ဘယ်လိုနေထိုင်လဲ
I juggled multiple Burmese political books last year, and this was the only non-political book I read, and I loved it. The book tells the story of a teenage boy, 14 years old, growing up in 1930s Japan, and his uncle, who cares for his nephew and offers him advice—loads of it, most particularly in Japanese ways. In addition to the story, it educates the readers not only on art, science, language, history, politics, and philosophy but also teaches a powerful message on the value of thinking for oneself and standing up for others during troubled times.
Truth be told, when I finished reading the book, I found myself more captivated by the author than the story. I wanted to know his true motivation for the book so I did a little reading about him. The author, Genzaburo Yoshino, was born in 1899, grew up in Tokyo, and attended Tokyo Imperial University. He planned to be a lawyer, but his interest shifted in school. Later, he studied literature and graduated with a degree in philosophy.
He developed an interest in politics during a time when Japan was becoming increasingly militaristic and authoritarian. Because of his association with socialists, he was arrested and imprisoned for eighteen months. It was 1925, when Japan passed the Public Security Preservation law, making it a crime for anyone to say or write things that were critical of the government.
When he was released from prison, Japan was already engaged in military campaigns that led to its entry into World War II. Through the help of a friend, he got an editor job for a book series for younger readers. He wanted to write an ethics textbook for the series, to teach the younger generation about the importance of the humanities to society, so he wrote this book—How Do You Live?