First Impression Friday will be a meme where you talk about a book that you JUST STARTED! Maybe you’re only a chapter or two in, maybe a little farther. Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions and predict what you’ll think by the end.

Synopsis:

After the early death of her philandering husband, Etsuko moves into her father-in-law’s house, where she numbly submits to the old man’s advances. But soon she finds herself in love with the young servant Saburo. Tormented by his indifference, yet invigorated by her desire, she makes her move, with catastrophic consequences.

Happy Friday everyone! Well, it is already Saturday. Nevertheless, I am glad we could make it through yet another workweek, although some barely made it. I have had yet another busy week at the office although there were some reprieves in between. We had a mini office bowling tournament. I did suck at it but I did fare better compared to a couple of years back. This was just a brief interlude before the barrage of works looming in the coming weeks. The weeks before and immediately following the end of the year are usually the busiest times for accountants like me. I am bracing myself. So if you have an accountant or an auditor as a friend, do check up on them. I think they might not be doing fine. HAHA. At least that is how the meme goes. Regardless, I hope that everyone ended the work week on a high note. I hope you were able to accomplish all your tasks for the week. It is time to slow down, unwind, and dive into the weekend!

With the year slowly inching toward its inevitable conclusion, I hope that your hard work gets recognized and repaid. I hope the remainder of the year will be brimming with good news, blessings, and pleasant surprises. More importantly, I hope everyone will be healthy in body, mind, and spirit, especially during this season of colds and coughs. To cap another blogging week I am sharing a fresh First Impression Friday update. Ordinarily, my reading months are organized to follow through with a single theme but the past few months have been chaotic. While it was a tumult, it allowed me to explore different worlds through an eclectic mix of books. I jetted across the world to read the works of Latin American, African, and Asian writers. I also completed all books shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize. Nevertheless, there was always room for surprise. For the rest of the year, I am focusing on books that are part of my ongoing reading challenges.

I have already completed my 2024 Top 24 Reading Lis. One reading challenge-cum-goal down. I have now turned my focus on the remaining books on my 2024 Beat the Backlist Challenge and 2024 Top 10 Books I Look Forward To Lists. With my current read, Yukio Mishima’s Thirst For Love, I am now about to conclude my 2024 Beat the Backlist Challenge. That leaves me with the 2024 Top 10 Books I Look Forward To list. I guess I can call it a failure for the sixth year in a row. I am just two books short. But back to this weekly meme. The reason I made Thirst for Love the last book I read from my Beat the Backlist Challenge is I planned it to be a springboard for what would be a foray into Japanese literature in the second half of December. Thirst for Love is the fifth novel written by the controversial but highly-revered Japanese writer I read. Like most of the writers whose oeuvres I have been exploring in the past few years, it was through ust-read lists that I first encountered Mishima.

Originally published in 1950 as 愛の渇き (Ai no Kawaki), the novel is set shortly after the conclusion of the Second World War. At the heart of the novel is a young woman named Etsuko. We first met her navigating the alleys of Osaka as she went shopping. She is originally from Tokyo but moved to Osaka. The circumstances of her move were revealed as the story moved forward. Her husband Ryosuke recently passed away from typhoid. In a way, her husband’s death was a saving grace because he was a philanderer and she was stuck in a loveless marriage. Following her husband’s death, she received an invitation from her father-in-law Yakichi. Yakichi invited her to live with him and his two grown children in the Kansai countryside. Yakichi’s wife has also passed away. Ryosuke’s younger siblings, both adults and married, were also living with their father, helping tend the farm their father runs.

Upon her arrival, Etsuko was given special treatment by her father-in-law. She often compared life in Tokyo and Osaka. Her opinion of Osaka is anything but wonderful. Feeling alone in uncharted territory, she eventually relented to the advances of her father-in-law. This is something that I always find intriguing about Mishima’s works. He has no scruples exploring the world beyond the veneer of what we know of Japanese society. His works pierce the facade of propriety the Japanese are known for. To be fair, other Japanese writers do the same as well. Kawabata and Tanizaki are the first names that come to mind. In a way, Thirst for Love reminds me of another Mishima novel, After the Banquet, at least from the opening chapters. The story, it seems, offers a different story.

I am not going to be surprised with how the story is going to develop, considering this is Mishima literary territory. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to how he is going to weave the various elements of the story together. What is going to keep Etsuko from leaving the farm? In the initial chapters, she writers about the dichotomies between Tokyo and Osaka. The Kansai region, it seems, has little to offer her, at least from the onset. But the story is slowly unfolding and I am bracing for a blind curve. The book is rather slender so I will be finishing it in a matter of hours. How about you fellow reader? What book or books have you read over the weekend? I hope you get to enjoy whatever you are reading right now. Happy weekend!