I do not actually recall how I came to have The Great Passage on my Kindle. It could have been a gift, maybe a free selection from Amazon at some point, or something I purchased impulsively and promptly forgot all about. In any event, there it was, when I’d exhausted my supply of magazines at a beach house, so I thought I might as well give it a try.

Much to my pleasant surprise, it was a lovely book, the story (which takes place over 15 years) of the making of a new dictionary at a Japanese publishing house. The novel focuses largely on the workplace as the characters involved in the dictionary make their slow progress. There aren’t too many novels that focus on office life (which is odd, really—it’s where many of us spend most of our days), which makes this work a bit unusual. The personal relationships of the employees here are secondary to the story, but also quite enjoyable—while reading, I appreciated the bits of romance sprinkled in. The real meat of the story here, though, is the work at the publishing house, the discussions of words, what they mean, how those meanings change, how to use limited resources at a company for a meaningful project, the political maneuvering necessary to get things accomplished, and of course, the function and purpose of dictionaries. I found the process and all its details (even including the selection of the paper and its texture, which must enable easy page turning) rather fascinating, and I also enjoyed learning a bit more about Japanese workplace culture, and cuisine.

It might seem a small thing, the creation of a dictionary, but here it is revealed to be of vital importance, and a meaningful life’s work.

HOW TO PURCHASE: AMAZON

NOVEL: The Great Passage

AUTHOR: Shion Miura; translator, Juliet Winters Carpenter

YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 2011 (English translation, 2017)

IMAGE: Book cover, Amazon Crossing