Thank you Andrews McMeel Publishing for the Advance Reader Copy of this book.
It feels like ages since I last read Marie Kondo’s popular book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and it really has been. It was back in 2018 when I came across and read her book. It was a time in my life when I felt like I was in such a mess. True to the lessons I learned from the book, I did tidy up portions of my life, but not without finding new places to clutter.
Genki Kawamura, on the other hand, is a relatively recent discovery for me. I only finished his book, If Cats Disappeared from the World, earlier this year, and I remember really enjoying it—despite the sad undertones of the story.
Seeing these two names as the authors of this book, I knew I had to give it a try.
True to my first experience with Kondo’s work, everything still felt repetitive. Yes, each story was different, but the underlying reason the characters held on to their possessions could be reduced to one single thing—the fear of letting go. And while that made the stories relatable, it also made their outcomes increasingly predictable.
If anything, I was in love with the fact that there was always someone to relate to in these stories. That could be part of the reason why, despite the predictable outcome of each story, the authors decided to create a somewhat linear collection featuring different versions of people who want to “tidy up” their material possessions and, in turn, declutter not just their lives but their minds as well.
It was unclear to me where Kawamura’s contribution came into play, though. Perhaps it’s because I associate the book’s central philosophy so strongly with Kondo, but throughout the collection, I felt her influence far more than Kawamura’s.
The inclusion of characters from many different walks of life made this collection truly relatable. However, the stories lacked the uniqueness that would have made each one stand out. At some point during the third or fourth story, I felt like I wouldn’t be able to finish the book. It bored me to death.
My driving force was knowing that each of these people had struggles I wanted to discover—a couple who buy things and accumulate possessions separately, an elderly woman who reminisces about her past, a child who’s moving away from her mother, and a person who discovers a passion of tidying things up.
There is always something to learn from people from different walks of life. And despite their differences, there is something similar in the lessors their experiences offer.
Although the stories may seem boring because they essentially work towards the same end goal, finding yourself in them is an entirely different experience. Perhaps that’s the beauty of a collection like this. You don’t have to find yourself in every story, nor do you have to finish them all. Sometimes, finding one that speaks to where you are in life is enough.
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