Book Review By Dr. Shruti Shankar Gaur
That’s an interesting title, I thought to myself. I have believed no one can teach us ‘how to live life’ better than the ‘life’ itself. Think about it—school focusses on building scholastic attributes, and family, knowingly or unknowingly, instills values and beliefs. But are those values really worth living? In my view, it is through life’s journey that these instilled values and attributes are truly distilled. If you were to ask me, “How should one live?” I would say: to each their own.
‘How Do You Live?’ is the last of a six-book series – ‘A Library for Young Japanese Nationals’ to nurture values among young readers, by Genzaburo Yoshino. It has sold over two million copies and served as the inspiration for the anime ‘The Boy and the Heron’ from Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. That alone makes it worth reading!
Let’s begin with the question: Can we learn how to live? Yes, we can always choose the values to live by. That’s the premise of the book, and ‘How Do You Live?’ did provide a platter of values and virtues to choose from.
- I wondered, do we have any such contemporary series for children in India? I wasn’t able to find one. I believe that to raise a generation of thinkers and empaths—children with curious minds and kind hearts—it’s high time we create a 21st-century Panchatantra in sync with today’s world. I am game, any takers?
2. With my limited perspective, I initially assumed that a book from ‘A Library for Young Japanese Nationals’ would definitely instill patriotic values in Japanese children sharing their rich culture and history. However, to my utter surprise, ‘How Do You Live?’ truly celebrates life and universal values that transcend boundaries. My heart could not have been happier as I read the stories about Copernicus’ discovery that the Earth is round, not flat (a controversy of its time), the courage of Napoleon, or the first Buddhist statue built by the Greeks.
“Copper, what do you think happened? Tens of thousands of British people removed their hats without a word and silently stood, in a display of deep respect.
Defeated in battle, unwelcome in Europe, now captive in the hands of his nemesis of many years and borne back to its homeland, Napoleon didn’t reveal himself to be a pitiful, dispirited figure.
Even as a captive he stood firmly, with the pride of a king, bravely ready to face a fate of his own making. And that spirited demeanor touched the hearts of tens of thousands of people and caused them to bow their heads. What strength of character the man must have had!“
3. The book presents two perspectives on the same issues: one from a ten-year-old Copper and the other from his uncle. This ongoing contemplation and conversation about various facets of life is not only engaging but also enlightening.
“Humans are really like molecules, aren’t they?
For truly, just as you felt, individual people, one by one, are all single molecules in this wide world. We gather together to create the world, and what’s more, we are moved by the waves of the world and thereby brought to life.”
4. The focus of ‘How Do You Live?’ is to instill the finest qualities found in human beings among its readers (children). Aren’t Japanese famous for their strong character? How does the book achieve this? Simply by seamlessly weaving the virtues of friendship and integrity throughout its narrative. It deciphers social concepts like poverty and its stigma for the child and introduces the basics of economics through consumer and producer concepts. Copper’s contemplations are simple yet spiritual, whether it’s the revelation of being both an observer and the observed (something I learnt during vipassana) or the tenacity of a daffodil plant that defied darkness and cold for sunlight and life.
“Consider how children understand things; they are all wrapped in themselves. …the self becomes central to our thinking……Even among adults, the human tendency to think about things and form judgements with ourselves at the center remains deep rooted.”
The chapters where Copper fails as a friend and the saga of how the ten-year-old meets his fear, remorse, guilt, and trauma, deeply exploring the emotional and psychological turmoil of the child’s life. These descriptions are handled with sensitivity, making that part particularly moving.
“But just knowing the meaning of the words was a very different thing from grasping the truth expressed by those words. Copper had only recently, little by little, begun to know what it meant to reflect on his life.”
‘How Do You Live?’ is an ode to life. It’s simple yet tender—a beautiful story that I’m sure anyone who reads it will cherish for life. The narrative might be a bit slow for thriller lovers, but I would say, just keep reading. I bet How Do You Live? will leave you with a lightness you’ve never experienced before.
P.S.: ‘How Do You Live? was read as part of the book selection for RIEDU’s Book Club exclusively for teenagers, and it’s definitely going to be part of it.
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