Download Autumn Light Season of Fire and Farewells eBook Pico Iyer
Download As PDF : Autumn Light Season of Fire and Farewells eBook Pico Iyer
From one of our most astute observers of human nature, a far-reaching exploration of Japanese history and culture and a moving meditation on impermanence, mortality, and grief.
For years, Pico Iyer has split his time between California and Nara, Japan, where he and his Japanese wife, Hiroko, have a small home. But when his father-in-law dies suddenly, calling him back to Japan earlier than expected, Iyer begins to grapple with the question we all have to live with how to hold on to the things we love, even though we know that we and they are dying. In a country whose calendar is marked with occasions honoring the dead, this question is more urgent than anywhere else. Iyer leads us through the year following his father-in-law's death, introducing us to the people who populate his days his ailing mother-in-law, who often forgets that her husband has died; his absent brother-in-law, who severed ties with his family years ago but to whom Hiroko still writes letters; and the men and women in his ping-pong club, who, many years his senior, traverse their autumn years in different ways. And as the maple leaves begin to redden and the heat begins to soften, Iyer offers us a singular view of Japan, in the season that reminds us to take nothing for granted.
Download Autumn Light Season of Fire and Farewells eBook Pico Iyer
"Pico Iyer's "Autumn Light: Season of Fire and Farewells" is both remarkable and unusual. On the one hand, it is a sublime meditation on autumn, Japan's quintessential season of perceived loss, longing, and loneliness. On the other, it is an unflinching autobiography of recent years as Iyer and his wife transition into late middle age at their home in Nara, Japan, and their parents into the debility of advanced age. Binding together these two themes are the parallels between the manner in which the Japanese view the autumn season of the year and of one's life.
On a first reading, some transitions in the book can seem abrupt. On pages 13-14, for example, two wonderful paragraphs introducing the cultural importance of autumn in Japan are presented amid a discussion about the death of Iyer's father-in-law. The book's narrative use of brief vignettes with frequently changing foci, when accompanied by the poetic imagery that is a major strength of Iyer's writing, characterize Japan's "zuihitsu" style of writing. This style is linked above all but not exclusively to diaries written by court ladies in the ancient Nara and Heian periods, and its use by Iyer reflects how much his 30-years-plus residence in Japan has influenced him."
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Autumn Light Season of Fire and Farewells eBook Pico Iyer Reviews :
Autumn Light Season of Fire and Farewells eBook Pico Iyer Reviews
- Pico Iyer's "Autumn Light Season of Fire and Farewells" is both remarkable and unusual. On the one hand, it is a sublime meditation on autumn, Japan's quintessential season of perceived loss, longing, and loneliness. On the other, it is an unflinching autobiography of recent years as Iyer and his wife transition into late middle age at their home in Nara, Japan, and their parents into the debility of advanced age. Binding together these two themes are the parallels between the manner in which the Japanese view the autumn season of the year and of one's life.
On a first reading, some transitions in the book can seem abrupt. On pages 13-14, for example, two wonderful paragraphs introducing the cultural importance of autumn in Japan are presented amid a discussion about the death of Iyer's father-in-law. The book's narrative use of brief vignettes with frequently changing foci, when accompanied by the poetic imagery that is a major strength of Iyer's writing, characterize Japan's "zuihitsu" style of writing. This style is linked above all but not exclusively to diaries written by court ladies in the ancient Nara and Heian periods, and its use by Iyer reflects how much his 30-years-plus residence in Japan has influenced him. - Pico Iyer has written a beautiful, beautiful book, rich in insight and poignant with meaning. I loved its lyricism and grace, indeed its heartfulness.
