Probing the Library #2: Ryo Urase (Part Two)

 Note: This post contains spoilers for What You Are Looking For Is in the Library! 

I honestly didn’t expect that I’d have to split this entry on Ryo Urase into two parts, but it is what it is. In part one we looked at Ryo’s work-related frustration from the lens of Herzberg’s two-factor hygiene and motivation theory. Here, I’ll mostly dive into the resolution of Ryo’s conflict and what it means.

Probing the Library #2: Ryo Urase (Part One)

Note: This post contains spoilers for What You Are Looking For Is in the Library!

In chapter two of What You Are Looking For is in the Library, we meet thirty-five year old Ryo Urase, an accounting staff in a furniture-manufacturing company. Ryo is frustrated with the monotony of his current job and dreams of one day opening his own antique shop. However, he’s constantly demotivated by his lack of resources to do so. Ryo wonders whether his dream will remain just that - a faraway, unattainable dream.

As I reread Ryo’s story, I find that we can understand it from the lens of Herzberg’s two-factor theory of motivation-hygiene. Please bear in mind that I am not a psychology student - I stumbled upon Herzberg’s theory while reading another (non-fiction, non-English) book. I thought it was insightful. In this part, I’ll look at Ryo’s dissatisfaction through the lens of Herzberg’s theory. Part two will discuss the solution Ryo eventually lands on.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Returning to the Present

Note: This post contains spoilers for Before the Coffee Gets Cold!

Before the Coffee Gets Cold is a 2015 novel by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. Originally written in Japanese, the novel mainly tells the story of four different people. Each of them travels through time for different reasons thanks to the unique time-traveling service provided by café Funiculi Funicula. Kawaguchi has since produced sequels with the same time-travel premise.

Tracking T&T: Brief Thoughts on By The Pricking of My Thumbs

Note: This post contains spoilers for By The Pricking of My Thumbs!

Just some brief thoughts I had about three things in the story: the story's loose ends, Sir Philip, and the inscription on the tombstone Tuppence found.

Probing the Library #1: Tomoka Fujiki

Note: This post contains spoilers for What You Are Looking For Is in the Library!

Chapter one of Michiko Aoyama’s What You Are Looking For Is in the Library presents to us 21-year-old Tomoka Fujiki. She works in a place called Eden in a coral-pink uniform required for womenswear sales assistants. After six months she quickly finds herself dissatisfied with the job. However, she admits to not having any dreams or ambitions, and as a result ends up with no idea what to do.

There are many things we can discuss - but one I’d like to pick up here is the use of colors. I’m sure there is something the author is trying to say through the use of colors in this first chapter. I can’t really quite pin it down yet, but I’m just going to try. And it’s never a bad idea to jot down new ideas!

Tracking T&T: By The Pricking of My Thumbs

(As usual, not my picture,
but it's the version that I own.)

Note: This is a spoiler-free post!

I know that I started this T&T review series by writing about the first book in the series. Logically, I should proceed with the second, then the third, and so on. But you’ll have to forgive me since I’ve decided to jump to the fourth book in the series - By The Pricking of My Thumbs. I did reread the second and third books, but somehow I feel more excited to write about this fourth one. So here we are!

Little Men: Becoming Little Children

(Not my picture, but this version is the copy I own.)

Note: I'm actually unsure whether the things mentioned here count as spoilers, since Little Men is something of a slice-of-life. If you haven't read the book, I personally think reading this post won't spoil your future reading of Little Men.

Set after the events of Little Women, Little Men invites us into the hustle and bustle of a school called Plumfield. (Honestly Plumfield isn’t really a school in the traditional sense. But we’ll use the word “school” for convenience’s sake. Read the book to find out what it’s like!) We follow Jo March and husband Frederick “Fritz” Bhaer as they run this school of theirs. 

This time Louisa May Alcott introduces a roster of mainly male characters, predominantly the boys - aka “little men” - studying at Plumfield. Nevertheless adult characters do still make appearances. There’s this one thing about them, perhaps really trivial, that caught my eye. Sometimes Alcott describes them as a “boy” or “girl” - as if they’re children - instead of the usual “man/gentleman” or “woman/lady”. It’s kind of cute, isn’t it? In addition to adding cuteness, I think this strengthens a main theme in Little Men: There are certain areas in which adults are encouraged to imitate children, and should not be ashamed to do so.

Quick Review: The Devotion of Suspect X

(Not my picture!)

Note: This is a spoiler-free post!

Different mysteries stand out in their own different ways. Some, like Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, are celebrated for its shocking reveal of the culprit. On the other hand, I remember being so haunted by Five Little Pigs - another of Christie’s works - for a completely different reason. Solving a 20-year-old cold case isn’t all that exciting, in complete honesty, but I was struck by how tragic the story was.

The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino is a mix of both. It’s a shocker - but not because of a shocking culprit! - that sends you on a rollercoaster of emotions.

Quick Review: What You Are Looking For Is in the Library

(Not my picture!)

Note: This is a spoiler-free post!

Somewhere during my Japanese-book fever last year, I decided to read What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama. Judging from the title, I expected this book to single-mindedly revolve around, well, books and libraries - perhaps something like Sosuke Natsukawa’s The Cat Who Saved Books. But apparently I was in for a pleasant surprise. Little did I know that this book was going to become one of my favorite books!

Tracking T&T: Why the Name “Tuppence”?

 Note: This post contains spoilers for The Secret Adversary!

During my reread of The Secret Adversary, I was once again made aware of the fact that we never know why Miss Prudence Cowley is called “Tuppence”. In the opening chapter of The Secret Adversary, Christie herself seems to tell us that she would not be giving us explanation:

…Miss Prudence Cowley, known to her intimate friends for some mysterious reason as ‘Tuppence.”

Christie may offer no answers, but I am here to offer a fun speculation.

Tracking T&T: Revisiting The Secret Adversary

The 1967 Bantam edition is the copy I managed to acquire. 
(the picture above isn't mine, though.)

Note: This is a spoiler-free post!

The Secret Adversary was my first encounter with Agatha Christie.

Well…not exactly.

The translated version of The Secret Adversary was my first encounter with Agatha Christie. I was fond of mysteries - I grew up reading stories like Enid Blyton’s Famous Five and Secret Seven, and Gosho Aoyama’s Detective Conan (whose ending, to this day, is still nowhere in sight). I guess it was just a matter of time before I encountered the Queen of Crime herself. And though not everything may be believable, The Secret Adversary successfully sold me on the Agatha Christie's mysteries through its hilarity and - of course - plot twist. Down the rabbit hole I went, devouring any Christie books I could get my hands on.