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Review - Spring Garden by Tomoka Shibasaki

We despise our present life when we feel it is becoming monotonous. As nothing new is happening and you feel stuck, but even in this space, a zillion things happen which we cannot observe. This book feels like one. If you look at it from a third person's perspective, nothing much is happening. The protagonist also feels the same way for a while, I believe. The change lies in the Spring Garden and how the environment and nearby area have changed around it over a few years.

If you are going to look for a story in this book, you will find none. What you will get instead is the tidbits of the people who are obsessed with this Garden. How can a single object become everything for someone? You might feel weird at some point and wonder what is happening. Well, ain't we feel the same when we are frustrated? This book doesn't come with a sense of belongingness. Instead, it compels you to observe and choose a course of action. 

The barrenness of the city life can be perceived easily with the protagonist behaviour and lifestyle. We all know some people interact little, but take note of everything around. They won’t be the first person to reach out to you. It doesn’t mean they don't want to help, but you have to ask them out and, once you do, they might not look that odd. Our protagonist is an easy-going person, but you might call him lazy because of his habits or choices he made in life. Contrary to this, anyone can be like this irrespective of whether the person is from the countryside or city. Their individual decisions and choices make them who they are. 

I enjoyed reading this one, though this is a short book I took my time finishing. Maybe going slow is the reason I liked it more. The ending is not that great because I was expecting more from a character and got something else. Also, there are five more books in this standalone novella series. These are perfect for my current reading needs. So, I might get to these next, most probably. 

Rating – 4/5

Genre – Contemporary, Japanese Fiction

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