The Easy Life in Kamusari

I am probably showcasing a big bias in thinking that we've gone past the “wonders and contemplative beauty of country life” stories by now, and expecting a first-person coming-of-age journal to have, at least in part, a level of observation of society and scratching under the surface akin to a “catcher in the rye” is probably asking too much, even though that book has been around for 70+ years and its significance has spread across the globe.

Instead we get a gushing discovery of how mundane living in a context outside of the big city can have a beauty of its own. If that's something new for you, then you'll likely enjoy this book! I kept suspecting that there was a deeper layer of meaning that I wasn't gleaming coming from a non-japanese culture, and maybe that's still the case, but I didn't end up seeing it, and if that's the case that's all to my loss.

Fun fact: I found the technical aspects of forestry to be by far the most interesting part of the book.