker’s eyes and listened to them. Anyone who talked to her felt they were a special person and could find answers to their problems on their own. I think this is a good character trait. We often need assurances or encouragement from someone, but not advice, since we actually know deep down inside what to do when we are less sure.

The main theme of this book is time.

Men in grey manipulated people into believing that the harder you work the happier you would be, that led to a life different from what it was now. Then they toiled away all day long to save time to just find themselves being pressed for time. In the fear of facing the fact that effort they made was in vain, they worked even harder to avoid the reality. That sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

Time is really tricky to deal with. The book tells us every minute is our life. Our life is in our hearts. I feel the book asks me: what is your life for? Do you follow your heart?

The readers can find another aspect of time through Momo’s utter loneliness in the middle of the story. After losing all her friends, she came to understand that there was treasure that destroys you unless you have anyone someone to share it with. That reminds me of some people who just want to finish up their time day by day after they lost loved ones.

As children give me insightful idea, the books for children inspire me, or let me recall who I used to be.

これまで、海外の方との会話をとおして、私たちの特性は理解していました。しかし、この本を読み日本人の行動原理を考察するまでには至っていなかったと気が付かされました。

東日本大震災の日に、大川小学校で起こったことと、震災後に多くの幽霊が目撃されたことを精緻に描いた、英国人記者によるルポルタージュです。大変おすすめです。

The book, Ghosts of the Tsunami, reveals what really happened to the Okawa Elementary School in

 which most of the teachers and children were swallowed up by tsunami on March 11  2011. Japanese

 feel terribly uncomfortable to analyze the past incidents and to cast blame. Even the appalling number

 of children’s deaths, which was caused by a teacher’s misjudgment, has been swept under the rug.

 Most of the teachers who died at the scene has made the operation to shed light on the cause of this

 tragedy even more difficult. The School must have prepared to let teachers act according to proper

 protocol, but they failed.

The author provides insight into Tohoku people’s mindset, which dictated how they behaved in the

 middle of a disaster and afterwards. That gave me a better understanding on this matter. He said

 people in Tohoku area (for me his analysis applies to general Japanese to some degree though) are

 patient and obedient, afraid to change and very self-conscious. The personality is necessarily to

 survive in a disaster stricken country as a group. That, however, can be a double edged sword, because

 our trait hinders us to take initiative in a critical moment.

As the title suggests, a large number of people testified that they come across ghosts after the

 disaster. Some people were even relentlessly possessed by that. A kind of mass hysteria might have

 created the whole ghost thing. Still, As I read this book that is written logically and insightfully, I feel the

 souls of the dead hope to live in others. Things we can see with our eyes do not always tell us

 everything. I wish a peaceful mind will come to both the bereaved families and victims.

The Goldfinch is a strange novel. I wanted to stop going further into the story several times while

reading. That is because of the torrent of sheer misery Theo, the protagonist, goes through. Now

I have finished the book and miss his journey so much. I miss warm air wafting in Hobie’s house,

Theo’s confusing yet intense love for Pippa, and inseparable relationship with his friend Boris. There

are other distinctive characters and even dogs that appear, who are all indispensable to weave the

story. None of them can live as they wish. They are agonized by things such as loss of beloved ones or

mental illnesses or love that is not reciprocated. They are complicated and contradicted now and then.

In their merciless destiny, however, I found solace.