How Do You Live?
The inspiration for The Boy and the Heron, the major new Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli film
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3.8 • 6 Ratings
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- £5.99
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
The inspiration for The Boy & The Heron, the major new Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli film and Golden Globe Award winner 2024
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
'In How Do You Live?, Copper, our hero, and his uncle are our guides in science, in ethics, in thinking. And on the way they take us, through a school story set in Japan in 1937, to the heart of the questions we need to ask ourselves about the way we live our lives. We will experience betrayal and learn about how to make tofu. We will examine fear, and how we cannot always live up to who we think we are, and we learn about shame, and how to deal with it. We will learn about gravity and about cities, and most of all, we will learn to think about things - to, as the writer Theodore Sturgeon put it, ask the next question' - from the foreword by Neil Gaiman
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
First published in 1937, this deeply thoughtful Japanese classic—filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki's favorite childhood book—is offered in its first English translation via Navasky's quiet, carefully measured prose. Born and raised in Tokyo, 15-year-old Honda Jun'ichi, known as Copper and small for his age, "can be a bit too mischievous." When his bank director father passed away around two years ago, Copper and his mother downsized and moved to a modest suburban home, now frequently visited by Copper's maternal uncle, with whom he is "terribly close." Interspersed with prosaic recollections of a year of Copper's school days, interpersonal dramas, and developing friendships, entries from Uncle's Notebook relay affirmative messages to Copper, covering topics such as science, philosophy, history, and poverty. What results is a gentle tale of self-discovery and reflection, and a compassionate guidebook on integrity punctuated by rich sensory details. If the book unfurls a bit slowly, Yoshino's timeless lessons ("You must live your life like a true human being and feel just what you feel"), will resonate with sensitive readers young and old. Front matter includes a foreword by Neil Gaiman; back matter includes a note from the translator. Ages 10–14.
