![]() My shoes don't speak to me, let alone to the socks, about weather or anything else. She anthropomorphizes possessions far too much for my comfort. Personally, Kondo's style doesn't appeal to me. She's softened all of her edges and become more self-aware, and that, combined with the the translator's warm tone, makes Kurashi at Home far more readable than the earlier books. I'd often said that if wealthy Kondo (her father is a publishing magnate her husband a marketer) ever had kids, she would likely change her tune and not be so hard-nosed. Apt, but incomplete, and most of the page goes really far afield from the question. That said, on a page devoted to how to handle having difficulty keeping a tidy home with a spouse who is messy, she ignores any interpersonal aspects between marital partners, and basically just suggests the person focus on organizing their own stuff. This is the first time Kondo's writing has seemed to acknowledge that there is psychology behind why people keep things, rather than than purely a failure to follow her instructions. (Her mother certainly was at odds with her child fixating on changing all of her kitchen and bathroom systems without permission.) In the past, Kondo has come across to me, at best, as someone on the spectrum who seemed unwilling or unable to understand that her firm rules were not necessarily natural or helpful. People looking for specific advice to follow won't find it in this aspirational book, but the tone, possibly due to Cathy Hirano's warm, lighthearted translation, makes this the most appealing of Kondo's works. (It's not that Kondo's minimalist and very Japanese design aesthetic can't be achieved with less money, but the photos certainly reflect a luxe, expensive style.) It's also more than 60% photographs, making it feel more like a coffee table book with aspirational pictures of the kind of life lived by people who can afford expensive homes, expensive materials, and designers. This book is largely different from those she's written before, possibly because it is less of a how-to and more of a stream of consciousness, with very little text, comparatively. They failed to take into account that her firm insistence on doing things exactly her way would make it harder, rather than easier, for people with ADHD, clinical depression, anxiety, chronic illness, and other difficult situations to achieve their goals. I have always found her books (especially the early ones) to be too rigid and judgmental. She has since shared the joys of organisation in her two Netflix series, where she helps people “Marie Kondo” their lives by decluttering their homes.As my other reviews of her books over the years will show, I'm not a fan of Marie Kondo. This method encourages categorising items, including clothes, books and sentimental items to figure out whether they “spark joy” in the owner. KonMari, Kondo’s tidying method, was outlined in her 2011 book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. In the book, she writes: “Tidying up means dealing with all the ‘things’ in your life.” For Kondo, this means evaluating how you order your life and creating your own rhythm based on what fills you with joy. Since becoming a mother to three children, she said her way of life had changed and her focus had shifted from organisation to drawing on simple ways to bring happiness to everyday things. Kondo’s latest book, Marie Kondo Kurashi at Home: How to Organise Your Space and Achieve Your Ideal Life, centres on the Japanese concept of kurashi, meaning “way of life”. ![]() “Now I realise what is important to me is enjoying spending time with my children at home.” “I have kind of given up on that, in a good way for me,” she said. “Up until now, I was a professional tidier, so I did my best to keep my home tidy at all times,” she said, through an interpreter during an online webinar. The tidying guru said her life had changed significantly since the arrival of her son in 2021. “My home is messy, but the way I am spending my time is the right way for me at this time at this stage of my life,” she told the Washington Post. ![]()
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