Michiko Aoyama; trans. Alison Watts
What You Are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama, translated from the Japanese by Alison Watts, is a feel-good story of five interlocking vignettes. Each vignette is in the first-person voice of a character facing a challenge in his/her life.
The novel opens with Tomoka, a twenty-one-year-old womenswear sales assistant who feels she has a dead-end life and a dead-end job. This is followed with the voice of Ryo, a thirty-five-year-old accounts manager who dreams of owning his own antique shop. Then there is Natsumi, a forty-year-old former magazine manager and mother of a toddler. Natsumi has ambitions of becoming a literary editor. Thirty-year-old Hiroya, currently unemployed and living with his mother, has a talent for drawing but has been unable to find fulfilling work in his field. Finally, there is Masao, a 65-year-old recently retired man who worked with the same company for forty-two years. Masao is at a loss with what to do with the rest of his life.
The common thread that ties the characters is their interaction with Sayuri Komachi, the reference librarian in the library at the Hatori Community House. Each character asks Ms. Komachi’s assistance in locating books specific to his/her needs. Ms. Komachi prints out a list of suitable books to address the requests. In addition, she includes a different book for each patron that seems totally unrelated to the specific topic. She also gives each patron a hand-made bonus gift. Although she is a woman of few words, what she says coupled with the reading materials she recommends triggers in each patron a path of self-discovery. The patrons read the books, contemplate her words, and consider the subtleties underlying the bonus gift. In the doing so, they tap into their inner strength and locate the means and energy to achieve what had so far remained dormant.
This international best seller is ultimately about the power of books to heal broken spirits. It also illustrates the pivotal role human connection plays in our need for self-actualization. Ms. Komachi’s ability to discern a person’s stated and unstated needs enables her to intuit which book will facilitate each unique journey of self-discovery.
This is a quick and easy read with characters who are relatable and sympathetic. Their first-person voices allow us access to their internal struggles and challenges. Each finds a path forward through human connection, friendship, community support, and through the all-important, transformative power of books. That the characters are at varying stages in their lives serves as a potent reminder that personal growth at every stage in life is possible if we remain open to opportunities and seize them when they make themselves available.
A charming little book that is light, untaxing, and easily digestible.