I think, consciously or not, what we readers do each time we open up a book is to set off on a search for authenticity. We want to get closer to the heart of things, and sometimes even a few good sentences contained in an otherwise unexceptional book can crystallize vague feelings, fleeting physical sensations, or, sometimes, profound epiphanies.
— Leave Me Alone, I’m Reading, Maureen Corrigan (via macrolit)
Goyō Hashiguchi (橋口 五葉, Hashiguchi Goyō, Cover for Natsume Sōseki’s novel I Am a Cat in 1905. It was his first commission. This led to design of other books by Futabatei Shimei, Uchida Roan [ja], Morita Sōhei, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, Nagai Kafū, and Kyōka Izumi.
I had no idea this was by the master woodblock artist
I have this strange feeling that I’m not myself anymore. It’s hard to put into words, but I guess it’s like I was fast asleep, and someone came, disassembled me, and hurriedly put me back together again. That sort of feeling.