Taylor Drew reviewed 銀座「四宝堂」文房具店 by 上田健次 (銀座「四宝堂」文房具店, #1)
いつまでも涙が止まらない―― 銀座のとある路地の先、円筒形のポストのすぐそばに佇む文房具店・四宝堂。創業は天保五年、地下には古い活版印刷機まであるという知る人ぞ知る名店だ。
店を一人で切り盛りするのは、どこかミステリアスな青年・宝田硯。硯のもとには今日も様々な悩みを抱えたお客が訪れる――。
両親に代わり育ててくれた祖母へ感謝の気持ちを伝えられずにいる青年に、どうしても今日のうちに退職願を書かなければならないという女性など。
困りごとを抱えた人々の心が、思い出の文房具と店主の言葉でじんわり解きほぐされていく。
いつまでも涙が止まらない、心あたたまる物語。
Just okay for me
3 stars
There isn't really anything particularly wrong with this book and I've enjoyed books written in this style by other authors in the past, but I found it a bit bland honestly.
It's a collection of connected short stories that take place in a stationery shop in Ginza. The characters go to buy something and end up doing some soul searching with the help of the owner. A fine premise, but the execution drags too much for my liking. Most of the stories are just descriptions with slight action at the end.
The point is definitely to be comfortably moved by the growth of the characters, but I just couldn't get invested in the stories. They mostly all felt the same.
By the way, this is translated as Letters from the Ginza Shihodo Stationery Shop in English for anyone interested.