A gentle tale about a team working to publish a new dictionary. I grew so fond of them all and the ending was perfect. Also a bravura work of translation by Juliet Winters Carpenter. Translating something written in Japanese about Japanese, and creating something that reads so naturally, is a serious achievement.

“A dictionary is a ship that crosses a sea of words.”

Here is a book about people who are in love with words, here is a book about the making of a dictionary. It’s heart-warming, geeky, poignant, funny. There are lots and lots of cool details about Japanese language, meanings of various words, and the process of editing and publishing a dictionary. My inner geeks and nerds were very happy.

When Aroki the editor has to retire and needs a successor, he knows that “my task is to find someone who loves dictionaries as much as I do – no, more.” Enter Majime, a walking definition of nerdiness and geekiness. Here he is, at a welcome dinner with his new colleagues:

“What’s your hobby, Majime?" Nishioka boldly asked, searching for a friendly ouverture.
“If I had to pick something, I guess it would be watching people get on the escalator.”

Silence descended on the table.

(There is an excellent explanation for this fascination with escalators, don’t you worry.)

For Majime, this is a story of finding his calling, his agency, a life he loves. Watching it happen is a pleasure. The romance is understated and cute. When it turns out that there is a potential love interest for Majime (Kaguya – she is a chef, and she is not letting anyone “interfere with her world”), the editorial team has to go and check her out. What if she doesn’t understand the lifestyle of dedication that lexicography needs? I really don’t know what this says about these people… ahem. By the way, Majime, when a girl you adore asks you out, you don’t start thinking about the deeper meanings of two similar verbs so that you forget to answer. Just a thought.

I like it when an annoying and obnoxious character becomes someone you can root for, just because the author switches POV.

“Majime was incapable of flattery. Since Majime had said it, Nishioka could believe it: he was needed. He wasn’t a deadweight after all. He felt a burst of joy and pride.
Majime had turned back to his desk with an unconcerned look on his face, little suspecting that he had been Nishioka’s salvation.”

Of course, there are deeper things at play here than just the process of dictionary-making. Words and language define us, connect us, define the world around us, and influence how we see the world. In the end there is sadness and joy, tragedy and a sense of accomplishment, and work that has neither a beginning nor an end.

“Words gave things form so they could rise out of the dark sea.”

P.S. Three five star books in a row, amazing! Not that I am complaining... ( )

4.5 stars. Who knew a story of love, friendship and a quest to publish a dictionary would be so delightful? ( )

The Great Passage is the name of a dictionary intended to be the most comprehensive of the Japanese language ever compiled. The process of compiling it forms the basis of the plot. This is also a story of friendship, dedication, teamwork, and interpersonal relationships. Many challenges must be surmounted by a sparse and underfunded staff. The title represents both the outcome of the project and the personal growth that occurs in the team members.

It is set in Japan and infused with cultural elements – foods, customs, and business practices. The characters are eccentric and colorful. The author adds a good bit of humor into the conversations among them. It will appeal to those who love quirky characters, language, or vocabulary. It also contains an educational element of the many aspects that go into the creation of a dictionary (quite a few of which I had never thought of before).
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Language has fascinated Kohei Araki since he was a child, but now he's ready to retire and let others take a helm of the project for a new dictionary, to be titled The Great Passage. What follows is the story of various people who have a hand in its creation: Majime, an awkward but hardworking young man; Nishioka, in some ways Majime's opposite but one who comes to appreciate the dictionary work; Kishibe, a young woman who comes to work on the dictionary and has to figure out how to work with Majime. Over the course of fourteen years, each of them will have their impact on the dictionary, and it will have its impact on them.

I really can't pass up a book, fictional or nonfictional, about dictionaries. I found it interesting to see the details of Japanese dictionary creation (here fictionalized, but the author includes a bibliography and clearly did her research), and could only imagine the amount of work that must have gone in to translating something like this that depends so much on features of language and writing. A fun, warm story that I would recommend to fans of The Dictionary of Lost Words and The Liar's Dictionary. ( )