In this early spring atmosphere, we invite you, through two literary works, to board a boat and cruise on the Thames River with bursts of laughter and then a bit of calm to start planting loving emotions in your soul.
THREE GUYS IN A BOAT (NOT MENTIONING THE DOG) – JEROME K.JEROME
Before being written in novel format, the work Three Men in a Boat was compiled by author Jerome K. Jerome based on real events from his personal experiences on a boat trip from Kingston to Oxford. The original purpose of the book was to become a travel guide with a strong literary breath, interwoven with geographical knowledge, history, and local culture along the banks of the Thames, the river considered a symbol of London, a witness to many ups and downs of history. The Thames is a river located in the heart of London and flows through the South of England, flowing through towns and cities such as Reading, Henley-on-Thames, Windsor, Kingston upon Thames, Richmond or Oxford.
However, “luckily”, from the original idea of a travel guide, Jerome K. Jerome with his dramatic, strange perspective and unique writing talent, turned the peaceful Thames River into a “fierce” one through the story of three close friends Harris, George and J. and a dog Montmorency, when they joined a boat trip on the Thames River to relax. Each sentence, each word with a humorous and witty English style created the author’s charm and erudition, making him a monument of English literature, elevating the novel to become a classic for more than 100 years later and one of the funniest works in literary history.
The three best friends already knew each other’s bad habits, but only after going through a seemingly peaceful vacation did one truly see through the other’s heart. The things that the three of them experienced, pushed and caused each other during the trip were described by the author in a humorous, indifferent tone that could make readers laugh until they cried. They, and their pet dog Montmorency, were fed up with each other and sometimes felt extreme hatred for each other. In their heads (the character “I”/J.” to be exact), even started to imagine images that could not be less violent and furious. However, all of them and the dog were here, in the same boat, and there was no other way but to go with the flow, trying to find a way to reconcile everything.
The Thames River is a river located in the heart of London and flows through southern England.
The image of three best friends and that little dog is easy for us to associate with the relationships between people and the roads we go through together. There will be trips that help us realize who our true companions are. There will also be trips that when we reach the destination, we just want to forget and remind ourselves never to repeat. However, that does not prevent us from enjoying the wonderful things spread throughout the journey. Like the way the three best friends sailed on the Thames River, we will never know after the funny and sad incidents on the boat whether they will continue to be friends or whether they will go on another trip together or not, the author does not reveal that. Jerome K. Jerome only reveals to readers how magnificent the sunset on the Thames River is and how different the night with thousands of twinkling stars is when watching them drifting on the river.
“The golden memory of a dead Sun faded slowly in the hearts of cold, sad clouds. Silent as mourning children, the birds ceased their song, and only the mournful cry of the grouse and the clucking of the rails disturbed the dreadful silence around the water, where the dying day breathed its last.”
Or:
“The night, on its gloomy throne, folded its black wings over the darkening world, and from its palace the phantom drew its light from the green stars. The night reigned in silence."
And not only that, thanks to that “stormy” trip, the British territory and its rich history once again opened up before their eyes, making all three of them moved by the glorious things that had happened in their homeland. The kings who had sacrificed and died. The citadels and castles that had once been famous because of the princesses. The shouts of the troops that had lain still in the ground seemed to echo in their ears, swaying with each wave, making all three of them feel that life was worth living many times more. The meaning of the trips was just like that. When we set off on our first trip of the year, we could not predict whether the trip would be smooth sailing or what ups and downs the year ahead would hold. But after all, our task is not to speculate about those things, but what we need to do is let ourselves drift with the water and look up at the sky, where dawn, sunset and the velvety black night covered our eyes. What a life worth living!
The Thames River, the river considered the symbol of London, has witnessed many ups and downs of history.
THE MIRACLE OF NAMIYA GROCERY STORE - HIGASHINO KEIGO
And how much life is worth living when we understand that “The tenderness of life lies in our hands”. That is also a quote from a contemporary literary work from the land of the Rising Sun; The Miracles of the Namiya General Store. A different and unique work by the detective writer Higashino Keigo.
Each page in The Miracles of the Namiya General Store can make anyone who reads it feel their heart flutter with happiness, with the warmth rising in their soul. Someone once said that choosing the right time to read a book will bring about sparkling miracles. This work by Keigo can be read at any time, but it is even more suitable at the beginning of the year, because what could be more wonderful than the first thing we do in the new year is a trip to plant seeds of happiness for ourselves? Like the way the owner of the Namiya store wrote letters in response, confiding in the anonymous letter senders sent to his store.
The story does not have too many climaxes or sensations, but is just simple slices of life about the moments when we have to stand at a crossroads, before the choices of our lives, between the struggles of love, career, family, ego. Doubts like whether we are right in pursuing our passion to the end?
Should we waste time doing something that we know will not bring results in the end but we cannot stop at this time? Or, there will be times when you want to say a lot but words leave you, like the detail of "the letter without words" in the story. At those times, what you need is probably not advice or dogma about standards, ethics and golden rules. What you need is a sincere response, a response that shows that the person you open up to really listen and that they consider all your troubles, big or small, serious and need to be listened to seriously, that you are not alone on this planet.
A grocery store in Japan
None of us are an isolated oasis. We live together and constantly influence each other. Each of our actions is a small seed that will grow into a tall tree that provides shade or a flower bush that beautifies life. What the owner of Namiya General Store does is to sow the seeds of pure kindness in everyone's heart.
What each person, each character in the story does for each other is also an act of sowing that small but vital seed into the common life. When you finish reading the work, you will suddenly realize that the three thieves - the main characters in the novel, although their lives have fallen, deep inside them still exist the seeds of goodness, of the sparkle of hope and optimism that they had accidentally sown when they were living in the orphanage. Although the character who sowed that goodness into the hearts of the three thieves may not even know what he has done, the result is the warmth that surrounds the hearts of three people who seem to have reached the edge of the abyss.
In the work, there is a very special letter, it is a blank sheet of paper without a single word. Yet that letter still received a reply. “Your map is still a blank sheet of paper. You are in a state of wanting to decide on a destination but not knowing where the road is… A blank map is of course confusing. Everyone will feel disoriented. But try to change your perspective. Because it is still blank paper, you can draw any map. It is all up to you. Everything is free, the possibilities are endless. This is great. I hope you believe in yourself and burn yourself out in life.”
Hopefully, on this Spring trip, whether you choose to cruise on the seemingly calm but actually rippling Thames River, or a trip with a “blank map” to mark meaningful milestones yourself, you will always be satisfied and enjoy your journey to the fullest, and believe that the seeds you are sowing will one day come to life.
