A charmingly warm and hopeful story of love, friendship, and the power of human connection. Award-winning Japanese author Shion Miura’s novel is a reminder that a life dedicated to passion is a life well lived.
Inspired as a boy by the multiple meanings to be found for a single word in the dictionary, Kohei Araki is devoted to the notion that a dictionary is a boat to carry us across the sea of words. But after thirty-seven years creating them at Gembu Books, it’s time for him to retire and find his replacement.
He discovers a kindred spirit in Mitsuya Majime—a young, disheveled square peg with a penchant for collecting antiquarian books and a background in linguistics—whom he swipes from his company’s sales department.
Led by his new mentor and joined by an energetic, if reluctant, new recruit and an elder linguistics scholar, Majime is tasked with a career-defining accomplishment: completing The Great Passage, a comprehensive 2,900-page tome of the Japanese language. On his journey, Majime discovers friendship, romance, and an incredible dedication to his work, inspired by the bond that connects us all: words.
Words from the heart This book is about people creating dictionaries for people. The translation was very smooth, warm, and seamless. I found it fascinating to see how dictionaries are created. My first dictionary was one I purchased for college. I would read it and find new words to enhance my vocabulary. My classmates thought I was nuts to read a dictionary. The author took me on the journey from beginning of the planning all the way to the finished book. I also appreciated how by acknowledging human weaknesses…
WHY I CHOSE THIS BOOK — unusual subject, intriguing theme, simple plot, fleshed-out characters, MUCH LOVE! I’M GLAD I CHOSE THIS BOOK because itâs much more than a regular story. Itâs âliving wordsâ molding and being molded by people made truly alive by their love of words. We see how words help us humans to connect with each other in amazing and intimate ways. That âgreat passageâ is a journey of 15 years in the lives and through the eyes and words of characters we grow to love, understand, befriend.
THE GREAT PASSAGE IS A FUN AND DELIGHTFUL READ! For many fiction lovers, a story based on the historical and cultural heritage of Japan may not be a great idea of an exciting getaway from the hustle-and-bustle of life. I was also in two minds about the book. Should I or should I not kept floating in my mind, until I finally decided that the other Kindle First selection for the month of May were too similar to other books that I have read in past and settled for Japanese author Shion Miuraâs The Great Passage, which has been beautifully…