One last word of advice, though, Mr. Okada, though you may not want to hear this. There are things in this world it is better not to know about. Of course, those are the very things that people most want to know about. It's strange.

What I'd like to be is a unique writer who's different from everybody else. I want to be a writer who tells stories unlike other writers'.

In the end, like so many beautiful promises in our lives, that dinner date never came to be.

Everything. Things you lost. Things you’re gonna lose. Everything. Here’s where it all ties together.

I'm a coward when it comes to matters of the heart. That is my fatal flaw.

My priority is my books, at least at this point. What I have to do is write the narrative of this time.

To be able to talk to your heart’s content about a book you like with someone who feels the same way about it is one of the greatest joys that life can offer.