A freshly fallen silent shroud of snow....

A freshly fallen silent shroud of snow....
Originally uploaded by pookie_san99.

Monday 6 February 2006
"A freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.....

Well February 3 is supposed to be the traditional start of spring here.Mother Nature or Father Global Warming had other ideas and spent most of the week dishing out cold weather and the odd sprinkling of snow.The photos from Saturday in nearby Tsuramai Park which received a very light dusting.
I walked to the train station early Sunday morning as the footpath was covered in treacherous ice.My decision not to bicycle was vindicated by the sight of three cyclists tumbling from their steeds in as many blocks.One fell heavily and arose somewhat dazed and shaken.Makes the wearing of bike helmets seem all the more sensible.

BOOKS
"Kafka on the Shore" by Haruki Murakami
I steamed through this 614 page English translation within a week.It was the first novel I've read by this author.There are two main characters in the book and the story chops and changes between the two.Their storylines alternate,converge and resolve.
The story itself was a blend of thriller,fantasy and literary novel.It reminded me a little of Ben Elton meets Douglas Adams "Dirk Gently" novels in the sense mythical characters and reality exist in the same world.Underpinned by deeper ruminations on arcane subjects as "metaphor" and "allegory".I think the main themes are those of family,loss and love.
Not necessairly in that order.
Some interesting minor characters populate and color the book such as talking cats,a philosphy student working as a part-time prostitute, a duo of missing World War 2 soldiers and a Colonel Sanders figure.The author also uses blood as a central motif in various forms such as a womans period,the result of a murder and leeches among others.
My one reservation was that the resolution seemed a little anti-climatic considering what had gone before.A little pat.Still all in all an interesting and diverting piece of writing.I'll return to it and re-read it at a more leisurely pace.To pick up the allusions and nuances in the deeper parts that I glossed over in my haste to discover the conclusion.....