Thanks for the nice review. Just a couple of small corrections for the record. The folks in A Different Kind of Luxury live in older but wonderful houses, not huts, which though cheap to rent are often better than the mass produced apartment complexes most people live in today, whether in the city or the country.
Atsuko, in chapter 3, gives lectures at the recycling center to people from other villages who have come to learn about her village's innovations, but certainly wouldn't lecture her neighbors about carcinogens in plastics. One more last tiny point, Atsuko let her daughter study at home for a few years because of the intense conservative pressure of the school system, and because her daughter asked, not because of her Catholic ideas. In fact Atsuko is a member of the Catholic church because of its proximity to her remote home, but her beliefs and values are very radical. She's a follower of Rudolf Steiner, who founded Waldorf schools and biodynamic agriculture. Again I appreciate your coverage of this event.
It's hard to write such a short review on a book like yours, and by necessity it's going to oversimplify.
ReplyDeleteIt is also interesting that the writer, like me, homed in on Atsuko as perhaps the most fascinating of a very fascinating group. The religious aspect draws the attention.
I wouldn't sweat the details so much Andy. There's no way to do the book justice. And people aren't going to draw from it necessarily what you want them to draw from it.
Kind of funny though that the writer starts off about Japanese stereotypes after that title. Maybe the irony was intentional.