(24) Having books piled up since age 5 was the shortest route to becoming a 'child who reads' - To the mom I met 10 years ago -

The letter continues.

“Building a habit of 'reading' with books at home before getting hooked on digital media”
...is what I am talking about.

Until they are in the lower grades, children can spend time happily at home even without videos or games.
Putting aside the “everyone is watching” or “it’s that kind of era” mindset for a moment...
I want to cherish the time when they can easily encounter the joy of reading.


・Click here for letter (23).
(23) Living with 'piled-up books' since age 5 was the shortest route to becoming a 'child who reads' - To the mom I met 10 years ago - | Emi Suzuhara (note.com)


Today is

“Knowledge alone cannot make us happy - Rereading 'Flowers for Algernon' -”

...is the topic.



Now, Shiori-san.

“Flowers for Algernon” Do you know this novel?
Even if you haven't read it, you might have heard of it.

It has been adapted into a TV drama in Japan in the past, so you might have seen the drama.

The copy I have is a paperback edition, “Flowers for Algernon” (by Daniel Keyes / translated into Japanese by Fusa Obi / Hayakawa Publishing).


I reread this novel every few years.
And every time I do, I reaffirm it. Strongly.

We cannot be happy with knowledge or intelligence alone ...that is.

To explain the story very simply, it is about Charlie, a 32-year-old man with the intelligence of a young child, who undergoes brain surgery to increase his intelligence and rapidly becomes a genius.

The author, Daniel Keyes, published the original novelette in 1959 and the novelized version in 1966—quite a long time ago—but the content does not feel old at all.

With his rapidly increasing intelligence, Charlie devours books and deepens his knowledge of various fields of study, theories, and research, butat the same time, sad memories from his childhood and romantic feelings toward the opposite sex swell up, and he begins to suffer because he cannot organize them in his mind...

Also, at the bakery where he worked, he learned that thecolleagues he thought were his friends were actually just looking down on him and making fun of him Charlie is hurt by this and begins to feel emotions of anger and confusion.


—Just the scene where he learns that his friends weren't his friends is very painful for me to read...

As for this incredibly famous novel, which could be called science fiction in terms of its setting, I will not say much here about the shock and emotion it has given not only to me but to readers all over the world.


However, there is avery simple theme here.
We cannot be happy with knowledge or intelligence alone...


Regardless of how much knowledge or intelligence we gain when we grow up, each of us has lived our daysexperiencing the growth of our hearts and bodies as we became adults, haven't we?

There arepaths that might seem like a waste at first glance, and emotions that aren't rational there, and yet I think we live on, encouraging each other with a wry smile, saying, “Well, because of that...” (I want to call that a treasure).


The protagonist of this novel,Charlie, does not have that 'accumulated time'.


It is a state whereintelligence and knowledge, like a universe continuing to have small explosions, are forcibly crammed into an incomplete vessel without hishuman heart or emotions having grown...


—So, of course, hisheart feels like it is going to break.


In the latter part of the story, I will quote a scene where Charlie, suffering between his rising intelligence and his wounded heart, argues with a university psychology professor who is a member of the team that performed the surgery on him.

The professors criticize Charlie for no longer cooperating obediently with the research as a test subject, buthaving gained a human heart, he retorts.

—I just cannot dismiss this as merely a scene in a novel or just the protagonist's lines.


I first read this when I was in my 20s.
Now I am in my 40s and raising children, so when I reread it, I inevitably think about it from the perspective of parenting.


Nowadays, we are flooded with know-how and personal stories like“My child's academic ability improved when I did this” or “They passed their school of choice when I did this”...
—Of course, that is very important.
Being able to study... or rather, being able to “understand” the content written in textbooks and the events happening in the world is important. It makes life easier. It increases your options.


However, I believe that before children are vessels forknowledge, intelligence, and skills, they are vessels for love.

I don't want to forget the basics thatthere is a feeling heart, human emotions, and the joy of thinking for oneself, and knowledge and intelligence go into that vessel...


“Flowers for Algernon” is a book that reminds me of those feelings.

—Someday, when my children grow up, I want them to pull this off our bookshelf and read it. It is a bit difficult, but if they accumulate reading experiences, they will be able to read it someday.
When that happens, I want to hear their thoughts and discuss many things with them.



...By the way.

This is not a book, but a movie that I feel shares the same theme is
“Good Will Hunting” (1998 / American film / directed by Gus Van Sant / Japanese subtitles by Naoko Ota).

...is a work called that.

This is also famous, so many people might know it.
The protagonist, a young man named Will, has a genius brain (especially in mathematics), buthe carries deep wounds from an unfortunate upbringing and does not try to open his heart to others

. —But, through an encounter with a psychologist, he gradually heals his heart and regains his life.
The theme I strongly feel from this work is also, once again, “We cannot be happy with knowledge or intelligence alone”...

In a conversation between Lambeau, a university professor who noticed Will's talent, and Sean, a psychologist trying to save Will, the story ofTed Kaczynski, a terrorist who actually existed in America comes up. He was a genius mathematician, but he used that brain to make bombs and kill people.

I think Sean is saying that if you don't form a personality, your abilities have the potential to work in vain...


—It makes you think, doesn't it.


I hope my children will watch this movie someday too.

Stories and novels sometimes provide a shift in perspective or nourishment for the heart that can truly change one's life.

It is a story I want not only my own children but many children and young people living today to encounter.


The letter continues.

〈With those small hands, turning the page beyond the eyelashes of downcast eyes, what are you thinking?〉

・Click here for letter (25).
(25) Living with a 'stack of books' from around age 5 was the shortest route to raising a 'book-reading child' - To the mom I met 10 years ago - | Emi Suzuhara (note.com)


・Click here for letter (1).
(1) Having a stack of books from around age 5 was the shortest route to raising a 'book-reading child' - To the mom I met 10 years ago - | Emi Suzuhara (note.com)