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Sayonara, Gangsters
If you've ever despaired of expressing yourself, you'll read Sayonara, Gangsters and understand. Set in a facetious near-future that is both mind-bendingly bizarre and achingly familiar. Sayonara, Gangsters is an inventive novel about language, expression and the creative process that unfolds through hilarious sketches. The peaceful if bizarre life of a poetry teacher is f
...more
Hardcover, 311 pages
Published
April 1st 2004
by Vertical
(first published 1982)
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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 likes Thomas Ma ...more
Within the pages of this novel you will find heartache, murder, hilarity, the absurd, Virgil the refridgerator, a cat who likes Thomas Ma ...more
Hệ thống sao của Goodreads có vẻ vô nghĩa với cuốn này, vì nó không giống bất kỳ cái gì ta đã đọc trước đây cho nên thích hay không thích đều không nghĩa lý. Ba sao cho những băn khoăn.
I've said a lot of good things about this book, but after reading it for the third time (even accounting for the huge change in my tastes over the last few years), I'm pleasantly surprised to find it lives up to all of them. Sayonara Gtrangers is deeply strange, formally conscious and smart, but also compulsively readable, endlessly funny, and held together by a strong sense of human tragedy. There are too many good parts to list, but "The Fat Gangster's" speach and everything involving Caraway,
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This is unlike anything I've ever read, and it was influential and amazing because of it. To put it in perspective, when writing this novel, Takahasi was struggling to regain his understanding of language after a traumatic experience in prison. This resonates throughout the novel, which feels chaotic and eccentric, all because it is from the perspective of an intelligent and learned individual who is just learning the meaning of "truth," perspective, and the complexities of reality. I by no mean
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Sayonara, Gangsters is a Richard Brautigan book if Richard Brautigan was still alive and Japanese.
Avant-Garde, nếu muốn dùng một mỹ từ để kể về cuốn này. Kiểu như nhạc của Jean Louis, nhạc của Quiet Sun, nhạc của Gong.
Rất nhiều tình tiết không tưởng mà có vẻ nằm ngoài luôn cả cái cliché "kiểu Nhật". Ẩn dụ và không-ẩn-dụ loạn cào cào. Mới đọc có vẻ vui, nhưng khi nghĩ lại thì chỉ muốn tránh xa nó ra.
Nó đáng sợ.
Rất nhiều tình tiết không tưởng mà có vẻ nằm ngoài luôn cả cái cliché "kiểu Nhật". Ẩn dụ và không-ẩn-dụ loạn cào cào. Mới đọc có vẻ vui, nhưng khi nghĩ lại thì chỉ muốn tránh xa nó ra.
Nó đáng sợ.
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.
Ki cuc keo hêt sưc :v Minh thich bai thơ đâu tiên, đoan cac gangster chêt, va tât ca cac trang it chư nôi liên nhau.
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Rất khác người, rất kỳ quái, rất hóm hỉnh. Và rất duyên..
Một cuốn sách không phải để hiểu. Có cố mấy cũng không hiểu đâu, đừng cố.
Nhưng tôi thích cái sự khó hiểu của nó. 5* vì đọc không hiểu gì nhưng lại không ngưng được. Cũng có lúc tưởng như hiểu rồi, lật trang sau, lại mù mờ như cũ. Túm lại trong một chữ: QUÁI!
Tuy không hiểu nhưng vẫn cảm được. Cái kiểu nhức nhối với xã hội, cái kiểu khép kín trong suy nghĩ, cái kiểu triết lý tưng tửng nhưng lại rất hợp lý. Cái gọi là lớp học y như nhà tù, nhà tù thì nghe như trại tâm thần.
Hẳn đây là thế giới nội ...more
Nhưng tôi thích cái sự khó hiểu của nó. 5* vì đọc không hiểu gì nhưng lại không ngưng được. Cũng có lúc tưởng như hiểu rồi, lật trang sau, lại mù mờ như cũ. Túm lại trong một chữ: QUÁI!
Tuy không hiểu nhưng vẫn cảm được. Cái kiểu nhức nhối với xã hội, cái kiểu khép kín trong suy nghĩ, cái kiểu triết lý tưng tửng nhưng lại rất hợp lý. Cái gọi là lớp học y như nhà tù, nhà tù thì nghe như trại tâm thần.
Hẳn đây là thế giới nội ...more
Oh, this is the kind of book I like. It's funny, it's chaotic, it's smart.
I guess I don't have a lot to say about it. It's a very western feeling novel, but with enough japanese oddness to keep it fresh and interesting.
Yes, definitely recommend, if only so you can enjoy a pretty wild ride.
I guess I don't have a lot to say about it. It's a very western feeling novel, but with enough japanese oddness to keep it fresh and interesting.
Yes, definitely recommend, if only so you can enjoy a pretty wild ride.
Quá lâu rồi tôi mới đọc một mạch một cuốn tiểu thuyết. Lí do? Để đỡ hại não, tôi chỉ đọc những cái gì ngắn.
Và thơ.
Đọc xong cuốn sách, tôi đã nghĩ, giá mà nó thử thách hơn nữa, khó hơn nữa, xáo trộn hơn nữa, quên nhớ hơn nữa, thơ ca hơn nữa.
Và thơ.
Đọc xong cuốn sách, tôi đã nghĩ, giá mà nó thử thách hơn nữa, khó hơn nữa, xáo trộn hơn nữa, quên nhớ hơn nữa, thơ ca hơn nữa.
Hài hước, quái lạ và điên hết cỡ. Dù không thật sự hiểu tác giả muốn viết gì, và viết như vậy với mục đích gì?
Loved this. felt very original.
I gave this book only 2 stars because at the end I felt that is what it deserved. It is abstract and there is a lot of hidden meaning but I just found myself eternally waiting for things to become clearer.
If a book presents itself as a series of riddles and snippets at some point those should all come together so that the reader understands what is going on.
I will say that I have no idea about the author or the culture he is coming out of. I am sure if I was a japophile (correct word?) or a fan ...more
If a book presents itself as a series of riddles and snippets at some point those should all come together so that the reader understands what is going on.
I will say that I have no idea about the author or the culture he is coming out of. I am sure if I was a japophile (correct word?) or a fan ...more
This is such a random but good book. The plot is interesting and my favorite thing was that you receive a warning saying when you're going to die but you can talk after it happens. There were some sad parts but they were quickly forgotten. Very easy to read because of the extremely short chapters.
Rất kì quái, và khó hiểu. Không giống với bất kì cuốn sách nào mình từng đọc trước đây.
Cute at times. Pretty annoying at others. Po-mo-lite.
Chẳng hiểu gì cả. Dở hơi sao á.
Scrivere una recensione di questo libro impossibile, non esistono parole per descriverlo.
E' pazzo, dall'inizio alla fine, particolarissimo, molto pi particolare di ogni altro romanzo giapponese del dopoguerra che abbia mai letto.
Takahashi quello che assieme a Murakami Haruki e Murakami Ryu hanno dato il colpo pi forte alla vecchia letteratura giapponese portandola verso la modernizzazione...
E non dico che questo libro non sia bello, ma non mi sentirei di consigliarlo a nessuno. Davvero, davver ...more
E' pazzo, dall'inizio alla fine, particolarissimo, molto pi particolare di ogni altro romanzo giapponese del dopoguerra che abbia mai letto.
Takahashi quello che assieme a Murakami Haruki e Murakami Ryu hanno dato il colpo pi forte alla vecchia letteratura giapponese portandola verso la modernizzazione...
E non dico che questo libro non sia bello, ma non mi sentirei di consigliarlo a nessuno. Davvero, davver ...more
Đây là cuốn sách ấn tượng nhất mà mình đọc từ trước đến giờ. Không cách nào có thể tóm tắt lại nội dung của nó và chắc hẳn nó không giống bất cứ thứ gì bạn từng đọc. Cực kỳ quái và thú vị. Để biết tại sao, tốt nhất là bạn nên tìm đọc nó.
Jonathan Safran Foer's blurb about this book is true to every word:
"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’."
~ Yup, this is the most impressive and w ...more
Jonathan Safran Foer's blurb about this book is true to every word:
"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’."
~ Yup, this is the most impressive and w ...more
"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 recommendation is the only reason ...more
Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Everything is illuminated
This recommendation is the only reason ...more
Recensire un libro come "Sayonara, gangsters" potrebbe essere un compito veramente arduo per un lettore occasionale di letteratura giapponese come lo sono io. Potrei scegliere la via più facile e buttare là una manciata di definizioni come "post-modernismo" o "avant-pop", ripresi dalla post-fazione, che danno sempre un tocco "intellettuale" alla recensione (e al recensore). Non sapendo però che cosa intendano indicare precisamente i due termini sopra indicati, mi limiterò ad esporre quelle che s
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May 16, 2013
Daniele
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review of another edition
Shelves:
stamberga-dei-lettori,
2011
http://www.lastambergadeilettori.com/...
Recensire un libro come "Sayonara, gangsters" potrebbe essere un compito veramente arduo per un lettore occasionale di letteratura giapponese come lo sono io. Potrei scegliere la via più facile e buttare là una manciata di definizioni come "post-modernismo" o "avant-pop", ripresi dalla post-fazione, che danno sempre un tocco "intellettuale" alla recensione (e al recensore). Non sapendo però che cosa intendano indicare precisamente i due termini sopra indic ...more
Recensire un libro come "Sayonara, gangsters" potrebbe essere un compito veramente arduo per un lettore occasionale di letteratura giapponese come lo sono io. Potrei scegliere la via più facile e buttare là una manciata di definizioni come "post-modernismo" o "avant-pop", ripresi dalla post-fazione, che danno sempre un tocco "intellettuale" alla recensione (e al recensore). Non sapendo però che cosa intendano indicare precisamente i due termini sopra indic ...more
In uno strano futuro dove i gangster sono quasi degli eroi, le persone possono decidere di cambiare il nome che i genitori hanno assegnato loro andando in comune; i vecchi nomi vengono scaricati in un fiume mentre i nuovi vengono spesso alle mani con i proprietari in risse che finiscono nel sangue…di nomi e persone.
Solo grazie a due amanti che decidono di donarsi un nome la situazione migliora ed è così che il protagonista prende il nome di Sayonara, Gangster.
Il nostro insegna poesia in una pi ...more
Solo grazie a due amanti che decidono di donarsi un nome la situazione migliora ed è così che il protagonista prende il nome di Sayonara, Gangster.
Il nostro insegna poesia in una pi ...more
I don't really know what to say about this book. On some level, I am definitely glad I read it. On the other hand, I don't know why. Even summarizing it properly is difficult. Sayonara, Gangsters is a book which, probably intentionally, defies description. If it is about anything concrete, I suspect I missed it, though if pressed, I would say it is, in part, about what art is, and what it's for. But that doesn't really capture it either. So let me try again: this is a book about defying descript
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Sayonara, Gangsters is strangely enough, about a poet named Sayonara, Gangsters which is set in a futuristic and dsytopic society. It’s a bizarre and tragic journey into his life as a poetry teacher and his life with his lover Song Book.
They inevitably run into the Gangsters. The Gangsters are a group of homegrown terrorists that are more like heroes. They’ve been put on pedestals and legends surround them.
The book itself is unceasingly bizarre, vague, and unfocused. More often then not it’s non ...more
They inevitably run into the Gangsters. The Gangsters are a group of homegrown terrorists that are more like heroes. They’ve been put on pedestals and legends surround them.
The book itself is unceasingly bizarre, vague, and unfocused. More often then not it’s non ...more
This has been sitting on my nightstand for eons. I finally read it, and I did so in one sitting. But, I think this would require several rereadings with a highlighter in hand to really get the gist.
Takahashi sets the scene for a dystopian novel centering around politics, specifically gangster warfare. The narrator is a young man who teaches at The Poetry School, and the novel is presented in three books. My favorite was the first book where the narrator describes the notion of discarding old nam ...more
Takahashi sets the scene for a dystopian novel centering around politics, specifically gangster warfare. The narrator is a young man who teaches at The Poetry School, and the novel is presented in three books. My favorite was the first book where the narrator describes the notion of discarding old nam ...more
I had forgotten that I had read this book until I picked it up again recently, and most of it came back with clarity as I went through it a second time. Given its level of weirdness, I'm not surprised that it hadn't all stuck in the front of my mind, not because it is dull or trite, but because it is hard to grasp all at once. I still don't quite know what to make of it, but I do know that I very much enjoyed it. Stylish, absurd, and still very readable in spite of its absurdity.
A very strange, dreamlike book. Each scene of Sayonara Gangsters' life told like episodic poetry. It's hard to know what to review about the book except to say that it is a pleasure to read the words and say many passages out loud.
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Takahashi was born in Onomichi, Hiroshima prefecture and attended the Economics Department of Yokohama National University without graduating. As a radical student, he was arrested and spent half a year in prison, which caused Takahashi to develop a form of aphasia. As part of his rehabilitation, his doctors encouraged him to start writing. Since April 2005, he has been a professor at the Internat
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More about Genichiro Takahashi...
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