A Jar of Ashes

I am back with another book review. Finished the reading right on the 12th of April, a.k.a today. My days have been slow as of late, spent in reading and writing fiction pieces. Also trying to destress and lighten up from the news. So much bad news nowadays, especially when you return to college and have much freer time compared to a job. To my former co-workers who may be reading this: hey, guys! So, around the same time when Klara and the Sun came out, Kazuo Ishiguro’s daughter published her debut novel: Common Grounds . The book’s blurb offers a story about a long-lost friendship, rekindled. Reviews on the covers are gleaming and shimmering, as they often do. But is it?  About the author Naomi Ishiguro, as mentioned, is Kazuo Ishiguro’s daughter. In belief of her father’s prowess in writing, I decided to check her book out. Definitely not a case of mistaken identity when I typed in “Ishiguro” in the OPAC of the national library and thought this book was by Kazuo Ishiguro. Absolu...

CONTENT WARNING: mentions of sexual assault, spoilers for Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage novel, graphic sexual description edited 2026/29/03 22:31 In a previous post , I talked about Kazuo Ishiguro and how he moved Haruki Murakami’s spot from my top favourite author on magical realism. If you were a Harukist—Murakami’s fan—you would say that’s bollocks. I can agree. But consider: Kazuo Ishiguro does not objectify his (fictional) women. That alone is already a large win over Murakami’s works.  Today, the topic will delve a little bit deeper into that part of Murakami’s writings. I found a thesis by Kristina Mallabo on Google Scholar that compiles and summarises exactly what the problem is and why it is a problem. Moreover, this will be quite a long and technical post. So get comfy and prepare your eyes to continue reading. My Harukist days I read Haruki Murakami’s books, admittedly, a little bit too young. The prose, the subject matter, and my own situation at...

Hello and welcome back to Jar of Ashes, my dear readers.  I've created a new finished novella, currently in the process of editing. The work took place in the ancient Chinese period-ish (no research done here). We follow the protagonist, Rong Ju, as she insipidly drifts through her second life.  There is little action in this work, and it's more of Rong Ju's accounts of her "dull" second life. You can check it out by clicking this link.  Don't forget to leave a comment!

Hip-hop is not my usual genre. However, everything changed when the Kendrick-Drake beef happened. I delved into K-Dot/K.’s discography rather than hip-hop as a whole, though, so you may call me more of a Kendrick fan rather than a fan of the genre, which I do not regret. He won the Pulitzer Prize; I wasn't even aware music lyrics could be nominated for literature prizes before Bob Dylan won the Nobel. Rap in general, especially Kendrick's, needs to see the lyrics as a whole to see the interconnected meaning, rhythm, and subtlety. That is already available on lyrics websites; many users shared their videos and essays, or both about it. So if you actually want to understand something about the genius of Kendrick instead of musings of some rando on a free blogspot, turn away now. There’s still time. Come on…. You’re still here? Welcome. Today I will discuss one of my favourite songs from K.: " PRIDE. " from the DAMN. album, the very album that won the Pulitzer, from a co...

Klara and the Sun , authored by Kazuo Ishiguro (2021), struck an arrow through my heart. I know Kazuo Ishiguro from his previous work, The Buried Giant (2015). Simple circumstances prompted me to know of him: the Nobel Prize in Literature, 2017 .  The Buried Giant needed several more reads before I could muster an appropriate review. The Buried Giant impressed me that much. In contrast, Klara and the Sun is smaller in size, though denser. I held hope that Klara and the Sun would give me the same reading experience, and what do you know? It indeed delivers. About the author: Kazuo Ishiguro While he was born in Japan, Ishiguro wrote primarily in English on account of his moving to Britain at five years old. Nobel has his biography on their website , so you could check it out if you want.  In my personal world scope, Kazuo Ishiguro has moved Haruki Murakami’s spot as my favourite Japanese writer. Yes, despite him being more British in his writings than Japanese. Others may be...

Hello and welcome to the first-ever post of this blog. My goal is to fill this blog with ideas. This “jar” serves as my digital journal and writing practice. Here, I will talk about everything under the sun and moon of my life: stories I’ve read, music I listened to, random info I decided to research, or just plain ol’ “dear diary”.  But it does not mean I would like to be alone in my musings and thoughts. You are completely welcome to comment. Please do keep it respectful. I appreciate a good snark, but one that crosses the line—just the common sense/etiquette line—is not tolerated. That will result in an instant delete and block. Disclaimer: I do not use AI to write. I do use them (Gemini or Claude) to edit and give pointers. Why ‘Jar of Ashes’? Everything needs to start with the name: why and how I chose the name. Those who knew me personally can skip this section, as it’s easy to guess. Those who don’t, let’s get to know each other! My pseudonym is Lusyatik, but my personal ni...