There are some lovely observations on the autumn of life here as Pico Iyer joins his wife Hiroko to farewell her just-deceased father, tend to her mother, and contemplate what it all adds up to. Recalling the loss of his parents' home in California to fire, he writes: What do we have to hold on to? Only the certainty that nothing will go according to design; our hopes are newly built wooden houses, sturdy until someone drops a cigarette or match. As I climbed all the way up to our house, the day...

Very Japanese "eyes" to the impermanence of life and the physical world. But not utterly pessimistic in the telling. Not at all. It holds immense descriptive segments and reflects both the love of Japan and Japanese culture and his wife in particular that the author holds.Most of it is surely true, and applies to the most beautiful season of autumn. And the autumn years of various outcomes. The contemplation, meditation ideal is held throughout the memoir too.It's also too self-absorbed and "les...

This is a followup to the author's book (I thought when it came out it was categorized as a novel) the Lady and the Monk. If that was spring--new love, possibilities, growth-- this is autumn--maturity and the realization that things end, people die, everything can't be fixed. The lady and the monk had this wonderful beginning (pure Pico Iyer!) of him wandering around the town of Narita--he was in Tokyo on a layover and decides to take advantage of the free shuttle to go see the famous Shingon te...

This was such a quiet book, about autumn, about aging, and loss, and courage, and 'autumn light in a quiet room,' it was almost a meditation to read it--it creates its own environment, an emotional space in the reader quiet enough to unfold the book's philosophical and spiritual case. Japan is a culture of age, of preoccupation with time and season. In the book, age's presence is represented by the author's social circle, of which he is sort of a junior mascot to the seniors who gather to play p...

Okay, the thing that irritated me the most about this book was the mention of Starbucks selling Pumpkin Spice Lattes. For a book that’s supposed to be a keen observation of the passing of time and seasons, and for someone who has supposedly spent so much time in Japan, one would obviously know that this drink isn’t sold here. That aside, this was just a slow book about...nothing? If you want an interesting book about the passage of time that takes place in Japan and the he the author as a charac...

This book easily landed on my favorites list. Beautiful images of Autumn and Japan. It was just what I needed to take my out of a sad book reading trend. Lovely and highly recommended.

Visiting Japan in March and I couldn't be more excited. This was a lovely little read that left me thinking while reinforcing my excitement. Although now I sorta kinda wish I was visiting in Autumn...

It is good to meet life sometimes; not by seeing it in the eye but by interlocking fingers and walking by its side. In this book, Pico Iyer finds himself undertaking such a walk, under the light-heavy shadows of autumn. Twenty-five years after he first came to Japan as a 26-year old, enthusiastic, US-based journalist, he is compelled to make an unplanned visit back. The reason? Death of his father-in-law. His wife, Hiroko, conveys this news over phone and Iyer finds himself back in the quiet, un...

I wanted to like this book. It started out with some poetic writing, but that soon became overly-sentimental. The "story" itself wasn't really a story, which even the authors admits in the final couple of pages. I was hoping for more insight, but having lived in Japan for 26 years, there was nothing new for me here. Reading this book was kinda like listening to some guys long-winded and boring story that really has no point, and really no ending. OK, some people will tell me that is the point of...

I loved this book because for me, it was the perfect book for this stage of my life. You don't read Iyer for his insight into people, but more for his insight into life and his observations and descriptions of his surroundings. He captured autumn in Japan perfectly and in a very Japanese way. He's both poetic and pragmatic and his book says nothing and everything. When he described places that I am familiar with my memories became brighter and fonder.I am not sure how this book would appeal to a...

The cover of Pico Iyer’s Autumn Light: Season of Fire and Farewells is adorned with a spray of spring blossoms. Pretty white flowers, picture postcard perfect: incongruous, at first glance, with even the very title of the book. These flowers belong in spring, not in autumn. But pay closer attention, and you see that the flowers are falling, shedding petals as they drift down. Dying already, the invisible parent tree above them already moving closer to the next season. Autumn Light is a memoir th...

Is Autumn really the end? Do we have to feel bad when the leaves change color and fall off, my mother always says -it feels sad to know that all these beautiful colors will go away. Or do we think of it as prequel to the beautiful and vibrant spring?Whatever it is, Autumn is beautiful, with its colors, smells and the chilling breezes. And that season is made all the more beautiful by Iyer in his book, which feels like it has no plot but makes you realize that, that is the whole point.In this boo...

Autumn is a season of change, of the beginning of decay - a season when the earth takes on a different hue for a little while before embracing the slumber of icy winter days. A season when the otherwise hurried life seems to slow down. The days move languidly, to soak in the exhilaration of those swiftly flown by. To linger a little more on the miracles of everyday life, on the paling light which bestows the earth with a mellow exquisiteness. It’s amazing how our lives turn around in our autumn

Nearly didn't finish. I don't have too many of those. Iyer is a really talented writer. But ugh. Most of his statements about this culture are total b. s., or should I say more diplomatically, not at all my experience having lived in Japan for three decades.As a language teacher working in Tokyo, and with a Japanese spouse, I know a lot of Japanese people (see above, not bragging, I simply live and work here) and not. a. single. one.ever. speaks the way Hiroko does. I've known a lot of cool, int...

I would like to thank Pansing for sending me a copy of Autumn Light: Season of Fire and Farewells by Pico Iyer in exchange for my review.The fact that the book takes place mostly in Japan made it more interesting. His expository of Nara, a beautiful historical city in Japan, was also very meticulous and makes me wishing so badly that I could be there during the autumn season 🍂The author's writing style is somewhat refreshing and flows nicely. I almost shed tears at the very last sentence of the

“Autumn poses the question we all have to live with: How to hold on to the things we love even though we know that we and they are dying. How to see the world as it is, yet find light within that truth.’‘I think of our own family and see how the story is the same: my father-in-law, after seven years in war and twenty years working for the government, saves up enough to send his son off to America for graduate school. The result is that his son barely speaks to him again. Hiroko longs to get a fo...

This is the type of book you read when you have a lot of time on your hands and are not looking for something overly stimulating. I thought it was a beautiful, sad and nostalgic piece of writing. It’s a real slice of life so don’t expect fireworks. It’s a type of meditative reading experience that reminds you to be in the now and observe your surroundings, accepting it the way it is.Reading this book made me feel like I was drinking a cup of tea, staring out a window, observing everyday life in

The author loves his wife, Japan and ping pong. Born to Indian parents who migrated to the USA he found Japan by mistake and has lived there with his Japanese wife for over 30 years. His recent book sums up his admiration and respect for the simple life, enjoying the pleasures of the mundane, the seasons and family. His serenity and openness is a joy given his job is to fly into war torn nations and report on the worse of humanity. Here is a book which celebrates autumn, the world of the ageing

Beautifully written. This is such a calm book to read. It’s about autumn, about aging, fear of change, about the loss of loved ones and about courage. A lovely meditation on time.I’ve never experienced autumn. I don’t know what it feels like. I really want to visit Japan. I hope I can visit Japan one day. This book focuses more about the autumn and the deeper meaning of the autumn. In the process, the author discusses more on the aspects of his life and people around him, the death of his father...

This book is a love-letter to the author's wife, Hiroko, as well as an attempt to come to terms with the process of aging and the loss of loved ones. The book starts on the day Iyer learns that his hale and hearty father-in-law has been taken into hospital. A few days later, the old man is dead, leaving Hiroko to care after her mother. Hiroko's only brother, Masohiro, who rejected his entire biological family decades before, supposedly because of Hiroko's divorce, doesn't show up at the funeral