Reading Notes: The Man Who Did Not Wish to Die (A)

Origami crane; Wikipedia

 This was an entertaining story! First of all, I really liked the main character's name, Sentaro, because it just flows so nicely off the tongue. I always enjoy stories that have to do with the "elixir of life". It seems that there is one of these stories in almost each unit we've done so far. I would assume it's because the idea of a long life is so appealing to people. I think these types of stories are super fun to write and even read because there's so many various ways you can twist them and be creative in order to get your message across. I like how in this story, Sentaro has to travel to the peaks of a mountain in order to find the ever so elusive elixir. It adds the element of a journey to the story.

Topsyturvydom, what an interesting name for a place that longs to die! It seemed so magical until I found out that people in this place drink poison and hope to die in order to reach "Paradise". It's the complete opposite of what Sentaro was looking for. I thought the part about the little paper crane enlarging to be able to fit Sentaro was a nice idea to add some magical moments in my story. Maybe I could tell my story this week from a witch's point of view and have her ride a broomstick!

As expected though, it seems like Sentaro finally became weary of living for so long in one place and doing the same thing. I think it's necessary to spice up life and do things differently every once in a while so it's understandable that Sentaro got tired of his routine life after three hundred years. Wow, i was not expecting all that to be a dream and a lesson taught by Jofuku. This sort of twist would be great for my story this week!

Bibliography: Yei Theodora Ozaki's Japanese Fairy Tales: The Man Who Did Not Wish to Die