The stones cry out cover

The stones cry out

by Hikaru Okuizumi

A Japanese novel on a bookseller whose life is one tragedy after another. One son is murdered, another turns revolutionary and the wife becomes an alcoholic. As if that is not enough, Tsuyoshi Manase is haunted by a World War II massacre of wounded Japanese soldiers by his own, who considered the wounded deadweight.

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?