Description
Sarinagara is a novel by Philippe Forest that won the Prix Décembre in 2004. The title is a Japanese word that means “and yet,” and it is the final word of a famous haiku by the poet Kobayashi Issa. The book is a poignant and poetic meditation on grief, art, and memory, following a narrator who goes to Japan to cope with the loss of his child. The narrative connects the stories of three Japanese artists from different centuries, including Issa, the novelist Natsume Soseki, and the photographer Yamahata Yosuke. The novel explores the question of how a person can survive the most heartbreaking experiences
