Wow. Maybe I am easily impressed. But this was good enough to make me sit back and stare at the ceiling at the end for maybe 5 minutes and think "I'm glad I bothered learning Japanese". I'm definitely going to have to replay this, maybe yearly. I enjoyed it a lot, much more than I expected going into it. Fucking phenomenal. I can't remember the last time I have been so moved by any literature. Must be at least 2-3 years at least and I'd struggle to think of what it was.

Thank you to the anon(s) who suggested I pick this for my October read, sincerely.