How Do You Live?
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4.8 • 19 Ratings
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
As featured in the Oscar-nominated Hayao Miyazaki film The Boy and the Heron: the coming-of-age novel How Do You Live? is a Japanese classic that became a New York Times bestseller.
After the death of his father, fifteen-year-old Copper must confront inevitable and enormous change, including the aftermath of his own betrayal of his best friend. Between episodes of Copper’s emerging story, letters from his uncle share knowledge and offer advice on life’s big questions. Like his namesake Copernicus, Copper looks to the stars and uses his discoveries about the heavens, earth, and human nature to answer the question of how he will live.
First published in 1937 in Japan, Genzaburō Yoshino’s How Do You Live? has long been an important book for Academy Award-winning animator Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle). Perfect for readers of philosophical fiction like The Alchemist and The Little Prince, How Do You Live? serves as a thought-provoking guide for young readers as they grow up in a world both infinitely large and unimaginably small.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
First published in 1937, this deeply thoughtful Japanese classic—filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki's favorite childhood book—is offered in its first English translation via Navasky's quiet, carefully measured prose. Born and raised in Tokyo, 15-year-old Honda Jun'ichi, known as Copper and small for his age, "can be a bit too mischievous." When his bank director father passed away around two years ago, Copper and his mother downsized and moved to a modest suburban home, now frequently visited by Copper's maternal uncle, with whom he is "terribly close." Interspersed with prosaic recollections of a year of Copper's school days, interpersonal dramas, and developing friendships, entries from Uncle's Notebook relay affirmative messages to Copper, covering topics such as science, philosophy, history, and poverty. What results is a gentle tale of self-discovery and reflection, and a compassionate guidebook on integrity punctuated by rich sensory details. If the book unfurls a bit slowly, Yoshino's timeless lessons ("You must live your life like a true human being and feel just what you feel"), will resonate with sensitive readers young and old. Front matter includes a foreword by Neil Gaiman; back matter includes a note from the translator. Ages 10–14.
