There are not enough words to describe how awesome this book is! I finished reading it in 2 hours and it has really taught me a lot about life and love. My favourite part was Mio's letter. If you knew you would die at the age of 29 but get to be with the man you love and a son you will have, would you choose to live that life? Or would you rather marry some other guy and live till the ripe old age of 80? Takkun may seem like a quirky guy with all his flaws but you will fall in love with him and be able to relate to his pain of losing his wife and knowing that he will lose her again. I teared throughout the book which is something that I have never done before, "Be With You" is a really special book.
Este es el primer libro que he le¨ªdo para el #marzoasi¨¢tico y he empezado con buen pie. Nos cuenta la historia de Takkun y Yuji, padre e hijo. Takkun tiene veintinueve a?os y cuando empieza el libro sabemos que qued¨® viudo un a?o atr¨¢s; Yuji es un ni?o de seis a?os, espabilado y muy entra?able. Takkun no quiere que Yuji olvide a Mio, su madre, por eso empieza a escribir esta novela para contarle su historia, pero un a?o despu¨¦s del fallecimiento de ella, en el primer d¨ªa de la estaci¨®n de las lluvias, Takkun y Yuji est¨¢n paseando por el bosque y junto a una vieja f¨¢brica de sake abandonada, aparece Mio, con todos sus recuerdos borrados pero aparentemente viva y tangible.
No puedo decir nada m¨¢s, porque es un libro tan cortito y especial que si sigo hablando entrar¨ªa en el peligroso terreno del spoiler. Tiene muchas cosas bonitas que hay que descubrir a medida que se va leyendo. Es, sobre todo, un libro con unos personajes muy entra?ables, y estos personajes tienen todo el peso de la novela, por lo que estamos ante uno de los libros m¨¢s preciosos y amables que he le¨ªdo nunca. El argumento se va moviendo entre lo fant¨¢stico y lo real, sin saber muy bien donde empieza la magia, para darte cuenta a los pocos cap¨ªtulos de que todo el libro es m¨¢gico en s¨ª.
Lo he saboreado ley¨¦ndolo despacito, recre¨¢ndome en sus palabras y enamor¨¢ndome de sus personajes. Es una historia que tiene una base triste y melanc¨®lica, pero acaba dejando un sabor de boca muy dulce. Cuando lo acab¨¦ me di cuenta de que acababa de leer un libro sorprendente de esos que dejan poso, una rara avis de la literatura japonesa. Qu¨¦ pena que no hayan traducido m¨¢s libros de Takuji Ichikawa, ya que tiene bastantes y todos han tenido bastante ¨¦xito en Jap¨®n y otros pa¨ªses.
"Soon I won't be with you any longer, but when the rainy season returns, I will come back to see how the two of you are getting along." -Mio
When Mio died, her husband Takkun and her son Yuji mourned her death and struggled to survive. Takkun is trying to be a father and a mother all at the same time for his son Yuji. For some other widowed fathers this might be an easy thing to do, but for him it's just not. A life without Mio is hardly life at all. But he had to do it for his son. For a year they've been trying to move on. The life they live is not a-okay, they just get by.
They tried to cope up with that bitter reality that Mio, the light and center of their world, won't come back.
Until that first day in the rainy season, Mio suddenly returned.
Surely there must be some rational explanation for this?
But there was none. She was there in front of them, back from the grave, like it's some normal occurrence.
The explanation about Mio's return is one of the many reasons that would keep you reading this book until the end.
Be With You is the third English translated Japanese book I've ever read. And just like the first two books, this is heart warming and thought provoking. It talks about family, love, life, death and the happiness one can get from the simplest things. Which is pretty common in Japanese novels.
Be with you has a sad and very deep plot, it's not the usual tragic love story. I like the way it showed that love takes time to grow, and that it needs stronger foundations to last. It talks about death, goodbyes and partings that made me want to grasp every single love ones I have, afraid that any moment they or I might not be here anymore.
I remember crying two times when I was reading this book. The first time was when Takkun was narrating how hard their life without Mio is. I felt sad for them. I don't know what it really feels like to lose a love one, but from the way Takkun described their situation and his emotions, I thoroughly get the idea. The second time I cried was during the ending. But I cannot tell you anything more without giving too much away.
Be with you is a very sentimental book, one that will render you emotional and nostalgic. This is the kind of book that I find myself reading 5, 10, even 20 years from now. When I was reading this I thought that it's great to read this book while it's raining, a blanket on your lap, the book in your hands and a hot choco within reach. Funny thing is, some other GR reviewer thought about it too.
Anyway, I recommend this to everyone. In fact this book was so good they had a manga, a movie and a t.v series adaptation of it.
Okay, so before I end this let me share just a few lines from the book that I really liked. " If you know you're about to lose something, only then do you know what it is you really want."-Takkun "But...Life goes on. No matter how many meetings and partings we have to live through, no matter what faraway places we are sent of, life goes on."- Nombre
"Kami hidup. Meski mengalami perpisahan berkali-kali, meski harus pergi ke tempat yang jauh sekalipun... Kami hidup." - halaman 360
Bagaimana jadinya ya ketika istri yang meninggal datang lagi. Bahkan, beliau benar-benar kembali di hari yang dia ucapkan.
Hantu?
Atau apa?
Namun, kasatmata.
Itu yang dialami oleh Takumi. Tiba-tiba istrinya, Mio, kembali. Bukan cuma dia yang bisa melihatnya, Yuji--anak lelakinya--pun bisa. Kedatangan Mio yang sekonyong-konyong bikin kehidupan Takumi-Yuji yang berantakan kembali teratur. Kehidupan Takumi-Yuji adalah kehidupan ayah-anak yang nggak bisa mengatur hal-hal rumah tangga. Mio kembali membuat keluarga mungil tersebut "hidup" kembali.
Be With You sudah disadur dalam berbagai media: komik, drama, film... dan tampaknya banyak yang suka. Aku sendiri nggak bilang nggak suka sama novel ini. Tapi, memang nggak kasih efek spektakuler buatku pribadi setelah bacanya.
Sepanjang membaca aku terheran-heran, lapisan apa yang disembunyikan oleh penulis karena rasanya kok monoton banget. Eh, ternyata ledakan itu ada di bagian akhir.
"Non tutte le storie devono essere piene di gioia. Ci sono anche storie tristi. Molte di queste hanno a che fare con una separazione. Non ho mai sentito parlare, fino a ora, di un incontro senza un addio."
Che meraviglia! Si tratta di un libro dolcissimo, stracolmo d'amore. L'autore descrive in modo davvero delicato, quasi fiabesco, l'incontro di due anime destinate a perdersi precocemente ma a restare legate per l'eternit¨¤.
Is time fluid? Are our dreams our real life and our waking life a dream? Does true love never die? Are there parallel universes as well as heaven and hell? Is their filth in the beauty and beauty in the filth?
I don't see why these things can't be true. They are subjects I like to think about over and over even if I will not have the answers to these questions in this time and place. I like stillness. I like to think. I like to read character studies that expand my horizons by turning my sensibilities every which way.
This story has done all of the above and more. It was a gift from someone whom I would not expect to give it to me. To paraphrase Teddy Roosevelt, I say "Show the world you are a mystery; allow your trusted friends a glimpse of your heart from time to time."
This story moves slowly but read it and dig a little deeper into your mind and soul. You will know yourself a little bit better. That's a good thing!