false 1344121 24 female Romania 07/2008 12/2009 40416 Amélie Nothomb 410653 Astrid Lindgren 4280 Kazuo Ishiguro 11 603 131 true 5656567 read 2 true 2853580 currently-reading 470 true 2853579 to-read 205 false 5371489 japanese 47 false 5356040 -newsweek--what-to-read-now 16 false 5397567 africa 15 false 5393558 non-fiction 10 false 5398069 travel 7 false 5398225 music 5 false 5398117 asia-central 4 false 5515987 graphic-novels 4 false 5426355 iceland 3 false 5401563 poetry 3 false 5401586 history 1 false 6032897 classics 1 false 6723263 childrens-lit 1 false 5401582 politics Asterios Polyp (Hardcover) by David Mazzucchelli]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/64813581 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255736254s/4070095.jpg 1344121 Lindu Pindu http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1252569882p2/1344121.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1344121-lindu-pindu Sat, 19 Dec 2009 12:26:50 -0800 A Drifting Life (Softcover) by Yoshihiro Tatsumi]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/63289243 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1238677274s/4930396.jpg 1344121 Lindu Pindu http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1252569882p2/1344121.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1344121-lindu-pindu Sat, 19 Dec 2009 09:52:19 -0800 War Souvenir (Hardcover) by Paolo Ventura]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/81423129 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172346163s/166268.jpg 1344121 Lindu Pindu http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1252569882p2/1344121.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1344121-lindu-pindu Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:03:47 -0800 The Shadow of the Wind (Paperback) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78064598 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1247930410s/1232.jpg 1344121 Lindu Pindu http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1252569882p2/1344121.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1344121-lindu-pindu Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:37:10 -0800 http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/231235-book-nominations-for-november-december http://photo.goodreads.com/groups/1217963368p2/7160.jpg 1344121 Lindu Pindu http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1252569882p2/1344121.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1344121-lindu-pindu Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:52:50 -0800 Harvee wrote: "Mark David wrote: "Harvee wrote: "I don't like the way women are often portrayed by the older Japanese writers. I find it patronizing, sexist, etc. and though the situations may have been true for..."

If something frustrates you, of course you don’t have to read it, but we are all products of our time. As a girl, I can say I don’t get offended by older authors’ portrayal of women. I see those books as cultural artefacts, and not a direct offence at everything female.

However, I believe you’re talking about modernist writers. Modernism in Japan was a period of oppression for women, greater than it had ever been, because it came from Japan’s political imperialist need to show the world it was capable of aligning itself to Western standards. A far cry from Japan’s original matriarchal system. Immediately after the war, women were separated into two spheres: the good, virginal type and the evil seductress. Which is why Japanese men rarely had sex with their wives. The "sexual reformation" in Japan just promoted the ideal of the ryosai kenbo, or the good wife and wise mother. It was their education. In schools they had Purity Manuals for fuck’s sake; and they targeted only girls. This is the kind of society people grew up in.

Postmodernism changed all that, changed this limited array of female types that an author could pick up like an image of still life and retouch here and there for added personality. Postmodernism actually rejects the idea of female-ness. But these are just general trends. Murakami, especially in his early work, has a very flat style regarding women. They can all be reduced to the same typology.

Have you read any Murasaki Shikibu or Sei Shonagon? Take the un-contemporary Japanese quotidien directly from the female eye.]]> http://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/25782-please-vote-by-clicking-on-a-book-for-the-november-december-edition-of-t http://photo.goodreads.com/polls/1257881611p2/25782.jpg 1344121 Lindu Pindu http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1252569882p2/1344121.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1344121-lindu-pindu Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:21:03 -0800 The Awakening (Paperback) by Kate Chopin]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77779238 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170507247s/58345.jpg 1344121 Lindu Pindu http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1252569882p2/1344121.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1344121-lindu-pindu Sat, 14 Nov 2009 14:33:46 -0800 Cassette from My Ex: Stories and Soundtracks of Lost Loves (Hardcover) by Jason Bitner]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77351773 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1256933461s/6542739.jpg 1344121 Lindu Pindu http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1252569882p2/1344121.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1344121-lindu-pindu Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:30:02 -0800 http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/234883-voting-november-december http://photo.goodreads.com/groups/1217963368p2/7160.jpg 1344121 Lindu Pindu http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1252569882p2/1344121.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1344121-lindu-pindu Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:49:15 -0800 the poll.]]> The Snow Goose (Essential.penguin) by Paul Gallico]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77140822 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175559841s/529241.jpg 1344121 Lindu Pindu http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1252569882p2/1344121.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1344121-lindu-pindu Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:44:51 -0800