{"id":3907,"date":"2025-11-10T15:59:47","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T23:59:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/adult_services\/?p=3907"},"modified":"2025-11-10T15:59:47","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T23:59:47","slug":"on-nostalgia-and-mono-no-aware-%e7%89%a9%e3%81%ae%e5%93%80%e3%82%8c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/adult_services\/2025\/on-nostalgia-and-mono-no-aware-%e7%89%a9%e3%81%ae%e5%93%80%e3%82%8c\/","title":{"rendered":"On Nostalgia and Mono No Aware (\u7269\u306e\u54c0\u308c)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"a<\/a><\/h3>\n

On Nostalgia \u2014<\/h3>\n

Depending on who you are, this word can mean a number of different things, or it can feel a number of different ways \u2013 leaving you with emotions only you know. For some nostalgia feels nice, it feels comforting and beautiful or it can be painful and a reminder of what they can never have again in the exact same way \u2013 it’s what makes us human and what inspires so much art. For others,\u00a0it’s a little more defined like mono no aware. Similar to<\/span> nostalgia is <\/span>Mono No Aware <\/span>(<\/span><\/span>\u7269\u306e\u54c0\u308c<\/span><\/span>),<\/span>\u00a0a Japanese term for the awareness of the impermanence of things, and the gentle, <\/span>bi<\/span>t<\/span>tersweet<\/span> sadness that comes with it; or, an empathy towards things, a sensitivity to ephemera and the aesthetic appreciation of impermanence.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As for myself it\u2019s both \u2013 it makes me want to cry, but it also makes me want to live in it and find more things that make me feel that way and that inspire my inner curiosity and art.\u00a0Sometimes it\u2019s fleeting and fast, almost like I can\u2019t even truly remember what it is, just that it makes me feel a certain way.\u00a0Other times it lingers for weeks at a time, and I can\u2019t seem to get myself to move on from the feeling or memory. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>I define nostalgia as the feeling that starts your heart and slowly makes its way towards your brain, legs, and fingers. As it travels throughout your body in lightning speed and in slow motion, you conceptually or viscerally revisit one or a couple of past moments, smells, tastes, views, conversations, experiences, feelings, anything you lived in the past \u2013 that has been activated or triggered by something else \u2013 a smell, experience, conversation, taste, time of day, anything. As for how it feels \u2013 it fills you up with Everything Everywhere all at once<\/a><\/span>, and then it leaves just as fast as it came \u2013 leaving you with less than what you had before it came. Nostalgia takes, but it also represents a life lived. It can also give, it reminds you that those moments should be cherished and that they were special. Taking those moments for what they were and accepting them as they are as memories is the part where a person\u2019s experience with nostalgia changes \u2013 it can be a moment of admiration, a moment of bitterness or jealousy for what was, it can simply be a moment of pause, or it can even be a moment of release and closure. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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My pick is referenced above, Everything Everywhere all at once<\/a>. This movie has something about it \u2013 it’s so odd, but it\u2019s also so familiar to me. It brings me back to being a teenager, it brings me back to being a kid, and it also sends me into the future \u2013 it’s both coming of age and growing pains, along with sci-fi and comedy- the same way life seems to be at times. The time period, the central laundromat set, the cluttered home, the stacks of bills, communicating in 2 languages, and the props in this movie create an atmospheric nostalgia for me. I watched this movie with my mother, who was entertained by it at times, unimpressed, not watching, or disgusted at other moments. If you\u2019ve seen this film or know anything about it \u2013 you will understand the layers of a daughter (me), watching this movie with my mother (unimpressed). She and I aren\u2019t too good at holding conversations without arguments, nor do we spend much time together, so it is comedic to have spent quality time watching this movie together. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Staff Picks:<\/h3>\n

Staff Pick – Shauna<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a Good Life\u201d The Twilight Zone S3E8 Written by Rod Serling based on a 1953 short story by Jerome Bixby, Directed by James Sheldon Starring Billy Mumy\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

I find nostalgia everywhere\u2014in cards photos I\u2019ve saved; when people mention books or films I\u2019ve seen, and certainly in music. Seeing a book cover, hearing a song, or even passing through the babies and infants aisles at Target\u2014my son is now a strapping 16-year-old, but seeing the onesies and strollers and soft toys sends me reeling back to his early infancy. Nostalgia for me, having so far mostly lived a life with family and friends I am very close to, is always a mostly pleasant experience, tinged with a little melancholy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I was home sick from elementary school, maybe in second or third grade, lying in bed half watching television. This was in the 1970s, and because my father is a jazz\/big band musician, he was (unusually for that time) the parent who was home during the day while my mother worked a nine-to-five, so he was in the other room, probably practicing his horn. In my semi-fevered haze, I watched this show I\u2019d never seen on the tiny black and white TV in the bedroom I shared with my sister. It was about a little boy with strange power over everyone around him, controlling even their thoughts\u2026it was so strange, and kind of terrifying! I got up out of bed and wandered in to ask my Dad about it. I told him I just saw this weird thing on TV and described the story and he lit up with excitement, telling me that was The Twilight Zone\u2014an old TV show that was just the best! Weird and surprising and all kinds of ideas about people and life. He was right; I was hooked on this weird and wonderful thing. It started my lifelong love affair with movies, books, music and ideas that take you somewhere unexpected, and make you think. Now you can get the whole series on a streaming channel, and even that thought makes me a little nostalgic for the time when I had to wait for holidays when a channel ran The Twilight Zone marathons for a weekend. Every time I see that episode, and even if someone says \u201cIt\u2019s a good life,\u201d I remember my first encounter with the fascinating genius of Rod Serling. I. Maybe start with this episode, but don\u2019t stop there! See them all!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Staff Pick – Young<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Family Style<\/span>\u00a0by Thien Pham<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nostalgia for many is about happy memories, but <\/span>there’s<\/span> a bittersweet feeling attached to it because nostalgia is often triggered by a recollection of a time or place that is long gone or at least consigned to a <\/span>seemingly distant<\/span> past. A book that has a nostalgic story for me is\u00a0<\/span>Family Style<\/span>, a graphic novel by Thien Pham. <\/span>It’s<\/span> a brief memoir about Pham coming to America with his family as refugees after the Vietnam War. His experience adjusting to a new life in America reminded me a bit of what my family went through. I was reminded of the carefree attitude and blissful ignorance of growing up in an uncertain environment reading about his childhood.\u00a0While the story is more or less <\/span>one<\/span> I can relate to, <\/span>it’s<\/span> the theme of food and its association with the immigrant experience that resonates with me. Tasting and smelling “exotic” food in a new country <\/span>and also<\/span> the comfort of eating traditional dishes from home in a strange land conjure up fond memories as I read Pham’s story. The fact that this book was a gift has a bit of nostalgia for me as well. The story and the book itself bring about a wistful smile when I open it.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Staff Pick – Matt\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Hail, Caesar! (2016)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

So much of our culture is just <\/span>nostalgia for the past<\/span>, whether for our own childhood or times when we <\/span>weren’t<\/span> even alive. <\/span>It’s<\/span> a comforting feeling but in my experience <\/span>it’s<\/span> a comfort that quickly fades as we return from the dreamworld of the past to the stark realities of modern life. <\/span>I think this<\/span> is because in many cases, the nostalgia we feel is for something that never truly existed, either because we see our own past through rose-colored glasses, or because we long for a mythical past that in truth only came from the minds of Hollywood or Madison Avenue. “Hail Caesar!” is borne both of Coen Brothers’ love of Old Hollywood, and an honest attempt to get at the complexities that world <\/span>contained<\/span>. As the Coens are <\/span>well aware<\/span>, the reality of the golden age of cinema was often in stark contrast to the glamorous image often associated with it. This is clear from the very first scene when Studio head Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) busts up a Starlet’s <\/span>risque<\/span> photo shoot, giving her a fake name and alibi of how she got lost after a costume party, <\/span>in an attempt to<\/span> protect her family-friendly public image. This juxtaposition continues through the film as we meet kidnapped movie stars, secret communists, and dirt-digging gossip columnists in what might seem\u00a0<\/span>at first glance to<\/span> be just a nostalgic romp through the glamor of old Hollywood. Would that it <\/span>were<\/span> so simple.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Staff Pick\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Gold – 20 Super Hits (2012) by Eruption<\/a> \u2022 Song:\u00a0 One Way Ticket<\/em> cover<\/p>\n

This song reminds me of my dad \u2013 it reminds me of <\/span>being 6 years old and <\/span>taking the metro with him to school, doctor\u2019s visits, shopping trips, swap meet visits, trips to explore the city. My dad and I are the same in that we love to be <\/span>out and about<\/span> and we long for <\/span>more, never content with just being home. Something my mother and brother never have or will relate to. When my dad got cancer <\/span>and could not go out as much as we used to, he longed for adventure \u2013 and we would take short walks blasting this song on <\/span>a little portable speaker <\/span>as we passed<\/span> walked through our <\/span>neighborhood. For those reading this \u2013 my dad is still alive and well \u2013 still has ca<\/span>ncer, but <\/span>he\u2019s<\/span> okay! <\/span>He\u2019s<\/span> still grooving to the music. <\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Pure Heroine (2013) by Lorde (Available on hoopla)<\/a> \u2022 Song: Ribs<\/em><\/p>\n

I was 16 years old when this song came out and so was Lorde. It was in her debut album and I found myself in her lyrics, harmonies, and teenage emotions. It was my senior year of high school and a couple months after the release of this album, I was on a plane heading on my Belgium and France trip. I had just turned 17 and so had Lorde. I was also preparing to be separated from all of my friends – we were all applying and getting accepted to different universities, different programs, creating different life plans. It was such a lonely time, but I was never quite alone. The feelings I was feeling – they’re all captured in the ethereal airy spatial audio going in and out, front and back, and left and right from one earphone to the other. Combined with Lorde’s harmonies and center vocals, all the subtle synth layers and the rhythmic foundational drums created a vacuum of unsettling comfort for me, it was the only song I listened to on my flight from LA to NY to Frankfurt and finally to Brussels. Listening to that song today takes me back to being 17, emotional, lonely, and reflective – as teenagers can be. Her latest works (Melodrama<\/a>, Solar Power,<\/a> Virgin<\/a>) still have the same effect on me – I seem to consistently relate to her experiences – her break-ups and identity crisis seem to line up with my own – I find myself lost in nostalgia whenever I listen to her music.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Some nostalgic reads:<\/h3>\n

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The Remains of the Day by Kazou Ishiguro <\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The<\/span> novel’s narrator, Stevens, is a perfect English butler who tries to give his narrow existence form and meaning through <\/span>the<\/span> self-effacing, almost mystical practice <\/span>of<\/span> his profession. In a career that spans <\/span>the<\/span> second World War, Stevens is oblivious <\/span>of<\/span> the<\/span> real life that goes on around him — oblivious, for instance, <\/span>of<\/span> the<\/span> fact that his aristocrat employer is a Nazi sympathizer. Still, <\/span>the<\/span>re are even larger matters at stake in this heartbreaking, pitch-perfect novel — namely, Stevens’ own ability to allow some bit <\/span>of<\/span> life-affirming love into his tightly repressed existence. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his years of pilgrimage: a novel by Haruki Murakami<\/a><\/p>\n

” … story of <\/span><\/span>Tsukuru<\/span><\/span> Tazaki<\/span>, a young man haunted by a great loss; of dreams and nightmares that have unintended consequences for the world around us; and of a journey into the past that is necessary to mend the present”–Dust jacket.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Last Letter From Your Lover by Jojo Moyes<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1960, Jennifer Stirling wakes in <\/span>the<\/span> hospital and remembers nothing–not <\/span>the<\/span> car accident that put her <\/span>the<\/span>re, not her wealthy husband, not even her own name. Searching for clues, she finds an impassioned <\/span>letter<\/span>, signed simply “B,” <\/span>from<\/span> a man for whom she seemed willing to risk everything. In 2003, journalist Ellie Haworth stumbles upon <\/span>the<\/span> letter<\/span> and becomes obsessed with learning <\/span>the<\/span> unknown <\/span>lover<\/span>s’ fate–hoping it will inspire her own happy ending. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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A Gentleman in Mosow by Amor Towles <\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“<\/span>A<\/span> Gentleman<\/span> in<\/span> Moscow<\/span> immerses us <\/span>in<\/span> a<\/span>nother elegantly drawn era with the story of Count <\/span>A<\/span>lexander Rostov. When, <\/span>in<\/span> 1922, the thirty-year-old Count is deemed <\/span>a<\/span>n unrepentant <\/span>a<\/span>ristocrat by <\/span>a<\/span> Bolshevik tribunal, he is sentenced to house <\/span>a<\/span>rrest <\/span>in<\/span> the Metropol, <\/span>a<\/span> grand hotel <\/span>a<\/span>cross the street from the Kremlin. <\/span>A<\/span>n <\/span>in<\/span>domitable man of erudition <\/span>a<\/span>nd wit, Rostov must now live <\/span>in<\/span> a<\/span>n <\/span>a<\/span>ttic room while some of the most tumultuous decades <\/span>in<\/span> Russian history <\/span>a<\/span>re unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, the Count’s reduced circumstances provide him entry to <\/span>a<\/span> much larger world of emotional discovery <\/span>a<\/span>s he forges friendships with the hotel’s other denizens, <\/span>in<\/span>cluding <\/span>a<\/span> willful <\/span>a<\/span>ctress, <\/span>a<\/span> shrewd Kremlinite, <\/span>a<\/span> gregarious <\/span>A<\/span>merican, <\/span>a<\/span>nd <\/span>a<\/span> temperamental chef. But when fate suddenly puts the life of <\/span>a<\/span> young girl <\/span>in<\/span> his hands, he must draw on <\/span>a<\/span>ll his <\/span>in<\/span>genuity to protect the future she so deserves”–Dust jacket flap. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Amazing Adventures by Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon <\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1939 New York City, Joe Kavalier, a refugee from Hitler’s Prague, joins forces with his Brooklyn-born cousin, Sammy Clay, to create comic-book superheroes inspired by <\/span>the<\/span>ir own fantasies, fears, and dreams. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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11\/22\/63 by Stephen King<\/a> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On November <\/span>22<\/span>, 1963, three shots changed the world. What if it never happened? Jake Epping is a 35-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane–and insanely impossible–mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ready Player One by Ernest Cline<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

“In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade’s devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world’s digital confines — puzzles that are based on their creator’s obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by <\/span>player<\/span>s willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade’s going to survive, he’ll have to win — and confront the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape”–Back cover.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

_<\/p>\n

What brought you nostalgia most recently?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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