Maybe 3.5 stars, but rounded up.

Its a short, melancholic book about a man who has never had an easy life. Always short on money, his son died young, has been homeless and all alone when he got old. He thinks back on his life, what has happened to him and his family. Its, like almost all japanese books, very quiet with an ending that is very much the Japanese style. I have yet read a single book without this kind of ending. Seeing a theme, is all.

I did like it. It was really reflective, and the language is beautiful. It does not have a clear "story" but is instead character driven. Could not recommend it to just anyone without explaining the point of the book first and what people should prepare for and think about when reading. Some can take a book like this, but for many I fear it would be hard to swallow. No clear story, jumping between timelines, more about the inner journey than anything else, a lot of Japanese places and words that people have never heard about before. It's tough to recommend.

What i loved was first the language. Even though it is a really sad story, there is such beauty between the lines. I also liked that it felt real. But that also made me angry because it describes how homeless people live and are treated in Japan and I don't want it to be true but it probably is, or was, and it hurts that people would be treated like dirt just because they don't have a home. But we do that in Sweden as well, so...

Its a short book, and if you're in the mood for something reflective and soft then this is your book.