The Great Passage (Miura)

The Great Passage, by Shiwon Miura (2011)

This was another of the books that Amazon allowed to download that time when they had 12 world books available for free.

The story was a little confusing at first. In the beginning, we are introduced to Kohei Araki, who as a boy was fascinated with words and loved the dictionary. Next thing we know, he's close to retirement after having worked on dictionaries for Gembu Books for thirty-seven years. Although we begin with him, it isn't his story.

Araki needs to find a replacement who can continue his work, and bring his dream project, The Great Passage, to publication. Thanks to Nishioka, one of the few employees in the dictionary department of Gembu, Araki finds Mitsuya Majime, an odd fellow who works in the sales department. After an interview, they discover that they are kindred spirits in the love of and fascination with words, and how to define them precisely.

Majime is introverted and awkward, which makes it difficult to approach Kaguya Hayashi, his landlady's granddaughter. The awkward love letter he writes her becomes a running gag of sorts. There is even a version of it appended to the end of the book, but it, thankfully, doesn't run the fifteen pages it's supposed to. (It always includes a running commentary by Nishioka and Midori Kishibe, a character that seems oddly inserted into the drama after an equally odd time-skip).

I also want to mention Professor Tomosuke Matsumoto, just so I don't forget the name. He also consults on the dictionary, even after Araki retires, during the time jump between chapters, which shows you what a labor of love this project is. It also shows that while dictionaries are important projects, they are also money sinks and often get put on the back burner for other projects. (These other projects help to fund the dictionary, so they do what they have to.)

I did enjoy the book, although it probably isn't something I would have sought out on my own. In preparing to write this, I discovered that there was both an anime version and a movie that was submitted, but not nominated, for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

If I had any problems with it, it would be the shift in focus and the weird time skipping. Possibly the addition of the new primary character halfway through the book to replace a different character, who is still there, but moved to a different department. Worth reading.

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