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You can buy Fishtown.....Here
The blurb...
"For years my life had been a string of temporary work in factories and call centres or unemployed. Approaching 30 and disillusioned with life in Glasgow, I sold everything I had and left for a new life in a remote fishing village in Japan. I knew nothing of the language or the strange new land that I would call home for the next seven years. Fish Town is an eye-opening true story that paints the reality of living in Japan as an outsider."
My Review...
I was discussing epistemology stories with an author the other day and this is a great example. Essentially a short autobiographical novella, based on a diary format but without dates. The entries were written on a phone. I don't know whether this is a planned literary sleight of hand or just happened that way, either way it works with this content. This leads to very minimalist, writing style that packs a punch in a straightforward manner. Unlike a lot of autobiographical books there is no embellishment or purple prose.
The narrative is stripped back to its soul, which reflects the author's experience of being a stranger, in a strange land. Not a word is wasted but you really feel the emotion behind the limited narrative.
Feeling a little lost in his native Scotland, the author sells up and decides to "go on an adventure!". He ends up as a TEFL teacher in a decaying fish-town in Japan However, unlike The Hobbit, there was no magical, thrilling escapade. The author endured, and I think endured is the correct word loneliness, isolation, mental ill health and an increasing drinking issue in a country that looks down on foreigners. You are in his shoes and it is a fascinating insight into an culture most of us will never see. A culture that holds "respect" and "honour" in high regard but can be extremely cruel.
Heart-breaking at times, sometimes funny, often surreal but never self pitying, you find yourself rooting for him and hoping that every turn of the page will see him turn the corner and find a place where he is happy. If you have a friend or relative who is considering moving lock, stock and barrel to a foreign culture with a foreign language, do them a huge favour and buy them this book. It is an eye opener.
I'm not going to tell whether our hero finds a place/person where his soul is happy and content. You'll have to read it for yourself and it is very, quick, easy read well worth it, whether or not you are thinking of travelling to the land of the rising sun.
Selected quotes..
"foreign wounds don’t heal in a place like Japan they only get worse, fester, and bleed out."
"Earthquake drill....they all practised at the school with yellow helmets and hiding under the desk no helmet for the foreigner though again I was to sit in the locked staffroom"
"we went to a spa town in the mountains outside Tokyo so they could experience a traditional Japanese hotel the food was served in the room by an old woman who stared to make sure you ate it whole fish on sticks raw fish Japanese eggs octopus balls my mum tried but couldn’t eat anything but the rice and vegetables they had a hard time sleeping on the tatami floor but got a good idea of the life out there opened both their eyes to a new world to what was far beyond the outskirts of Glasgow."
About the Author...
John Gerard Fagan is a writer from Scotland who has returned home after living in Japan for the last seven years. He has interests in Japanese literature and Noir. He is a university lecturer. He is also a musicain and and artist. He painted the cover of fish town. Find his blog Here
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