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I was so lucky to have unintentionally read “Tower of the Sun” just before Christmas season, as its story follows the misadventures of a twentysomething year old student in Kyoto just before this famous holiday. However, unlike the jolly, merry atmosphere that families and lovers indulge themselves in during that time, the mood of the protagonist and his male compatriots couldn’t be further from it. They are rather lonely, live in a constant state of gloominess, self-loathing, all while having a superiority complex on their own, declaring war against the tackiness of love and the so-called “Christmas fascism”, all while craving, from the bottom of their hearts, simple happiness.

The protagonist spends his days in a small room, only occasionally interrupted by trips to a grocery store, various book stores, video shop (to tame his inner beast) and most importantly, to stalk his ex (he vigorously fights back against the label of the stalker though and calls it “a research project”). He hasn’t set foot at any lecture halls at his university campus in months. The only productive thing he’s involved in is the occasional shift at a local sushi restaurant. In the eyes of society he’s certainly considered a failure, but in his own eyes, his genius, greatness and the mind of the visionary terrify an average person.

The brilliance of the novel comes from the fact that despite the obvious shortcomings of the protagonist and his way of thinking, he really is a good guy, and anyone who has ever been heartbroken or struggled during the early adulthood can find a reflection of themselves in the man. Personally, I am still going through something uncannily similar and I could portray myself in the many wayward thoughts of his, all while having no hope for the state of the matters to improve. “Tower of the Sun” resonates with me at a deep level, it makes me feel understood. Despite all doom and gloom, however, there might be hope in life, both for the protagonist and the reader.

Leaving the story aside, I could not conclude this review without mentioning the absolutely incredible style of Tomihiko Morimi’s writing and the way it’s been translated into English. Oh how many times have I laughed from the bottom of my heart at the passages that often, despite their mundaneness or absurdness, were written in such a humorous and euphemistic manner. How often I felt transported onto the streets of Kyoto and Osaka, with their detailed and vibrant descriptions. Sprinkle a thin layer of magic and mystery on top and you get a perfect literary mixture. I don’t think there is any other author who comes close.

Wholeheartedly recommended.

K. arrives at a snow-covered village, enshadowed by a castle, hoping to start a work there as a surveyor. His arrival immediately attracts the attention and suspicion of the locals. While at first he receives a room and assistants to help him in his work, what follows is, what can be described best, as a series of misunderstandings, conflicts and reproaches. As it turns out, nobody at the village knows why K. was even summoned there in the first place, as there is no need for the surveyor at all. However, it could not have been a mistake, as the bureaucratic machinery at the castle never makes mistakes. In attempts to clarify this situation, K. tries to get a hold of his supposed superior, but he’s never allowed to talk to him directly. Castle gentlemen are seemingly too important, too sensitive and have too much work for such a meeting to happen. K. then talks to lower ranking officials, who only muddy the waters more, struggles with his childish assistants, gets engaged to the mistress of said superior, tries to send messages to him through a messenger, who almost always comes back hopeless and empty-handed, gets kicked out of the inn and has to take a temporary position of a janitor in order to have a place to sleep and so this entire farce goes on, with things usually not turning out well for the protagonist.

Throughout the book Kafka describes, with great detail, the absurdity of how castle officials work, how villagers revere them almost like gods, how they have to assume so many things, how many unspoken rules there are among them, which leads to incessant conflicts with K. who is a newcomer. However, this is also, in my experience, what makes this book pretty difficult to follow and understand at times. There are entire chapters of nothing but one or two characters monologuing and often describing deep hypothetical scenarios and debating a certain topic, a certain rule, with no real action or actual conversation, which often made me go back and reread the page to fully grasp the concept.

In conclusion, I quite liked “The Castle” with its spectacle of absurdity, a deep fear of not being able to fit in and be understood that it managed to invoke in me at times, with so well-written characters and their exaggerated traits, but reading this book was not easy. Like with other Kafka works, “The Castle” also doesn’t have a real ending, it cuts off in the middle of a sentence. Oh how I wish to know how Kafka wanted to conclude this story and also the story of “The Trial”, but this, unfortunately, is going to remain a mystery forever.

The Lord of The Rings has been on my radar for many years. It’s definitely one of the greatest fantasy classics, if not the greatest, so as a fan of the genre I wanted to get around to reading it at some point and get enchanted by the magic of Middle-Earth, like millions of other readers throughout the decades. Now, at the end of this journey, after turning over the last page of "The Return of the King" I can confidently say that my expectations were exceeded and I loved every page of this fantastic trilogy.

Tolkien had a great gift of crafting a world full of detailed mythology, great wonders and noble characters going into a battle not only against the forces of evil in general, but also emotions like dread, hopelessness or betrayal. That is to say, despite all the incredible magic, the characters feel real. The hobbits, the men, the elves, the wizards – even if they have a great deal of history behind them, even if they know the ancient words, even if they hold powerful artifacts, they are ultimately driven by their selflessness, aspirations, despair or greed.

I also admire how every journey undertaken in the book holds its ground if terms of travelled distance, time and supplies consumed by the adventurers. It’s really immersive and adds weight to the obstacles characters stumble upon on the way to their destination. It’s not about just moving from point A to point B, but solving troubles along the way, changing paths, avoid being spotted, encountering fascinating inhabitants of the land – all of this playing out in a way that makes you feel like a part of the company, sharing their problems and their path.

I think these aspects are what makes The Lord of The Rings such a beloved series, which I too, will hold close to my heart.

Lastly, I’m really glad that Tolkien took time to give us some sort of closure at the end of The Return of The King. Many fantasy books end shortly after the concluding events, with some short epilogue at best, but here we got to see what the Fellowship of the Ring was up to after fighting against Sauron, we got “The Scouring of the Shire”, “Grey Havens” and reading those final chapters really made me at peace, for which I’m grateful.

The Lord of The Rings has been on my radar for many years. It’s definitely one of the greatest fantasy classics, if not the greatest, so as a fan of the genre I wanted to get around to reading it at some point and get enchanted by the magic of Middle-Earth, like millions of other readers throughout the decades. Now, at the end of this journey, after turning over the last page of "The Return of the King" I can confidently say that my expectations were exceeded and I loved every page of this fantastic trilogy.

Tolkien had a great gift of crafting a world full of detailed mythology, great wonders and noble characters going into a battle not only against the forces of evil in general, but also emotions like dread, hopelessness or betrayal. That is to say, despite all the incredible magic, the characters feel real. The hobbits, the men, the elves, the wizards – even if they have a great deal of history behind them, even if they know the ancient words, even if they hold powerful artifacts, they are ultimately driven by their selflessness, aspirations, despair or greed.

I also admire how every journey undertaken in the book holds its ground if terms of travelled distance, time and supplies consumed by the adventurers. It’s really immersive and adds weight to the obstacles characters stumble upon on the way to their destination. It’s not about just moving from point A to point B, but solving troubles along the way, changing paths, avoid being spotted, encountering fascinating inhabitants of the land – all of this playing out in a way that makes you feel like a part of the company, sharing their problems and their path.

I think these aspects are what makes The Lord of The Rings such a beloved series, which I too, will hold close to my heart.

Lastly, I’m really glad that Tolkien took time to give us some sort of closure at the end of The Return of The King. Many fantasy books end shortly after the concluding events, with some short epilogue at best, but here we got to see what the Fellowship of the Ring was up to after fighting against Sauron, we got “The Scouring of the Shire”, “Grey Havens” and reading those final chapters really made me at peace, for which I’m grateful.