Miracles Around the Corner — Keigo Higashino
“Your map is still empty — like a blank sheet of paper. Because the sheet is blank, you can draw any map you wish, chart any road. It all depends entirely on you. You are free and have unlimited possibilities. That is wonderful news. Please believe in yourself and live your life to the fullest, so you have no regrets. I wish this for you with all my heart.”
A charming, warm book with a touching twist at the end — perhaps a little too charming, but still far from Disney territory.
In one evening, stories from the past, present and future intertwine. At the centre stands a general store whose owner offers advice to anyone who knocks on his door.
“The people who write to me I compare to people who are lost. In most cases they have a map, but they either don’t bother to look at it or don’t know where they currently are.”
Every question is given deep analysis and answered in the best of faith. And that’s exactly what it shows — how many of us, when asking for advice, already know the answer, but we need to talk it out, we need to be heard. At all times, but I think above all in the present — in a world where everyone can connect with everyone, perhaps that’s precisely why the connection doesn’t happen. It’s taken for granted.
As someone who theoretically tries to be non-judgemental, but given my strong personality and binary approach to life — I give advice left and right, just like the shop owner. And like him, I try to put my whole heart into it. But just as in the stories in the book — neither I nor the owner have the full context of the question, and we can only give advice, to use my favourite legal phrase, “to the best of my knowledge.” And I know that I know nothing 🤭
Yet I think this is precisely what makes us human — that we seek connection, that we need to be heard. And often, even when someone points us in a direction, it allows us to take the path we’d intended all along. Or — as tends to happen in my case — to open ourselves to the unknown and discover different colours.
I don’t want to give away too much, but there’s a story of a man who desperately wants to be a musician, for his songs to be known. And one of his songs becomes famous across all of Japan — thanks to another character in the book.
The stories are interconnected and the characters affect one another. It makes us think, I believe, about the interactions we have with others — even if they’re brief moments with a stranger. We can be kind, because it affects their life, and then ours, and these behaviours multiply across an entire area and then ripple outward.
This book is light and pleasant — perfect for a holiday or a weekend after a tough week.
I highly encourage you to read it and discover the stories of its characters.
And remember:
“Your map is still empty — like a blank sheet of paper. Because the sheet is blank, you can draw any map you wish, chart any road. It all depends entirely on you. You are free and have unlimited possibilities. That is wonderful news. Please believe in yourself and live your life to the fullest, so you have no regrets. I wish this for you with all my heart.”
