A Strange Tale from Down by the River

"The river possesses the force to guide fate. I think that nature, buildings, and mountain ranges have some effect on our lives. Everything is intertwined and linked together, and within that mass of forces I have survived, and will live on, not because of anything I've decided. With that realization, I suddenly felt something shining within me.
"When I looked out from that window each morning at the river, I saw the water glistening, like a million sheets of crushed gold leaf, flowing by. The light within me was something gorgeous like that. I wondered if that was what people in the old days use to call hope."

For my final presentation in my Ethics, Alterity, and the Novel class. The pieces my group chose to do our presentation on are Murakami's The Kangaroo Communiqué and A Window along with Yoshimoto Banana's Lizard. For my part, I focused on the last story in Lizard, "A Strange Tale from Down by the River".

Enjoy!