I saved my allowance and bought the latest titles from National Book Store (which I swear, is my favorite store, to this day). I still have some of these books with me, but most of them have been donated or sold. My best friends then were Hans Christian Andersen, Louisa May Alcott, Enid Blyton and Francine Pascal. It wasn’t like I was forced to read. I just enjoyed reading, and after a while, writing. When I wasn’t engrossed with my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Barbie dolls, I had my reliable books to turn to when I wanted to relax.
Somewhere along the way, I stopped reading for leisure or self-enrichment. I just read for school and in school. Books were suddenly strangers to me. They sat in my room gathering dust.
This year, I made a resolution to go back to reading. I realized that no matter how advanced and cutting edge our technology is, no matter how convenient and time-saving the Internet is, reading books can never be passé. Books are a rich source of ideas, knowledge and even entertainment.
Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings made people want to read again. Writers like John Grisham and Anne Rice added spice to religious readers and non-readers.
It is sad that we Filipinos tend to be more appreciative of Western writers rather than Asian or our very own local writers who have mastered their craft quite well. Have we read the works of F. Sionil Jose, Nick Joaquin, Lualhati Bautista or Deogracias Rosario as much as we have widely received Danielle Steel, Andrew Morton, John Grisham, Anne Rice, Tolkien and J.K. Rowling? Instead of sticking to Western writers, maybe we should support local and/or Asian writers for a change.
Several months ago, I came across a novel by Banana Yoshimoto. I was quite entertained and fascinated with her artistry and style that are distinctly Japanese. Born in 1964, Yoshimoto’s first novel, Kitchen, was released in Japan in 1988. It won a major literary prize, sold millions of copies and triggered "Banana mania."
Yoshimoto wrote Kitchen in between stints as a waitress. It is her English-language debut, a translation from Japanese of two stories, "Moonlight Shadow" and the title story (she wrote them when she was 22 and 23, respectively). Kitchen is a light novel which deals with loss and alienation, spirituality and love. In the novel, I learned that death and loss are parts of life that we need to encounter to fully understand how to live and love.
According to Hong Kong’s Yim Ho, who made a film based on the novel, it is a sparse narrative based on the intricate interaction between few individuals set in a modern city scope. The novel speaks of Japanese culture and lifestyle, sexuality, family relationships, death and love. Bereavement leaves two young people lost and in solace, finding each other and almost relying on one another.
In the story, Mikage Sakurai, the main character, goes through many losses, mainly deaths of people who are important and special to her. This leaves her to experience tremendous pain, suffering and loneliness. The story is enveloped with "magic realism." The events in Kitchen reveal a perspective of life that is more existential than fatalistic. The miraculous and unpredictable twists of events unravel people and things that serve as muses who give guidance and light to the characters.
Mikage is an orphan raised by her grandmother. Sadly, her grandmother passes away, leaving Mikage alone. She starts sleeping beside the refrigerator in the kitchen, her favorite part of the house. A mere acquaintance until her grandmother’s funeral, Yuichi pays her a visit and invites her to stay with him and his mother.
A measly teaser. I will not spill the beans, for you just might want to read the novel.
What starts out as two lost souls seeking solace may end up with more than that in the end. The many people who have graced our life are living testimonies of life’s blessings and surprises.
Life, truly is not an easy road to travel. Somewhere along the cumbersome journey, trials come our way. They are innumerable, some seemingly easy, some appear unfathomable. Ultimately, it is our spirit which helps us overcome these obstacles. It is how we accept and take these obstacles that matter. A friend of mine once said, "If you think it couldn’t get any worse, believe me, it can and it will."
True. Just when you think you’ve been to hell and back, you might just take that same trip again, and this time in slow motion. For me, it’s a matter of handling one’s predicament with the right mindset, spirit and action. There’s this passage in Kitchen which says it all, and I quote, "As I grow older, much older, I will experience many things and I will hit rock bottom again and again. Again and again, I will suffer; again and again, I will get back on my feet. I will not be defeated. I won’t let my spirit be destroyed . . . People aren’t overcome by situations or outside forces; defeat invades from within."
Eriko, Yuichi’s mother, a wise woman, having have gone through tumultuous phases in her life, says: "If a person hasn’t experienced true despair, she grows old never knowing how to evaluate where she is in life; never understanding what joy really is."
In the heartwarming book, Tuesdays with Morrie, the lead character who is about to die, says: "To know how to live, one must learn how to die." To truly appreciate life, one should be acquainted with death, its nearness, its actuality, its reality. Once you are acquainted with death, life will seem more precious and priceless.
In Kitchen, Mikage Sakurai shares the same belief. At one point, she says, "No matter what, I want to continue living with the awareness that I will die. Without that, I am not alive. That is what makes the life I have now possible."
In Yoshimoto’s ‘Afterword,’ she writes, "Growth and the overcoming of obstacles are inscribed on a person’s soul. If I have become any better at fighting my daily battles, be they violent or quiet, I know it is only thanks to my many friends and acquaintances. I want to dedicate this, my virgin offering to them."
I have always been a believer that when everything seems to be in the worst state, somehow, serendipitously, things have a way of falling into place. Just when you think you’ve hit rock bottom, you can still go deeper. There are times, too, in the darkest of hours, there will be light.
In the novel, when Mikage thinks of darkness – which symbolizes sadness and loneliness – she sees light. Moonlight, actually. Inching her way along a steep cliff in the dark, she reaches the highway and breathes a sigh of relief. Just when she can’t take any more, she sees moonlight. Beauty that seems to infuse itself into the heart. The moon is a magical and miraculous force signifying happiness. It is the "light at the end of the tunnel," so to speak.
"It is in the darkest of nights that we see the stars more brightly," the poet, Emerson, if I’m not mistaken, once said. True, it is during the lowest point of our lives that we discover that light is around us. Like Mikage, it is in searching in the darkness that we stumble upon our true jewels. It is in our darkest and lowest point, that our spirits are tested and the fire inside us ignited.