Two Years’ Worth of Emotional Capacity — My Reading Log for July 2026

 For more than two years, I barely read a book. It was the longest dry spell I can remember—a period in which even manga gradually disappeared from my life. When I finally began reading again, I found myself wondering how long the heart can live on what it has already stored.

I used to post a reading log on the second day of every month.

In these posts, I quote the reviews I wrote on BookMeter .

I had not written one of these reading-log posts for quite some time. In other words, I had not been reading, and I had even forgotten the format I used.

So I went back and looked for my previous entry, only to discover that the last one was “My Reading Log for May 2024.”

Back then, I finished reading García Márquez, moved on to a Japanese bestseller, and, carried along by that momentum, ended with Flowers for Algernon.

I remember that time well.

Still, it has been two years since then.

I wonder how many other times in my life I have gone for more than two years without reading a proper book.

Even when I was absorbed in manga, I think I still read books.

Manga, in its own way, also gave me plenty to engage with, but now I do not even read manga.

Reading is like water that fills the heart. Perhaps it was only after that water had completely run dry that my heart began to thirst and finally made me pick up a book again.

It seems that the reservoir of my heart holds about two years’ worth.

Perhaps reading does not simply fill the heart; it also reminds us when the heart has begun to run dry. 

My July BookMeter Summary
Books read: 2
Pages read: 328
Likes received: 22

Boule de Suif (Iwanami Bunko, Red 550-1) — Review
A small but richly rewarding work. I do not know how commonly one encounters prostitutes in society, but perhaps the prostitute here is a metaphor for something. The same may be true of the other characters from the upper classes. As I read, I assumed that I myself would probably belong among those upper-class people. By the time I finished, however, I realized that this was not necessarily true at all. The distinctions between higher and lower kinds of people are entirely relative and, in the end, meaningless. The story made me think that there is no such thing as universality in human existence. After finishing it, I found myself quietly reflecting on what it means for a human being to exist.
Date finished: July 25
Author: Guy de Maupassant

 
Generative AI as a New Partner: How the Way You Write and Think Has Fundamentally Changed — Review
A book in which a scholar of religion, a humanities writer, and a philosopher each discuss how they use AI. As I increasingly came to use AI both as a conversational partner and in my work, I began to feel a sense of crisis about human existence. I picked up this book hoping to find something resembling salvation in it. In the end, however, it was nothing more than the repeated complaints of aging scholars standing frozen before the threat of AI. Because the themes are religion and philosophy, the discussion gives off a vaguely elevated air. Yet it merely presents a series of questions and answers that anyone could produce by tossing in a few related terms without possessing any deep knowledge of the subjects. Nowhere did I find a sense of urgency about the possibility that, at this rate, AI may deprive humanity even of the chance to develop new forms of thought.
Date finished: July 17
Authors: Hiromi Shimada, Tetsuya Saito, and Masao Kurosaki

BookMeter

・・・ 

emotional capacity

「心の容量」「感情を受け止められる余力」という意味。
ここでは、心の中に蓄えておける読書体験や精神的な潤いの量を表している。

reading log

「読書記録」。
読んだ本、読了日、感想などを定期的にまとめた記録。

dry spell

「不調な期間」「何かが長く途絶えている時期」。
本文では、本をほとんど読まなかった2年以上の期間を表す。

be absorbed in

「～に夢中になる」「～に没頭する」。
“Even when I was absorbed in manga” で、「漫画にはまっていた頃でさえ」という意味。

in its own way

「それなりに」「それ独自の形で」。
ほかのものと同じではないが、それ自体の価値や特徴があることを表す。

run dry

「干上がる」「枯渇する」。
水がなくなるという本来の意味から、感情、発想、資金などが尽きる場合にも使われる。

thirst

名詞では「喉の渇き」、動詞では「渇望する」。
ここでは、心が再び読書を求め始めた状態を、水を求める感覚に重ねている。

pick up a book

直訳は「本を手に取る」。
実際に本を持つだけでなく、「本を読み始める」という意味でも使われる。

reservoir

「貯水池」「貯水槽」。
本文では、過去の読書から得た感情や思考を心の中に蓄えておく場所の比喩。

two years’ worth

「2年分の量」。
“two years’ worth of water” のように、ある期間に相当する量を表す。

richly rewarding

「非常に味わい深い」「得るものが多い」。
派手ではなくても、読むことで深い満足や思索が得られる作品を表現できる。

upper classes

「上流階級」。
社会的、経済的に高い地位にある人々を指す。

distinctions

「区別」「差異」。
本文では、人間を上位と下位に分ける社会的な区分を意味する。

universality

「普遍性」。
時代、文化、個人差を超えて、あらゆる人に共通すると考えられる性質。

reflect on

「～についてじっくり考える」「～を振り返る」。
単に考えるだけでなく、静かに深く思いを巡らせるニュアンスがある。

conversational partner

「会話相手」。
AIを単なる検索や作業の道具ではなく、対話を行う相手として表現している。

a sense of crisis

「危機感」。
何か重大な問題や危険が迫っていると感じること。

salvation

「救い」「救済」。
宗教的な意味を持つ言葉だが、ここでは不安や行き詰まりから抜け出すための答えという意味。

stand frozen before

「～を前にして立ちすくむ」。
強い恐れや戸惑いによって、どう行動すべきかわからなくなる様子。

an elevated air

「高尚そうな雰囲気」「格調高く見える印象」。
実際に内容が深いとは限らず、外見上そう感じられるという含みがある。

toss in

「気軽に放り込む」「適当に加える」。
ここでは、宗教や哲学に関係する単語を深く理解せずに質問へ入れることを批判的に表している。

deprive someone of something

「人から何かを奪う」。
“AI may deprive humanity of the chance...” で、「AIが人類から機会を奪うかもしれない」という意味。

 

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