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A review by millennial_dandy
What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
5.0
One of the enigmatic things about stories is how differently they can hit each reader, or even the same reader, depending on when they are read.
I read 'The Midnight Library' by Matt Haig a few years ago and something about it really gave me the ick. It felt trite and shallow and even a bit reckless in places. And, frankly, I thought when I picked it up that I'd be getting this story. 'What You Are Looking For Is in the Library' was exactly what I needed and wanted at exactly this moment.
It gives exactly what it promises: a sage librarian with an extraordinary gift of reading people, who asks each patron who comes to her desk: "what are you looking for?" and then she finds it for them in the library in the form of a book recommendation that inspires them. Because though each patron is in a completely different place in their life (a recent college graduate working at a box store, an unemployed 30-year-old still living at home, a mother in her early forties grappling with a demotion at work, a man in the middle of a career he doesn't love, and a recently retired salaryman) they all have one thing in common: they feel dissatisfied and unfulfilled and as though they don't matter.
But! Through the power of books, they get the insight into the root of their unhappiness that allows them to unlock the solution. For some of the characters the steps are large and specific, while for others the change in perspective is enough.
There are certain aspects of the novel that can feel a tad repetitive, especially since each character takes a turn going to the library for the first time and has a similar encounter with the librarian. However, because Aoyama does such a good job establishing the unique voice of each character, even this feels necessary as a means of showing how the same thing can be viewed differently by every person. And yet, there are unifying things they all take notice of, though for different reasons.
Indeed, I would argue that as much as this is a thinly-veiled self-help book it is also a book about community. All of the protagonists are slowly revealed to have intersecting lives to greater and lesser extent because they all live in the same district in Tokyo and therefore are all afforded membership to the same library.
Making the library the focal point of the community made my little collectivist heart so happy because now more than ever, libraries are community centers as much as they are a place to access books. They host clubs, workshops, art exhibitions, they provide spaces for locals to put up posters for events in the area or ads for locally owned businesses. They're a point of connection for people. And considering that loneliness and feelings of disconnection plague each of our protagonists, though in different ways, Aoyama points out that the library itself and not only the books they check out there is part of their journey to leading a more fulfilling life.
The fact that each protagonist is coming there from a different walk of life also feels needed to convey this message because each stage of life brings different types of challenges, and yet, as the title suggests, all of them find what they're looking for in the library.
It's deeply impressive that Aoyama was able to present all of this in such a readable and easily accessible manner, and though much of the advice is presented directly on the nose, it never feels corny because it's balanced by each fully fleshed out character study.
The way Aoyama presents the relationship the girl in her twenties has to her phone feels a little bit off, likely due to the fact that Aoyama herself didn't have that type of technology at that age and quite possibly doesn't use it now, but we'll forgive her that since everything else felt so incredibly spot on.
'What You Are Looking For Is in the Library' is proof that a story need not be dark and broody to deliver valuable insight into the human condition and that it's ok even for the 'serious, intellectual reader' to read something that makes them feel good every once in a while.
I read 'The Midnight Library' by Matt Haig a few years ago and something about it really gave me the ick. It felt trite and shallow and even a bit reckless in places. And, frankly, I thought when I picked it up that I'd be getting this story. 'What You Are Looking For Is in the Library' was exactly what I needed and wanted at exactly this moment.
It gives exactly what it promises: a sage librarian with an extraordinary gift of reading people, who asks each patron who comes to her desk: "what are you looking for?" and then she finds it for them in the library in the form of a book recommendation that inspires them. Because though each patron is in a completely different place in their life (a recent college graduate working at a box store, an unemployed 30-year-old still living at home, a mother in her early forties grappling with a demotion at work, a man in the middle of a career he doesn't love, and a recently retired salaryman) they all have one thing in common: they feel dissatisfied and unfulfilled and as though they don't matter.
But! Through the power of books, they get the insight into the root of their unhappiness that allows them to unlock the solution. For some of the characters the steps are large and specific, while for others the change in perspective is enough.
There are certain aspects of the novel that can feel a tad repetitive, especially since each character takes a turn going to the library for the first time and has a similar encounter with the librarian. However, because Aoyama does such a good job establishing the unique voice of each character, even this feels necessary as a means of showing how the same thing can be viewed differently by every person. And yet, there are unifying things they all take notice of, though for different reasons.
Indeed, I would argue that as much as this is a thinly-veiled self-help book it is also a book about community. All of the protagonists are slowly revealed to have intersecting lives to greater and lesser extent because they all live in the same district in Tokyo and therefore are all afforded membership to the same library.
Making the library the focal point of the community made my little collectivist heart so happy because now more than ever, libraries are community centers as much as they are a place to access books. They host clubs, workshops, art exhibitions, they provide spaces for locals to put up posters for events in the area or ads for locally owned businesses. They're a point of connection for people. And considering that loneliness and feelings of disconnection plague each of our protagonists, though in different ways, Aoyama points out that the library itself and not only the books they check out there is part of their journey to leading a more fulfilling life.
The fact that each protagonist is coming there from a different walk of life also feels needed to convey this message because each stage of life brings different types of challenges, and yet, as the title suggests, all of them find what they're looking for in the library.
It's deeply impressive that Aoyama was able to present all of this in such a readable and easily accessible manner, and though much of the advice is presented directly on the nose, it never feels corny because it's balanced by each fully fleshed out character study.
The way Aoyama presents the relationship the girl in her twenties has to her phone feels a little bit off, likely due to the fact that Aoyama herself didn't have that type of technology at that age and quite possibly doesn't use it now, but we'll forgive her that since everything else felt so incredibly spot on.
'What You Are Looking For Is in the Library' is proof that a story need not be dark and broody to deliver valuable insight into the human condition and that it's ok even for the 'serious, intellectual reader' to read something that makes them feel good every once in a while.