aya's review
Wrong About Japan by Peter Carey
an account of peter carey's trip to japan with his 12-year-old son to explore the world of japanese anime and manga.
it seems that all peter carey found in japan is disappointment and irritation. this would be fine, if he could turn those findings into an interesting book with any sort of insight. when i wasn't waiting for him to really get into it, i was busy being irritated and offended. (also annoyed with the translation/transliteration errors.)
it seems to me that all of his disappointment comes not from japan itself, but from being told that all of his show-offy theories of the effects of WWII, Commodore Perry, and Hiroshima on anime are all incorrect. he randomly injects long blocks of text from other sources about japan, presumably to give the book some sort of historical depth.
carey admits that he was wrong about japan, as the title suggests, but he also does not take seriously any of the explanations he receives from the japanese he interviews. i got the ...more
it seems that all peter carey found in japan is disappointment and irritation. this would be fine, if he could turn those findings into an interesting book with any sort of insight. when i wasn't waiting for him to really get into it, i was busy being irritated and offended. (also annoyed with the translation/transliteration errors.)
it seems to me that all of his disappointment comes not from japan itself, but from being told that all of his show-offy theories of the effects of WWII, Commodore Perry, and Hiroshima on anime are all incorrect. he randomly injects long blocks of text from other sources about japan, presumably to give the book some sort of historical depth.
carey admits that he was wrong about japan, as the title suggests, but he also does not take seriously any of the explanations he receives from the japanese he interviews. i got the ...more
Perhaps Carey was trying to undermine our own misconceptions about Japan by debunking all of these airy fairy theories about Hiroshima that he previously held. But I agree with you that the book is rather slight and not all that insightful.
Caleb: maybe, but I really agree with Aya. When Carey realized his theories are wrong, he loses interest and doesn't want to learn more, nor does he even try to understand where the authors are coming from. Notice how the best part of the book -- and his most successful meeting -- is at the end, when he can't ask any questions and is literally forced to just shut up and listen? That's what he should have done from the beginning.
oh good point, Petite. (I haven't read the book. I know of it, but the reviews made me think it might be as is described so well here...)
Yeah, but at the same time, this is a book worth reading, it does have its high points. It's just sad, because really, there was so much potential here, and it just got wasted.
I find most books by Foreigners who wrote books about Japan are usually wrong of just plain awful. One of the few writers I like who wrote about Japan who is not Japanese is Donald Richie. i think he's amazing. Off the top of my head here are my favorite Foreign writers who wrote books on Japan:"The Japan Journals: 1947-2004" by Donald Richie
"Empire of Signs" by Roland Barthes
"Mishima's Sword" by Christopher Ross
"Behind the Mask" Ian Buruma
Omg, thanks for posting this info, I'll check out these titles. :)
