If you've ever despaired of expressing yourself, you'll read Sayonara, Gangsters and understand. Set in a facetious near-future that is both...
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reviews
Mar 23, 2011
Gavin
rated it: 
Sometimes writers like to experiment with form or style or storytelling, which is fine by me as long as the story itself isn't sacrificed in the process. Takahashi goes one step further; it's almost as if he is not only experimenting with the writing style, but also with how a person will read his novel. I wish I could give a better description of what I mean.
Within the pages of this novel you will find heartache, murder, hilarity, the absurd, Virgil the refridgerator, a cat who l More...
Within the pages of this novel you will find heartache, murder, hilarity, the absurd, Virgil the refridgerator, a cat who l More...
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Dec 16, 2009
Sam
rated it:
Who doesn't like novels about people who work in poetry schools, give each other new names after passionate sex, feed cats milk and vodka, and then face down a group of unbelievably murderous gangsters? Occasionally precious but usually charming and hilarious: Sayonara, Gangsters.
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(2 people liked it)
Dec 07, 2009
novia
rated it:
"Sayonara Gangsters is one of those rare books that actually defies description. I’ve wanted many times, to encourage friends to read it, but when they inevitably ask what it’s about, and what it’s ‘like’, all I can say is ‘read it’. It’s funny, sure. And beautiful. And slightly insane. And haunting. And heart-breaking. But all those words miss the point. The point is you have to read it. So read it."
Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Everything is illuminated
This More...
Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Everything is illuminated
This More...
Feb 07, 2012
Rosalie
rated it: 
In Sayonara Gangsters, characters include former philosophers that are now talking refrigerators, manic depressive kangaroos, schizophrenic storks, and five gangsters. I enjoyed reading the book, but it was not my favorite. I would rate it a 3 out of 5 because I appreciate the originality, but I would prefer if the book was written as short stories that had more detail about the more interesting characters.
To see more details of my review please click this link: http://japanesefiction.hubpages.com/hub/... More...
To see more details of my review please click this link: http://japanesefiction.hubpages.com/hub/... More...
Dec 09, 2011
Ila
rated it:
This was a really fast read. I was able to finish this book in an evening. It seems impossible to describe this book. It is truly like abstract art. It is open to interpretation. It is very experimental and reads like no other story I have ever read. It is just a jumble of all different genres. Its full of passion, comedy, violence, and absurd confusion. I really liked it! Its perfect for the day that you want to experience something totally different. I absolutely adored the characters Caraway
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Jun 17, 2010
Jazenisawakening
rated it: 
I loved this book. It is written in a way that brings language an eventful poetic anti narrative.
Nov 04, 2009
Andrew
rated it: 
I think I have an allergy to "edgy postmodern" fiction. Because I started this book, like so many other books in the genre, mildly amused. But come about halfway through the book I felt like the CIA was waterboarding me. Not really funny, not critical, not "hip", just some lousy, ADHD-riddled pastiche and empty calories. And I love Pynchon, don't get me wrong, but this is just bad, formulaic imitation.
Jul 31, 2007
Donald
rated it:
I can't really explain how much I enjoyed this book. I want to teach it in every class, & buy it for every single person in the world. This, as they say, blew my shit right up.
I have a feeling the reason this isn't better known is because its publisher is a general interest Japanese publisher--manga, erotica, sci-fi, & lit--& so the design is a bit flashy, and the font a bit gimmicky.
I have a feeling the reason this isn't better known is because its publisher is a general interest Japanese publisher--manga, erotica, sci-fi, & lit--& so the design is a bit flashy, and the font a bit gimmicky.
May 20, 2008
Jesse
rated it:
A sort of japanese richard brautigan - it was ok, but I think that it loses something in translation, and wasn't really all that enlightening or interesting to begin with.
But if you go in for that sort of thing...
But if you go in for that sort of thing...
May 27, 2007
Isaac
rated it:
Occasionally entertaining, mostly frustrating postmodern novel about art and archetypes. Good enough to be affecting, which means depressing in postmodern lit. Stay away if you're feeling fragile.
Jul 04, 2008
David
rated it:
A paradigm of modern experimental fiction. Impossible to account for the fluidity of the book, and it's weird charm.
Dec 17, 2009
Anne
rated it:
Compared to Brautigan's Trout Fishing, it's definitely as canonical for Japanese PoMo.
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