The Pine Islands
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3.8 • 4 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE 2019
AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
When Gilbert wakes one day from a dream that his wife has cheated on him, he flees - immediately and inexplicably - for Tokyo, where he meets a fellow lost soul: Yosa, a young Japanese student clutching a copy of The Complete Manual of Suicide. Together, Gilbert and Yosa set off on a pilgrimage to see the pine islands of Matsushima, one looking for the perfect end to his life, the other for a fresh start.
Playful and profound, The Pine Islands is a beautiful tale of friendship, transformation and acceptance in modern Japan.
Shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards
Customer Reviews
I didn’t get it
Author German, and kind of a big deal over there. This was on the 2019 Booker long list.
Having convinced himself that his wife’s cheating, possibly with a woman, a university academic who specialises in beards (yes, the hairy things on dude's faces) heads off to Japan, even though it's a tea drinking country and he prefers coffee. There he picks up a book by a poet named Basho, who is, as they say, Big in Japan, and decides to visit the pine islands of Matsushima, which Bashman reckoned were way cool. He takes a suicidal young Japanese student along for the ride, as you would. Um...