false 1567088 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1185302234m/1567088.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1185302234s/1567088.jpg 25191 21 1559717 book 1969 A Personal Matter total:900|5:298|4:359|3:180|2:48|1:15| 900 3577 1304 113 14162 3.87 2377 276 9343507 416390 1567088 0330344358 9780330344357 11 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1185302234m/1567088.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1185302234s/1567088.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1567088.A_Personal_Matter 4.03 92 1969 2 2 false Tue Nov 20 01:33:39 -0800 2007 Sat Nov 24 14:25:40 -0800 2007 more...]]> 28733719 1349290 25191 0802150616 9780802150615 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616s/25191.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter 3.97 789 1969 5 2 false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Jul 30 07:46:11 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 31 15:07:06 -0700 2008 more...]]> 15692941 810875 25191 0802150616 9780802150615 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616s/25191.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter 3.97 900 1969 5 3 false Fri Feb 15 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 18 09:05:25 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 18 09:24:05 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3653351 223993 25191 0802150616 9780802150615 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616s/25191.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter 3.97 900 1969 4 1 false Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 27 10:28:59 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 27 10:28:59 -0700 2007 more...]]> 45361667 1185590 25191 0802150616 9780802150615 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616s/25191.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter 3.97 900 1969 5 2 false Wed Feb 04 10:15:45 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 04 10:31:11 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5380568 253073 25191 0802150616 9780802150615 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616s/25191.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter 3.97 900 1969 4 1 false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 30 15:12:56 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 11 19:47:28 -0700 2007 more...]]> 78851861 1073899 25191 0802150616 9780802150615 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616s/25191.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter 3.97 900 1969 5 0 false Tue Nov 24 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 24 09:24:10 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 24 11:05:14 -0800 2009
"...more...]]> 56817669 2189610 25191 0802150616 9780802150615 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616s/25191.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter 3.97 900 1969 4 0 false Wed May 20 20:59:59 -0700 2009 Wed May 20 21:00:13 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2917392 165855 25191 0802150616 9780802150615 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616s/25191.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter 3.97 900 1969 5 1 false Tue Jul 10 15:11:52 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 10 15:13:11 -0700 2007
To be very lazy and compare Oe to a different Japanese male novelist: I found Oe to be more interesting and more compelling than any of the Murakami I've read.]]> 78115861 1125599 25191 0802150616 9780802150615 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616s/25191.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter 3.97 900 1969 5 0 false Mon Nov 23 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 17 13:52:11 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 25 16:25:44 -0800 2009
The protagonist, Bird, is stripped of a typical reservedness to expose ...more...]]> 57125923 2348494 25191 0802150616 9780802150615 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616s/25191.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter 3.97 900 1969 4 0 false Sat May 23 23:37:18 -0700 2009 Sat May 23 23:40:21 -0700 2009 The main character, Bird is immature. He's trying to escape from his problems through having an affair and alcohol. I sympathize more for his baby lying in the hospital figh...more...]]> 76940096 1017623 25191 0802150616 9780802150615 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616s/25191.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter 3.97 900 1969 4 0 false Fri Nov 06 13:03:22 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 06 13:11:14 -0800 2009 more...]]> 50564900 159749 25191 0802150616 9780802150615 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616s/25191.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter 3.97 900 1969 2 0 false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Mar 26 18:06:52 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 26 18:13:25 -0700 2009
One thing...more...]]> 27861558 849135 25191 0802150616 9780802150615 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616s/25191.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter 3.97 900 1969 2 0 false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 21 10:31:44 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 04 08:09:08 -0700 2008 more...]]> 21968405 185835 25191 0802150616 9780802150615 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616s/25191.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter 3.97 900 1969 0 0 false Mon Jun 09 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri May 09 22:57:27 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 09 16:03:57 -0700 2008 Ah, it's no use. On others' encouragement, I took the book out again and I tried it and was just as repelled by the knotty writing and overworled imagery as before. If it is a translation issue, I'll just have to wait for it to be redone. And as for learning about the challenges of h...more...]]> 8849937 158678 25191 0802150616 9780802150615 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616s/25191.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter 3.97 900 1969 4 0 false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Nov 08 14:00:28 -0800 2007 Sun Nov 25 12:45:44 -0800 2007
It was unpleasant reading, partly because all of the awfulness was at least partly recognizable as my own awfulness. Does that make...more...]]> 8027428 565673 25191 0802150616 9780802150615 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616s/25191.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter 3.97 900 1969 0 0 false Sun Oct 21 11:20:36 -0700 2007 Sun Oct 21 11:20:36 -0700 2007 http://nhw.livejournal.com/513371.html[return][return]It's an intensely written novel about a man whose wife gives birth to a baby with a damaged brain; and he slips back into alcohol and the arms of a former girlfriend while deciding if he will let the child live or die. The prose is very direct, s...more...]]> 44813148 600126 25191 0802150616 9780802150615 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616s/25191.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter 3.97 900 1969 4 0 false Thu Jan 29 19:16:02 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 01 21:31:47 -0800 2009 like the main character. It's hard to imagine anyone less likable than Bird - within hours of learning that his newborn son has a brain injury and will either die or grow up severely handicapped, he's getting smashed with his high-school-buddy-turned-...more...]]> 1327303 90786 25191 0802150616 9780802150615 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616s/25191.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter 3.97 900 1969 5 0 false Sun May 20 15:26:17 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 09 16:14:17 -0700 2007 more...]]> 24762280 375317 25191 0802150616 9780802150615 99 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616s/25191.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter 3.97 900 1969 4 0 false Tue Jun 17 20:15:08 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 17 20:20:18 -0700 2008
1. What a potent/chilling ...more...]]> 8 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=1567088