Title: Night Boat
Author: Alan Spence
What I Think So Far: I was unsure about this book for the first chapter or so; it starts off fairly slowly, and integrates Japanese names and terms into the dialogue which were initially hard to keep up with. However, reading it becomes more and more enjoyable, and it’s a beautiful narrative through the entire life of one man – introduced as Iwajiro – and everything he encounters, whether that be a crush he has as a teenager or incredibly challenging feats he accomplishes as a monk. The storyline is ambiguous and there’s no underlying plot, but this ‘zen novel’ doesn’t feel like it’s missing anything. It gracefully moves through chapters, exploring 18th century Japan through Iwajiro’s eyes. It almost feels like, at the end of the book, you’ve travelled alongside him his whole life, due to the narrative beginning when the main character is a young boy and finishing at the end of his life. It’s a really unique novel in that sense.
Would I Recommend? If you have the patience to take this book slowly and appreciate writing which isn’t completely action/fantasy based, then definitely persevere. It’s calming, enlightening, and I felt genuinely happy when I finished it. It’s a fairly long book, and you may find yourself looking up certain Japanese terms that are used alongside English, but I enjoyed this and it opened my mind. Absolutely worth reading.
Rating: 9/10
Words by Bethy Lees