The little study of lost memories. With this peculiar title, the author Sanaka Hiiragi spins a moving story with which you will empathize and connect through the lives of three characters, in addition to the protagonist.
But what is the book about? It's good? What criticisms do you have? All of that is what we want to talk to you about below. Shall we start?
Who is Sanaka Hiiragi
As you may have noticed, Sanaka Hiiragi is a Japanese name. You may think that it is an exotic pseudonym that an author has given himself. but it is certainly not like that. Sanaka Hiiragi is a Japanese writer born in Kagawa prefecture in 1974 who has been publishing since 2013. She studied literature at the Kobe Women's University College of Letters and Japanese at the Graduate School of Language Education at Himeji Dokkyo University. For a time she dedicated herself to teaching her language abroad. But that also gave him book time to write.
His first novel was "Konkatsujima Senki." which she submitted to a Japanese award where she was a finalist, but not a winner. Even so, of all the finalists, this was the only one that received praise from the judges, as well as a request for it to be published, which happened in 2013, changing the title to "Hidden Ball."
After that publication, many more have happened. And this, along with Lady Guardian: The kidnapping trap, were part of the double harvest sweet persimmon series.
Another series consists of three books related to a retro camera store: Mysterious weather at the Yanaka retro camera store; Mysterious weather at the Yanaka retro camera store: Cinema, the magic of stopping time; and Mysterious weather at the retro camera store Yanaka: Lenses that connect thoughts.
Then came the prince of the mechanical clock series, with two books; the “second home gunsmith” series and other out-of-the-box works, as well as some anthologies.
The author's last publication was in 2022, with Messenger from Heaven. It is published in Japan, and for now it is not found in any other country.
Currently, the writer lives in Tokyo and her great passions are kimonos, old cameras and photographs. And we tell you this because it has a lot to do with the book we are talking about below. In fact, with practically all of them.
Synopsis of The Little Study of Lost Memories
In the case of the book The Little Study of Lost Resources, browsing through Japanese pages (translated), we think it is related to the book “The Miracle of Life Photo Studio”, published in February 2019 in Japan, although we cannot be sure because We have not been able to find anything that links one or the other. It is a unique work.
Here is the synopsis:
«A magical and moving novel about the power of kindness, memory and life choices.
A photo album. Multitude of memories.
The last look at an entire life.
Hirasaka runs a photography studio in the afterlife. Before his “guests” leave that place of passage, he gives them a cup of tea and a stack of photos of his story so they can choose one for each year they have lived before leaving on their last journey.
Plus, they have the opportunity to travel back in time as ghosts to capture a special moment. Once this is done, Hirasaka places the images on a projector so that her guest can once again contemplate her memories.
This is how we meet Hatsue, an old woman who in 1949 founded her own daycare center among the ruins of post-war Tokyo; Waniguchi, a man who worked in a yakuza front workshop; or Mitsuru, a young woman who suffered a tragic end and who will find in Hirasaka's study the key to changing the course of her existence.
However, while carrying out his work, Hirasaka is besieged by a question whose answer escapes him: where are his own memories?
Reviews and reviews of the book
Taking into account that the book was published last February 2024, there are many reviews about it, but it is quite interesting and you can find a general opinion of The Little Study of Lost Memories.
They all praise the book. “A beautiful and moving story,” “It has captured me like few books have,” “It captivates with its original premise and its exploration of memory and redemption” are just some of the phrases that we can take from those reviews that have been published. received.
On Amazon, which is where we have found the most votes, the book is rated four and five stars, and from what it seems, it is a very original book that deals with a topic that many do not like to talk about: death and the afterlife. .
As We do not recommend that you read the reviews since some may reveal parts of the book to you. that make it no longer "funny." It's best to venture out and try to see if the book is how you would like it. And to do this you can try reading a fragment. As you know, and if not we already told you, on Amazon you have the possibility of reading the first pages on the website itself or sending it to your Kindle to read it whenever you want.
Are there more works by Sanaka Hiiragi translated?
Regrettably, by Sanaka Hiiragi there are no more books translated into Spanish. This was the first and we assume that, depending on its success, publishers might be interested in releasing more.
However, using translators and Wikipedia you can learn a little about the plot of some of his books. All of them are related to photography, cameras, retro, etc. always with that characteristic of making the reader feel good.
If you know Japanese, and have an idea of where to buy these books, it will be easier for you to continue reading the author if you liked the pen with this book.
Did you know the book The Little Study of Lost Memories? Would you dare to read it with what you know now?