A Reader's Guide to Japanese Literature

by J. Thomas Rimer

Book by Rimer, J. Thomas

Genres: Nonfiction, Japan, Reference, Literary Criticism

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Timothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first edition of this was my gateway to Japanese Literature back in the day. After I had read all of the Kawabata, Tanizaki and Mishima that was in print I found at the campus book store, I stumbled onto this. So invaluable back then, years before my first internet search - gotta be old like me to appreciate a book like this which I used to search libraries and stores in an ever widening search to quench my new passion. I loved how reading this book made me feel like I was a well rounded reader of Japanese Literature, from the classics to the moderns, before I had even found much of anything beyond the bid three yet. Well written, well chosen survey of works and authors, still good, and even better with the circa 1999 updates. The funny thing is, now that current Japanese fiction is well represented by a plethora of younger, quirky, violence and horror and magical realism obsessed writers, this book is just as valuable as it ever was - now that so many of the "boring" and "old fashioned" 20th century writers in these pages have passed into out-of-print neglect. C'mon, Kodansha, reprint some of these great books in great translations that are mentioned in here.

[Gertrude & Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an invaluable reference for anyone interested in the Japanese literary tradition. (I'm afraid there's not much in the way of popular fiction though since it was published over twenty years ago.) Rimer does an excellent job of supplying you with just the right amount of information needed, and in a concise economical style, to get you started on your road to the uniquely remarkable world of Japanese fiction.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book much more than I thought I would. The group of Japanese works included in this book are diverse in their subject matter, time periods, formats, and authors. The summaries given for each work and the mini-biographies of the authors are very well written and readable. A good read for anyone interested in Japanese literature, whether they have previous knowledge of that literature type or not. Highly recommended. :)