I loved An Exquisite Sense of What is Beautiful - from the title, the cover, the characters, the language and the plot. This delicate little beauty, told over two time periods 's and , teases out the mystery of why eminent British writer Sir Edward Strathairn returns to a hotel in the Japanese mountains after almost fifty year Having just read and been disappointing by the Murakami trilogy I did wonder if I should leave off reading another novel with a Japan setting.
This delicate little beauty, told over two time periods 's and , teases out the mystery of why eminent British writer Sir Edward Strathairn returns to a hotel in the Japanese mountains after almost fifty years. Although the main character is cruel, selfish, sometimes violent and vain I couldn't help liking him because Simons has built these flaws into a rounded story that describes his childhood, his triumphs and failures.
The setting was so evocative I found myself reaching for the miso jar at every meal. I hope this novel is shortlisted for many prizes, it certainly deserves to be.
An Exquisite Sense of What is Beautiful
We follow eminent British author Edward Strathairn as he returns to Japan, to the very same hotel and room where he wrote his hugely successful debut The Waterwheel over forty years previously. These swift changes in perspective can be daunting at first but quickly become seductive as Simons invites us to discover the events that have made Edward the man he is, for better and for worse. It becomes clear that Simons has the utmost respect and love for Japanese culture, unsurprising when you consider his seven years in Japan as a university lecturer. This guarantees a satisfying pace, not too rampant but not too leisurely.
I feared that such delicate matters could either swamp the narrative in misplaced polemic debate or that Simons would only touch upon the subject without placing the deserved weight on the importance of the events, for both Japan and America. However, Edward is not immune from denial himself and his hypocrisy begins to show itself as the novel progresses through frustrating youthful vitriol into aged perspective.
This choice haunts Edward as he attempts to come to terms with his lifelong denials, facing his past with a calm grace that puts the spotlight on Simons as the skilled writer he is.
An Exquisite Sense Of What Is Beautiful, by J David Simons | Vulpes Libris
It is obvious that Simons is a master of written word, his engagement with the English and Japanese languages is shaped with delicacy and intricacy. Sein erster Japanaufenthalt dient ihm als Flucht aus der Einsamkeit einer freudlosen Jugend. Trotz klassischer britischer Knabenschule hat Edward keinen Ehrbegriff entwickelt und entzieht sich Konflikten mit simplen Schuldzuweisungen. Das 50er Jahre-Feeling; eine Zeit, in der der Begriff Romanautor automatisch bedeutete, dass es sich nur um einen Mann handeln kann, bringt Simons hier treffend zum Ausdruck.
An excellent title for a challenging, difficult, heartbreaking book. Perfect for this exquisite book. I don't often read books about old men, and I liked that, at the beginning; I enjoyed experiencing Edward's twilight years, then getting to know him as a young man. As Edward's life unfolds, the book becomes challenging, but it is a credit to Simons's writing that instead of quitting the book I was keen to see how everything would be resolved.
Simons grabs the reader early, somehow evoking empath An excellent title for a challenging, difficult, heartbreaking book. Simons grabs the reader early, somehow evoking empathy for this character who is hugely flawed yet uncomfortably likeable. The book touches on some horrifying themes and particular incidents, which Simons handles with grace and honesty.
The dual settings of London and Japan are beautifully rendered. I love books set in exotic locations, and this did not disappoint; Simons is a master of evoking setting. This is what great literature does, takes us to dark places and back out again. Dieses Zitat trifft absolut auf den Charakter von Edward zu: Thoroughly enjoyed this one.
I know next to nothing about Japanese culture, but the idea you get from Japanese brushwork on scrolls was reminiscent of the Zen feel in the word choice here. I'm not a quick reader - but I read this in two or three sittings Thoroughly enjoyed this one.
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I'm not a quick reader - but I read this in two or three sittings. Nice too to see Glasgow depicted in this sensitive way! This is an elegant and thought-provoking novel that skilfully challenges the assumptions of the reader. Here is my full review on Vulpes Libris: The stunning title and cover give this novel a lot to live up to it, but it does it beautifully. East meets west in a modern classic. This book checks all the right marks: On the down side, you'll want to get to know the secondary characters more than the protagonist, who is your typical writer-in-training literary character, and just not that interesting other than in his regrets.
Forget the whining of an old man, however. This tale is we This book checks all the right marks: This tale is well worth reading. An Exquisite Sense of What is Beautiful offers an absurdly well paced and layered story that will catch you off guard with its intrigue and bittersweet ending. Sep 14, Nick rated it really liked it. This book follows a British author through post war Japan, to London, his family home in Glasgow and also to New York. It deals with war and guilt in a sensitive way especially when looking at the dropping of the atomic bombs in Japan in Cultural differences are discussed the guilty diplomatic Brit and gung ho Americans in disagreement about the ending of the war and whether these bombs were of benefit to the war effort.
Relationships were looked at as well and the main character looked ba This book follows a British author through post war Japan, to London, his family home in Glasgow and also to New York. Relationships were looked at as well and the main character looked back with a lot of regret at past relationships and the mistakes made in life.
A great read, extremely satisfying, with substance as well as style, and definitely my best book of this year so far. At the beginning I was savouring the writing style, cultural references and historical events, but as the plot picked up pace, I couldn't linger over it — I just had to know what was going to happen. Exciting, moving, full of twists, by turns sad and more upbeat, I will be reading this again almost straight away, because the personal story made me turn the pages too fast!
Great b A great read, extremely satisfying, with substance as well as style, and definitely my best book of this year so far. Simons is a wonderful writer and a joy to read. I will be sure to put more of his novels on my to-read list. I would have given 4 and a half stars if I could,only one quibble I think it ended to soon..
May 18, Nat rated it it was amazing. A beautiful dream of a book! Full of wistful longing. Is almost certainly going to feature as one of the best books i have read this year. Mar 04, Susan Gorrie rated it liked it. Mildly interesting story of an author who wrote a book in Japan condemning Americans post bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Had a love affair with a Japanese woman and left her behind. Had an unsuccessful marriage. But such happenings are strictly isolated.
He is, after all, an old man.
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We are left guessing about the nature of the incident that is dogging Sir Edward. Early on, his personal assistant warns the hotel manager that this is strictly a private visit. Later, she refers to unspecified rumours. When the incident finally comes to light, we feel its impact, and get a sense of the earth crumbling beneath his feet.
It says much for Simons's skill that he can show us a Strathairn who for all his flaws and occasional selfishness can engage our sympathies when he finally realises the cost of his own denial. You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments. Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Read the new rules here.
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Get involved with the news in your community. Send your stories and photos now. Review — Unquiet Women, by Max Adams. It was there he fell in love and wrote his best-selling novel, The Waterwheel , accusing America of being in denial about the horrific aftermath of the Tokyo firebombings and the nuclear destruction at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As we learn more about his earlier life, however - as a student in Bloomsbury, involved with a famous American painter - we realise that he too is in denial, trying to escape past events that are now rapidly catching up with him.
Audio recording and editing by Blake Brooks. Yes, I liked it, but if you stop and analyze what happens you over and over find things that just do not make sense! If I give you examples, I am going to wreck the book for you. Contemporary authors seem to think readers today no longer want a book that runs in chronological order. They all have to flip back and forth in time. Here we start in and then flip back first to the 50s and then to time periods closer and closer to when Edward is in his 70s.
We learn retrospectively why he has become who he is. This flipping is not difficult to follow, but tell me, what is gained by this manner of writing?! Nothing as far as I can see. Did I care for the characters? No, but they felt real. Edward is self-centered, egotistical and detached.
Do you get much history? No, even if some well-recognizable people Churchill, Nehru flash by! That Edward saw the American destruction of Japan specifically Tokyo, Nagasaki and Hiroshima with unforgiving eyes is not ever explained. He writes a book about it, but why he felt so moved is left unexplored.