[Event Report] 10/12 Morning Activity Event "Books and Me"

It has been a while... To be honest, I haven't really felt like writing anything myself, but after putting serious effort into writing various things for my paid note, my motivation has picked up. It seems that when I lack motivation, just getting startedis what works best for me.

So, I held a morning activity event on October 12th. The theme this time was "Books I couldn't finish reading". Until now, I had set themes based on books I had read, but this was the first time I created an opportunity to talk about books we hadn't read. Just like books we have read, there were stories behind the books we hadn't.

I will briefly report on what kind of books couldn't be read and why they couldn't be read this time as well.
In no particular order.

1. The Castle (Kafka), 1984 (Orwell)

The content just wouldn't sink in, they said. The person who introduced these started reading them between middle and high school, and the fact that they wanted to read these books in middle school is amazing in itself... Actually, I also introduced foreign literature, and I have the impression that it takes time to get into that world. I feel while reading that it takes a lot of energy to take in things that are not in my own sense, such as names and place names in katakana, and the culture of the country.

Conversely, there is also the joy of being able to read through it all at once once you enter that worldview.

They said they enjoyed reading Kafka and Orwell's short stories, so I hope they will try again.

2. Kazunomiya-sama Otome (Sawako Ariyoshi), Travels in Tibet (Ekai Kawaguchi)

Kazunomiya-sama Otome might be close to foreign literature, but it requires basic knowledge of the end of the Edo period to read, and they said they couldn't read it because so much time passed while looking up terms and culture, wondering "what is this?".

Travels in Tibet was written in vivid prose about the state of travel in Tibet at the time, and even though it seemed very interesting, they had a feeling that it "didn't click" for them.

What was impressive to me was this feeling of "not clicking." There are books that are definitely good and interesting, but for some reason, they just don't click when you read them. And it is also strange that even if you think it doesn't click at that time, if you read it after a while, you suddenly can't stop reading it.

3. The Pillow Book (Sei Shonagon)

They said they didn't understand the meaning while reading it, haha.
I am ashamed to say that I have only read classics in Japanese language classes, and I have never really thought about reading them in the first place. It seems that even among classics, there are some that you can read somehow and some that you cannot. Perhaps there is a sense that connects to the modern day.

4. The Visual MBA: Two Years of Business School Packed into 90 Visual Lessons (Jason Barron (Author), Yoshiharu Hoshino (Supervisor), Miwa Seki (Translator))

Although they bought it out of necessity for work, they said this was also a book that didn't really sink in. I felt that books about learning might have compatibility depending on how they are explained and how visuals are used.
Especially for those who like reading books, there may be many cases where understanding progresses better when text information is solid. For those who memorize by image with many visuals, books with many pictures might sink into their heads more easily.

It is not a specific book introduction, but there was also someone who presented on "When can't you read books?". That person said it is when they don't have any leeway, and when they go to a bookstore at such times, they feel like "I have to buy this now." They said that the books they bought like that often end up not being read.

What I found most interesting through this reading event is that by having books that couldn't be read introduced, I conversely ended up wanting to read those books.
There are many dramas hidden in "can't read, don't read," and being able to hear many of those episodes was a very good opportunity.

By the way, I introduced "One Hundred Years of Solitude." I'm in the middle of reading it, but the names are difficult...