Go

by Kazuki Kaneshiro

I mean, how could I have turned out otherwise?

The belief of victimhood and "you are the circumstances you are delt"

“Take a good look at the wide world,” he said. “You decide the rest.”

Refreshing

Damn it if this poor kid wasn’t somebody’s precious child.

Like Malcolm X said, “I don’t call it violence when it’s self-defense. I call it intelligence.”

headline on the cover: “Monster Wife Laces Abusive Husband’s Dinner with Arsenic!” Peeking out from behind the magazine was a smile as wicked as Jack Nicholson’s.

This is so cute

“The days of acting all high and mighty just because you’re a man or ridiculously old are over.” My father glowered. “You got a few more years’ schooling than I did, and now you’re going to lecture me?”

Adorable

“The circle you made with your fist is roughly the size you are. If you stay inside that circle and take only the things within your reach, you can go through life without ever getting hurt.

Sage advice

A tree that is unbending is easily broken in a powerful storm. But not grass.”

could entertain but couldn’t change anything. You open the book, you close it, and it’s over. Nothing more than a tool to relieve stress.

“A lone person devoted to reading novels has the power equal to a hundred people gathered at a meeting.” Then he’d continue, saying, “The world would be a better place with more people like that,” and smile good-naturedly. And then it felt like maybe he was right.

“But you should live a random life. I mean, your life has already veered off the rails. I wish you’d keep on veering and see where it takes you. You’re someone who could pull that off.

Another silence passed between us. Then I said, “It’s too bad we weren’t friends back then. I would’ve beat down every one of them.”

So gentle in the way of folding into your heart

“No soy coreano, ni japonés, soy un nómada desarraigado,”

“But we live in circumstances that can’t always be explained away by logic.

“Not a bad thing to know something about darkness. You can’t talk about light without some knowledge of darkness. Like your buddy Nietzsche said, ‘He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.’ Keep that in mind.”

‘Any man in his youth should apply himself to amusement to his heart’s content. Too long a time in a forest of words will leave him trapped and unable to escape.’”

“Don’t you want to ask how far I went with these boys?” After some wavering, I shook my head. “Knowing will only upset me.”

This is so tender and sweet . I love them together

Leaning forward, Sakurai peered up at my eyes. “If you’re depressed, I hope you’ll talk to me about it.”

My heart

Jeong-il had been watching me run down the track. I was sure of it. I wanted it to be true. And what was the problem if it was?

My heart ache for the brave boy. Suddenly life can fall into place all at once, and he realizes that as he bleeds out in the girls arms

Upon hearing these words, one of the first-year players began to cry. Just as everyone’s cry button was about to get switched on, the coach went up to the first-year, pulled back his arm like an Olympic discus thrower, and smacked him across the face. The kid went flying and slammed into the lockers with a great big crash! The rest of us shuddered at the sound. In a terribly calm tone, the coach said to no one in particular, “Never cry in front of others. You boys live your lives surrounded by enemies. Shedding tears before the enemy is the same as begging for pity. The same as admitting defeat. Your admitting defeat means all North Koreans are admitting defeat.

This illuminates the the group mindset, that of you are showing "weakness" that reflects on your nationality as a whole. "Don't cry in front of anyone" impacted me personally. Seeing that there is so much of my dad in these books. I read them to understand him that much more

“So basically who you are has to do with your roots. Then maybe I should ask how far you have to go back to know your roots. If you found out that your great-grandfather had Chinese blood in him, would you stop being Japanese?”

This hurts. It illustrates how irrational prejudice is, and how harmful it can be to everyone involved. For someone to be weighed, measured, and discarded because of uncontrolled circumstances is more reflective on the ignorant person that would do such a thing. But her fauther was taught that, and she was taught that. But can she let it go to see this beautiful person before her?

“My given name is Tsubaki. Like Tsubaki from La traviata. A name that has the kanji characters for cherry blossom and camellia sounds so Japanese that I didn’t want you to know.” I put my hand on the doorknob. After wavering a bit, I turned around and said, “My real name is Lee. Like Bruce Lee. My name sounds so foreign that I didn’t want you to know because I was afraid of losing you—like I just did.”

God damnit

As soon as I decided, I began to cry. Putting my forehead down on the desk, I cried for almost an hour. It was the first time I’d cried in a really long time. I climbed under the covers and wished Jeong-il a good night before going to sleep. Good night.

“I’m not the person you think I am.” “Look, maybe to you, you’re just being normal. But not to me. I can’t just be the yakuza’s son anymore. It’s not enough. It’s not enough if I want to catch up to you. I have to look good and hard for my own thing. It isn’t always easy being Japanese either.”

“You got off with no strikes on your record,” he said, chuckling. “Be grateful.” That’s when I swore to myself: someday I’m going to kill this son of a bitch with my own hands.

Hehe

“Will you stop with the crab? Geez, you sound pathetic. The days when people are going to cry over your sorry sob story are over. It’s because you first- and second-generation Zainichi are so piss-poor that my generation can’t shine.”

I guess I was universally incompatible with taxi drivers.

My mother would say to me, “If you ever lay a hand on your father, I’m going to kill you and then kill myself.”

How is this book so heartbreaking and funny all at once?

No soy coreano, ni japonés, soy un nómada desarraigado.

Tell me, Won-soo. What does my face look like now? I can’t tell . .