A Used Book, Hidden Notes, and a Pathway Through Grief
A secondhand story article review, worth exploring for connection and perspective
Article Review:
Original Article Written by Shaant on Medium
I came across this article that was beautifully written by one of the writers that I follow on the Medium Publication (https://medium.com/)
It struck a deep chord with me because of how the author described discovering an unexpected connection with a distant stranger - just through the words they had underlined and the notes they had scribbled in the margins of a used book.
In the article, the author Shaant mentions that the previous owner of the book Norwegian Wood, by Haruki Murakami (*see footnote below*), had underlined passages and written personal reflections about loss and heartache on the sides of the pages. Shaant goes on to mention her experience of reading the secondhand book with its extras, like stepping into a quiet conversation across time and space. In Shaant’s description of flipping through the marked pages, it seems as though they sparked a reflection that grief, loneliness, and longing don’t exist in isolation.
The experience was described as a sort of ‘window’ into the way grief quietly ‘travels between people’ and is sometimes shared across time and space.
In the article, Shaant highlights the following underlined passages in the secondhand book:
“Death exists, not as the opposite but as a part of life,”
and
“What happens when people open their hearts?”
~ Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami ~
I tend to agree with Shaant’s perspective that when seeing someone else’s words scribbled in the margins of a book, it can be strangely comforting by way of a shared sense of humanity — and how even in loneliness, we’re never entirely alone.
“That’s what the underlined Norwegian Wood gave me years later, proof that even grief can be heard. Someone had experienced, read, and scribbled those same words out of their own existence.”
~ Written by Shaant ~
I recommend reading this article because it hits right in the ‘feels’ for this month’s Perspective Files theme on grief and remembrance. Proof that sometimes - healing hides in the little things: a stranger’s note, a dog-eared page, a shared emotion.
It’s a reminder that even through grief and loss, connection often finds us in the smallest, most unexpected moments.
If you’d like to read the full article, you can follow Shaant on Medium (shaant.medium.com) or click here: