Il Lato Positivo della Vita by Hada Keisuke

 Il Lato Positivo della Vita

by Hada Keisuke published by Atmosphere Libri bring us to Japan, and in particular in Tokyo, defining a society and its main problem: the old age of the citizens.

This story is little because it represents a microcosm but it tell us a lot on the condition of having a father, or grand father at home for several years in particular when this man is not anymore completely auto-sufficient.

In particular, what touched me the most was Kento, the principal character of this book, 28 years, unemployed, fixated with old age and for this reasons trying to prove to himself thanks to gym that he is still young and completely OK.

At first I hated the character of Kento, I confess: he didn't understand his grand-father and he was distant with him. He hasn't never searched of asking more to him, establishing a good conversation or going deep; just for trying to understand who his old relative was; plus! at a certain point, he will also try to plan a good death for his grand father: can you imagine it?

It is a Japanese legend this one; the good death. People who reached 70 years decided to go in a very remote place, deciding to dying for starvation. All of it, for keeping the community and population healthy and productive.

Kento thinks at the best way for realize this dream: the good death of his grand-dad.

How to do that? One of his friends working in a Home tells  him some trics (sic!) for debilitating much more the health of the elderly.

So Kento starts to help his grand-father just because he thinks that his death will be near.

The effect produced is completely different, as you will see!

I also think that the family of Kento was a horrible one, with the daughter continously insulting that poor old man that, once, had been exactly of the same age of his daughter and the same one of his nephew.

Kento, after all, is not a bad soul; the opposite: to my point of view if his  grand-father would have dead he would have lived a horrible existence, thinking that under many ways he was the responsible one.

Destiny helps Kento; when he goes away because he finds a job, he will meet close to him an old man feeling a lot of melancholy for his grand-father and hoping to find him still alive when he would have returned home.

There is in this short book, that you'll read it in a couple of hours or so, it is just 100 pages, a big thematic: the youthness lived in a country of old people, something that I have also experienced in Italy, the second country more old in the world after Japan: it's not simple coping with illnesses and death; and seeing death too early; and so the obsession, fear of becoming old not anymore auto-sufficient are feelings of these kind of old societies; all feelings these ones not proved  in any way in a country plenty of young people. 

The book treats also, and it is very interesting, the situation lived by young people in confrontation with the old generations and the weight that they carry. A country where the pensionistic phantom is not utopic, will give a much more frustrating future to the youngest generations.

Highly recommended reading!

I thank Atmosphere Libri for the physical copy of the book.

Anna Maria Polidori