Here are the books:

A Personal Matter + Rouse Up, O Young Men of the New Age |||
And Then
A Dark Night's Passing |
Naomi A Novel |
Kappa
Masks ||
Botchan A Modern Classic
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

-you can only cast one vote
-I’ll update the score next to each book every (other) day
-I’m not into deadlines, but let’s say 15th of November, give or take
-we’ll see how it goes, but we can do the reading part in Nov/Dec and start a topic in January; whoever wants to start the book topic earlier is welcome to.

Well, rouse up!

And my vote goes to Rouse Up, O Young Men of the New Age.

I vote for the first one.

One thing, though. It's a kind of sequel to A Personal Matter, and it might be better to read that one first. How about reading both? They're not long novels.

How about doing a little PR for Rouse Up? A Personal Matter is the story of Oe's effort to integrate his brain damaged son into the family and the personal adjustment he made to his vision of his role in contemporary society. Rouse Up, O Young Men is the story of his son's transition into adulthood and the special complications of sexuality and mental disability. Personally, I can't imagine a good discussion arising out of this unless advocacy for persons with disabilities is a special interest. It may be fascinating, but without some PR I couldn't vote to spend time on this one.

Have you read A Personal Matter? That one is about a father dealing with the birth of a son with medical problems, but that's not at all what it is, and Rouse Up, too, goes way beyond the story line. Oe's books are hard to describe. They're generally harrowing views into the darkest corners of the human soul.

Here's the Japanese publisher's description of it.

Spurred on by mystic poet William Blake's prophetic poems, the protagonist (the writer himself) contemplates true happiness and family bonds in the midst of life with his eldest son Eeyore, born with a disability. He questions the essential purity of the human soul, and comes to yearn for the "regeneration" of man in an age of crisis. "Rouse Up, O Young Men of the New Age" is the Oe's heartfelt call to the youth of the coming age. A moving collection of linked short stories that marks a peak in Oe's oeuvre.

That said, Oe can be really tough to read. "Harrowing" is really the only word.

A Personal Matter
　　　　　Oe's breakout book. Protagonist's life descends into almost total moral dissolution after the birth of very sick son.

And Then
A Dark Night's Passing
Naomi A Novel
　　　　　These three deal with men whose involvement with women involves some kind of illicitness (cheating, being cheated on, desiring the wrong person, etc..) that changes the men's lives.

Kappa
　　　　　Satirical description of a fantastic society where the rules are the opposite of those in human society. Said to be a key work in understanding Akutagawa's suicide.

Masks
　　　　　Never heard of it.

Botchan
　　　　　The most light-hearted of the books in this list. Soseki's writing is kind of like Dickens.

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
　　　　　Non-fiction, I think. A writer muses on running? Or something? Not sure.

Murakami talks about the links and similarities between what is required for running and for writing, and how they have influenced each other in his own life. He also divulges a bit of autobiography in the process, though I wouldn't say it's anywhere near a complete memoir, as it's fairly topical and not a bit meandering. That said, it's a very enjoyable book, and learning about the man himself is always fun.

However, my vote is for Rouse Up, as I am looking to read something Japanese other than Murakami!

Marc, good idea. Reading both is the way to go.

Susan, I’m not going to campaign for books. It’s enough to do a Google Books search and see whether you like the writing style.

I will say this: the subject of a book is one specific blob (the disability of a son, for instance), the themes and symbols will be more general (running away from responsibility etc).

I vote for Naomi-

I vote for Masks

I think I'll go for Masks as well.

If Rouse Up ends up being chosen, though, I agree that we should read both that and A Personal Matter. One can never have too much Oe!

Uh-oh... And I vote again for Personal + Rouse Up.

That's allowed, right? ;-)

If anyone changes their vote, please state so unclearly.
(Ahem)

Marc, I’m not bending the rules for nobody :) Your vote is where it needs to be.

Just a heads up, I have read Masks and it makes more sense if you’re familiar with Genji Monogatari and temporality in Noh theatre. These give it a certain gravitas, otherwise it’s just light reading.

seeing the descriptions really quick im going to vote for A Dark Nights Passing.

The first option sounds interesting but i dont feel going through 2 books at the moment. If a library nearby has them great if not i dont mind purchasing them but i would like to avoid a 2 book purchase on top of the holidays coming up/ working retail = madness. =3

but if it does will ill do my best to read them fast enough =3

Voting officially moved to the poll.