Genzaburo Yoshino - How Do You Live
from chapter 3 to end
I know I had a lot of thoughts about this last week when I read it, but it’s been long enough the thoughts are fading. I can offer nothing close to evidence. Suffice to say: this book is both generally good (in story telling as well as politics), but I find it interesting how it was written in the midst of Japanese military fascism, and how its longest plot thread is about the shame of acting cowardly towards violent nationalists, here allegorized as bullies with a fascinatingly self destructive school spirit. There some bit of folk wisdom (or whatever) about comfortable liberalism gladly bowing down to fascists. This book seems to offer an example of that less axiomatic and closer to truth.