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How Do You Live?
How Do You Live? | Genzaburo Yoshino
14 posts | 10 read | 13 to read
Anime master Hayao Miyazakis favorite childhood book, in English for the first time. First published in 1937, Genzabur? Yoshinos How Do You Live? has long been acknowledged in Japan as a crossover classic for young readers. Academy Awardwinning animator Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Howls Moving Castle) has called it his favorite childhood book and announced plans to emerge from retirement to make it the basis of a final film. How Do You Live? is narrated in two voices. The first belongs to Copper, fifteen, who after the death of his father must confront inevitable and enormous change, including his own betrayal of his best friend. In between episodes of Coppers emerging story, his uncle writes to him in a journal, sharing knowledge and offering advice on lifes big questions as Copper begins to encounter them. Over the course of the story, Copper, like his namesake Copernicus, looks to the stars, and uses his discoveries about the heavens, earth, and human nature to answer the question of how he will live. This first-ever English-language translation of a Japanese classic about finding ones place in a world both infinitely large and unimaginably small is perfect for readers of philosophical fiction like The Alchemist and The Little Prince, as well as Miyazaki fans eager to understand one of his most important influences.
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Angeles
How Do You Live? | Genzaburo Yoshino
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So far really nice with introduction by Neil Gaiman,bittersweet and melancholic but not preachy or oversimplified

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Lindy
How Do You Live? | Genzaburo Yoshino
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Pickpick

This Japanese children‘s classic, first published in 1937 & not translated into English until 2021 (by Bruno Navasky) surprised me with its subtle power. A year in the life of 12-year-old Copper in Tokyo is interwoven with scientific & historical information as well as philosophical musings. It grapples gently, yet seriously, with self-knowledge and the question of how to live a good life. #kidlit #allages #translation

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Lindy
How Do You Live? | Genzaburo Yoshino
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If it weren‘t natural for people to live together in harmony, then why would we suffer when we felt a lack of harmony? If we should try to live a life of love and goodwill toward others but instead find ourselves driven by hatred and hostility, we feel unfortunate because of that, and for that reason, we suffer.

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Lindy
How Do You Live? | Genzaburo Yoshino
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There is nothing more beautiful than people nurturing goodwill towards their fellow human beings.

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Lindy
How Do You Live? | Genzaburo Yoshino
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It was the sort of crisp, clear autumn evening that closed tightly around his body and made him want to breathe deeply.

Sparklemn Beautiful quote 2y
34 likes2 comments
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Lindy
How Do You Live? | Genzaburo Yoshino
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Sometimes the joy of books that seem to contain opposing elements is realizing that without both things, you would have a lesser book.
—Neil Gaiman, from the foreword to the tagged book

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underground_bks
How Do You Live? | Genzaburo Yoshino
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Pickpick

Now translated into English, this bestselling classic, first published in 1937, was the childhood favorite of Hayao Miyazaki and one of the most philosophical, introspective, and comfiest novels for young readers I‘ve ever read. This book follows Copper, a student in Tokyo as he learns the importance of free thinking, of science and the humanities, and how to create a meaningful and ethical life for yourself. Slow-paced and quiet but powerful.

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tenar
How Do You Live? | Genzaburo Yoshino
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I expected to love this: classic JPN lit, fiction plus nonfiction, up for Studio Ghibli adaptation. I was excited by the idea of an ethics book for young readers within a relatable middle grade story. It‘s all those things, but it didn‘t live up to my dreams. The dazzling opening and a moment with mom near the end touched me, yet other chapters lost sparkle and one was so wishy-washy I wasn‘t sure it was saying anything at all. Uneven but unique.

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Branwen
How Do You Live? | Genzaburo Yoshino
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Pickpick

I LOVED THIS SO MUCH! ❤ Philosophical and super heartfelt! I'm excited about Miyazaki planning to make it into a film! 💕📚💕 #catsoflitsy #littenkitten #jupiterjazz

Leftcoastzen 😻👏 2y
erzascarletbookgasm I want to read this so much! 😍 2y
65 likes2 comments
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Branwen
How Do You Live? | Genzaburo Yoshino
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Really exciting book mail arrived today! 🎉🎉🎉

The last book in the Wake the Dragon series ended on a terrible cliffhanger, so I'm pretty eager to five right into this new one! I'm also fairly certain this is only a trilogy, so hopefully this third book will have a nice resolution! The tagged book is getting a lot of hype and has a forward by Neil Gaiman (😲😍!) So I'm excited about that one as well! I just love book mail days! ❤📖❤ #bookmail

tenar I started How Do You Live? over the weekend, and it‘s lovely so far! 2y
Branwen @tenar That's so great to hear! I was intrigued to learn that Miyazaki is making a film adaptation! I'm so excited to read it now! 2y
50 likes2 comments
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Thndrstd
How Do You Live? | Genzaburo Yoshino
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Pickpick

Copper is fifteen and coming into his own as a young man whose uncle guides him through some of the bigger philosophical questions of his life. This book has shaped many Japanese lives, most notably the filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki who has come out of retirement to put this on screen. It would have made a deeper impression on me when I was younger, but this is the first time the book has been available in English and is an engaging, thoughtful read.

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thepostman96
How Do You Live? | Genzaburo Yoshino
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Pickpick

Made it through the semester and I‘m still alive 😮‍💨 So with my sweet, sweet free time I was finally able to finish this beautiful book. It was gentle and thoughtful and just altogether a very wholesome book. I really hope that schools will start to pick this up because the lessons taught in here are so valuable.

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thepostman96
How Do You Live? | Genzaburo Yoshino
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I‘m not even two chapters into this book and it‘s already dropping deep thought on me. I love it.

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Dilara
How Do You Live? | Genzaburo Yoshino
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I have started Yoshino Genzaburo's Japanese YA classic How do you live? It was written in the thirties as a philosophy primer for Japanese teenagers, and banned in the forties as it was deemed unpatriotic. I am reading the brand-new French translation. I believe an English translation is about to be published (with a foreword by Neil Gaiman!), and a Studio Ghibli animé is in production.

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