A Form of a Gentle World | "All the Long Nights" by Maiko Seo (Bunshun Bunko)

This time, I would like to introduce a book that I especially recommend to those who have struggled with mental health.

By the way, this is actually a book that was recommended to me by a member I used to work with. It was so spot-on that, beyond being impressed, I thought, "That's unfair, I want to do that (book selection) too!".

As an expressive person, I inevitably end up thinking things like "I'm frustrated" or "Can I surpass this?", but it really makes you realize how amazing book selection services are. *Though this wasn't a book selection service.
To select books for others, you have to know a lot of books to begin with, and being able to truly understand the other person and recommend books that suit them is something I admire.

The author, Maiko Seo, won the Japan Booksellers' Award in 2019 for "And So the Baton Was Passed." Since this was my first time encountering Maiko Seo's work with "All the Long Nights," I would like to read that one as well.

People who carry things that are "hard for others to understand"

The story depicts the days of the protagonist, Misa, who suffers from PMS (Premenstrual Syndrome), and Yamazoe, who developed panic disorder and lost his reason for living.
As is often the case, having taken a leave of absence myself due to adjustment disorder, this really hit home.

However, it suddenly occurred to me that I might have found the origin of why I am so sensitive to "misfortunes" and "handicaps" that the person did not intend.
In my case, while adjustment disorder is part of it, the root experience was the asthma I contracted in the third grade. Up until then, I could do anything just by trying normally, and as someone who looked down on those around me, I tasted my first defeat.

It's not a contagious disease. When I'm quiet, I'm fine (this part is super important).
I think people around me thought I was acting based on my mood. As for me, even while observing PE class, I would eventually want to play, so I would play a little and then start coughing. Then, people would say, "See, you can run," and I would be at a loss for how to explain.

Even though treatments like inhalers and "control" methods have become quite stable now, for those who can only see things from the perspective of "cured / not cured" or "disease," a "sickness" that you live with for the rest of your life must be incomprehensible.
Thinking about it, perhaps it was around this time that I began to keenly feel the importance of "literacy."

I'm sorry for suddenly talking about myself. However, it truly depicts the struggle of the person and the conflict of trying to do well, alongside stories that are "hard for such people to understand."

What is true kindness and coolness?

The people at the workplace who seem unreliable. The protagonist, Misa, who viewed them that way, encounters an event that completely changes her perspective.
Also, I am moved by the observational skills and broad-mindedness of someone who, at first glance, seemed "just kind and unreliable."

Again, I apologize for jumping around, but it reminded me of Keigo Higashino's "Letters."
Telling everything honestly is not necessarily "sincerity." I don't think it's right to use it as a license to force it on others. At the same time, it's not about lying either.

Distance, values, and my own assumptions. A world where these things are depicted gently, yet firmly and sharply, was, in a way, very comfortable.

This work was adapted into a film in 2024, and since it can be seen on Netflix, there are many notes about the movie's impressions.
However, in terms of book reviews, I thought the review by snow, who wrote from the perspective of also having panic disorder, was really great from a personal point of view!

Please do let me know your thoughts on the movie, "this scene is my favorite," or "I also recommend this work" by Seo!