I picked up Jessica Au’s Cold Enough for Snow after reading a review that coined it quietly powerful to get a break from The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, a book I am currently reading for the book club. Quiet felt like the brain needed from the harness and unfamiliarity of The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. Also, Cold Enough for Snow is 142 pages long and set in Japan ━ all seemed like good choices when I paid $9.08 and downloaded into my kindle.
What I didn’t expect was how captivating the writing was, especially since the book is about everyday things with Japan as its’ backdrop.
The unnamed narrator’s observations were so carefully crafted. Reading each sentence tasted like eating an Asian dessert for the first time ━ sweet but not too sweet.
A Sign from Cold Enough for Snow
Reading the chapter about staying in her lecturer’s house simultaneously made me want to pick up a random cookbook and start cooking and redo our living room. Post-reading the chapter about her and her partner’s house in the mountain, I spent a solid hour looking at Airbnb in Mornington Peninsula. But more than those small-ish resolutions, I now can’t stop thinking about my postponed-by-Covid Kumano Kodo travel plan. No reason not to do it this year. Maybe it’s a sign?
I also noticed the similarities between Cold Enough for Snow and Crying in H Mart, the last book I finished before finishing this. Both have a slipped-in love story, equally as beautiful; immigrant culture (Crying in H Mart showcases Korean culture while Cold Enough for Snow shares snippets of Hongkongnese culture); and long-distance relatives thought of fondly.
Also, the central theme in both books is a mother-daughter relationship. The difference is in Crying in H Mart; you learn the mother has died from page one. Meanwhile, at some points in Cold Enough for Snow, you thought the mother had passed away too – but then maybe not.
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au is a thin book worth a space in the bookshelves. A book to return to whenever you want to be buoyed by the beauty of shared mundane memories.
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