Manny’s review of 100万回生きたねこ > Likes and Comments

And what did Ruby just do? She cried! Poor kitty....... *sob*

But he finally reached Nirvana! He got off the wheel! It's a happy ending!

I'm trying to remember that. I really am.

@ Jane - That's what I've been meaning to ask him for a while now!

Jane- haha! Sure, that works ;)

Oh, I only have really basic Japanese. I have maybe read five or six books, most of them for children. But this one is amazing!

Indeed!

I read it ages ago and I couldn't remember the title! It was amazing to see it right there on the page...

So do we get an answer to Jane and Rowena's question? Other than "only really basic", more of a yes or no?

Brian R. wrote: "So do we get an answer to Jane and Rowena's question? Other than "only really basic", more of a yes or no?"

Ah, if there are 6000 languages in the world, then I do not speak a word of at least 5980 of them...

Manny wrote: "Brian R. wrote: "So do we get an answer to Jane and Rowena's question? Other than "only really basic", more of a yes or no?"

Ah, if there are 6000 languages in the world, then I do not speak a wor..."

What if there aren't 6,000 languages in the world?

Then there's a different number of languages I do not speak a word of, but still a whole lot.

Manny wrote: "Then there's a different number of languages I do not speak a word of, but still a whole lot."

I've just learned that Tolkien (by his own admission) had trouble with Slavic languages. Germanic ones were OK though...

I suppose that for Tolkien "had trouble with" meant that he didn't speak them completely fluently and also understand all the history. I did two years of Russian once, basically enough to get through chess books with a lot of guessing...

Manny wrote: "I suppose that for Tolkien "had trouble with" meant that he didn't speak them completely fluently and also understand all the history. I did two years of Russian once, basically enough to get throu..."

He said something along the lines of, "I got enough to appreciate the structure and sound but not to speak it." So probably could have played tourist in Moscow with ease if he'd been able to get there...

Beyond the Germanic languages he knew, he also knew Greek, Latin and at least some Welsh. I shall try to take note of anything else that comes up.

As for Germanics, at least: Old, Middle and Modern English, Old Norse and Old Icelandic.

I would guess he had to know French, too.

Finnish too, as I recall. And I recall some speculation that Turkish was an influence on the Black Speech...

Manny wrote: "Finnish too, as I recall. And I recall some speculation that Turkish was an influence on the Black Speech..."

Yes! Finnish gave "Phonoaesthetic pleasure," along with Greek, he says. I don't remember any mention of Turkish so far. (I'm reading The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.)

Tearsline, delighted to meet another fan of this wonderful book!

Sounds like this cat was doing a lot better than your average feline, with the average nine lives! Adding now...

Indeed, more lives than usual, but he didn't enjoy any of them until he got to the last one.

Many people have asked me whether small Japanese children get the point of the story. I assume they must (the book is immensely popular), but I have never heard any first-hand accounts. Junta says he knows he was read it as a kid, his sister was sure of that, but he couldn't personally remember a thing about it.

Manny wrote: "Indeed, more lives than usual, but he didn't enjoy any of them until he got to the last one.

Many people have asked me whether small Japanese children get the point of the story. I assume they mu..."

It's an interesting question, whether teaching tales actually impart the desired lesson to the children hearing them. Sometimes yes and sometimes no, I would imagine. I recall reading many such stories as a child, and skating on past the message in favor of the story. Although perhaps the message simply had to percolate, and be digested much later.

Yes, it's notorious that most kids who read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe only realise much later that Aslan is Jesus. I certainly missed it.

Manny wrote: "Yes, it's notorious that most kids who read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe only realise much later that Aslan is Jesus. I certainly missed it."

I think I caught that one, if not the first time (I can't be certain, I read it many times as a child), than on later rereads. Then again, I am a minister's child. Still, I think the story works perfectly well, even if those underlying ideas and themes are never apparent to the reader.

I think I got it second time round. I was about eight or nine the first time, and was recovering from some childhood illness, so maybe I wasn't as sharp as I could have been.

Manny wrote: "I think I got it second time round. I was about eight or nine the first time, and was recovering from some childhood illness, so maybe I wasn't as sharp as I could have been."

I was approx. the same age and didn't get the allegory at all. Someone told me later and it was blindingly obvious on 2nd reading, since I was actively looking for it.

第一次看好看二次看不好看。

咘露 wrote: "第一次看好看二次看不好看。"

Do you mean the book or my review?