Reading the 20th Century discussion
Archive
>
Group Read ->August 2019 -> Nomination thread (A book set in, or about, Japan. Joint winners - The Housekeeper and the Professor + The Sound of the Mountain)
Mod
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
That said, non-fiction nominations are also very welcome
, I Am a Cat by Sōseki Natsume.Social satire from the point of view of a cat as it wanders the streets, listens in on conversations and comments on the strange things humans do.
I have not read this myself, but others who have say it is very funny and reference P. G. Wodehouse, Oscar Wilde, Roald Dahl and the Monty Python team (although wasn't 'Confuse a Cat' a Goodies episode?). It has also been called a masterpiece of world literature.
It is from the early twentieth century, first published 1905 and 1906 in instalments, at a time when Japanese society was going through many changes.
I have the kindle version, but there also seem to be several second-hand copies for those who prefer real books.
Wikipedia has this:
'I Am a Cat (Japanese: 吾輩は猫である Hepburn: Wagahai wa Neko de Aru) is a satirical novel written in 1905–1906 by Natsume Sōseki, about Japanese society during the Meiji period (1868–1912); particularly, the uneasy mix of Western culture and Japanese traditions, and the aping of Western customs.
Sōseki's original title, Wagahai wa Neko de Aru, uses very high-register phrasing more appropriate to a nobleman, conveying a grandiloquence and self-importance intended to sound ironic, since the speaker, an anthropomorphised domestic cat, is a regular house cat of a teacher, and not of a high ranking noble as the high-register suggests.
The book was first published in ten installments in the literary journal Hototogisu. At first, Sōseki intended only to write the short story that constitutes the first chapter of I Am a Cat. However, Takahama Kyoshi, one of the editors of Hototogisu, persuaded Sōseki to serialize the work, which evolved stylistically as the installments progressed. Nearly all the chapters can stand alone as discrete works.
In I Am a Cat, a supercilious, feline narrator describes the lives of an assortment of middle-class Japanese people: Mr. Sneaze[1] ("sneeze" is misspelled on purpose, but literally translated from Chinno Kushami (珍野苦沙弥), in the original Japanese) and family (the cat's owners), Sneaze's garrulous and irritating friend Waverhouse (迷亭 Meitei), and the young scholar Avalon Coldmoon (水島寒月 Mizushima Kangetsu) with his will-he-won't-he courtship of the businessman's spoiled daughter, Opula Goldfield (金田富子 Kaneda Tomiko).'
I nominate The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata. I have read, and enjoyed other titles by this author. Yasunari Kawabata was a Japanese short story writer and novelist whose spare, lyrical, subtly-shaded prose works won him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968, the first Japanese author to receive the award. His works have enjoyed broad international appeal and are still widely read today. About The Sound of the Mountain:
Few novels have rendered the predicament of old age more beautifully than The Sound of the Mountain. For in his portrait of an elderly Tokyo businessman, Yasunari Kawabata charts the gradual, reluctant narrowing of a human life, along with the sudden upsurges of passion that illuminate its closing.
By day Ogata Shingo is troubled by small failures of memory. At night he hears a distant rumble from the nearby mountain, a sound he associates with death. In between are the relationships that were once the foundation of Shingo’s life: with his disappointing wife, his philandering son, and his daughter-in-law Kikuko, who instills in him both pity and uneasy stirrings of sexual desire. Out of this translucent web of attachments—and the tiny shifts of loyalty and affection that threaten to sever it irreparably—Kawabata creates a novel that is at once serenely observed and enormously affecting.
Mod
In the Miso Soup (1997) by Ryū Murakami
In the Miso Soup (イン ザ・ミソスープ In za Misosūpu) is a novel by Ryu Murakami. It was published in 1997 in Japanese, and in 2003 in English. The novel won the Yomiuri Prize for Fiction in 1997.
Twenty-year-old Kenji is a Japanese "nightlife" guide for foreigners—he navigates gaijin men around the sex clubs and hostess bars of Tokyo. On December 29 he receives a phone call from an American named Frank, who seeks three nights of his services. While Kenji has promised to spend more time with his girlfriend, sixteen-year-old Jun, the money is too good to pass up. He finds himself closing out the end of the year accompanying Frank around Shinjuku, wondering if his strange, plastic-skinned patron could be responsible for the gruesome events recently reported in the news.
In the Miso Soup (1997) by Ryū Murakami
Mod
Great nominations so far.
VAL: I Am a Cat by Sōseki Natsume
ELIZABETH: The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata
NIGEYB: In the Miso Soup (1997) by Ryū Murakami
I have just started The Housekeeper and the Professor which is interesting so far. I understand there is a baseball connection although I haven't come to that yet.So I'll nominate that.
Mod
Nominations so far....
VAL: I Am a Cat (1905) by Sōseki Natsume
ELIZABETH: The Sound of the Mountain (1954) by Yasunari Kawabata
NIGEYB: In the Miso Soup (1997) by Ryū Murakami
JAN: The Housekeeper and the Professor (2003) by Yōko Ogawa
Mod
Confessions
When Yuko Moriguchi's four-year-old daughter died in the middle school where she teaches, everyone thought it was a tragic accident.
It's the last day of term, and Yuko's last day at work. She tells her students that she has resigned because of what happened - but not for the reasons they think.
Her daughter didn't die in an accident. Her daughter was killed by two people in the class. And before she leaves, she has a lesson to teach...
But revenge has a way of spinning out of control, and Yuko's last lecture is only the start of the story. In this bestselling Japanese thriller of love, despair and murder, everyone has a confession to make, and no one will escape unharmed.
Hello all,I'd like to nominate Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata. I've been wanting to read it for a while. Maybe others might enjoy it too.
Keiko Furukura had always been considered a strange child, and her parents always worried how she would get on in the real world, so when she takes on a job in a convenience store while at university, they are delighted for her. For her part, in the convenience store she finds a predictable world mandated by the store manual, which dictates how the workers should act and what they should say, and she copies her coworkers’ style of dress and speech patterns so that she can play the part of a normal person. However, eighteen years later, at age 36, she is still in the same job, has never had a boyfriend, and has only few friends. She feels comfortable in her life, but is aware that she is not living up to society’s expectations and causing her family to worry about her. When a similarly alienated but cynical and bitter young man comes to work in the store, he will upset Keiko’s contented stasis—but will it be for the better?
Sayaka Murata brilliantly captures the atmosphere of the familiar convenience store that is so much part of life in Japan. With some laugh-out-loud moments prompted by the disconnect between Keiko’s thoughts and those of the people around her, she provides a sharp look at Japanese society and the pressure to conform, as well as penetrating insights into the female mind. Convenience Store Woman is a fresh, charming portrait of an unforgettable heroine that recalls Banana Yoshimoto, Han Kang, and Amélie.
Here's an article about the author winning a literary award.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/201...
Mod
Coincidentally I was very tempted by Convenience Store Woman when I was perusing possible reads. This bit sold it to me....
Sayaka Murata brilliantly captures the atmosphere of the familiar convenience store that is so much part of life in Japan. With some laugh-out-loud moments prompted by the disconnect between Keiko's thoughts and those of the people around her, she provides a sharp look at Japanese society and the pressure to conform, as well as penetrating insights into the female mind.
Nominations so far....
VAL: I Am a Cat (1905) by Sōseki Natsume
ELIZABETH: The Sound of the Mountain (1954) by Yasunari Kawabata
NIGEYB: In the Miso Soup (1997) by Ryū Murakami
JAN: The Housekeeper and the Professor (2003) by Yōko Ogawa
SUSAN: Confessions by Kanae Minato
FR: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
Mod
I am surprised we have some 21st Century reads, but always glad to learn of titles I had not heard about before.
Mod
Mod
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth OzekiThis was a big Red read a few years ago. In Wisconsin, the universitys pick a book that all incoming freshmen read and can be discussed accross disciplines. I went to listen to the author and she was fascinating.
Mod
Any more nominations?
Nominations....
VAL: I Am a Cat (1905) by Sōseki Natsume
ELIZABETH: The Sound of the Mountain (1954) by Yasunari Kawabata
NIGEYB: In the Miso Soup (1997) by Ryū Murakami
JAN: The Housekeeper and the Professor (2003) by Yōko Ogawa
SUSAN: Confessions by Kanae Minato
FR: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
KAREN: A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
Mod
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I am surprised we have some 21st Century reads, but always glad to learn of titles I had not heard about before."Valid point Elizabeth.
Jan's nomination, The Housekeeper and the Professor, is set in 1992 according to Goodreads. I don't know how relevant the date of the other twenty-first century books is.
Mod
I'll get the poll up tomorrow morning (UK time) so last chance to add to the list of nominations
Nigeyb wrote: "with a topic like Japan the date feels less significant. ."I see your point, but the on the group home page is written a friendly and inclusive group that explores and discusses the literature, history, culture and music of the years between 1900 and 1999. This is why I joined this group. 21st Century Japan is not like 20th Century Japan.
Mod
Please leave the description as it is, but allow the odd exception.Looking through the polls so far, I think all the books have been written in or about the twentieth century.
Mod
Certainly. I do note that Dickens was a buddy read, not a group read. But with no requirement to read the group read, it's sort of like a buddy read anyway.
Mod
Susan wrote: "Even in Detectives, which is, broadly, Golden Age, we have branched out to include Slough House. I think the important thing is to offer lots of choice and to try to keep, pretty much, to the aim o..."Again, a buddy read, not a group read. In that group the mods are pretty strict about the group read being GA.
I apologize. It looks like my nomination is the outlier. I certainly woukdn't be offended if it is removed. I will be more observant of the time period moving forward.
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I do note that Dickens was a buddy read, not a group read."I could have made it clearer that I was checking just the group reads, sorry, but you worked it out anyway.
Karen wrote: "I apologize. It looks like my nomination is the outlier. I certainly woukdn't be offended if it is removed. I will be more observant of the time period moving forward."Yours is not the only one, Karen. But the mods think a more wide open look at Japan is OK and you shouldn't have to remove it. Others may want to read it.
Karen wrote: "I apologize. It looks like my nomination is the outlier. I certainly woukdn't be offended if it is removed. I will be more observant of the time period moving forward."There are others Karen and I would not want any of them removed, but we have now had a discussion to flag it as a consideration. For the future, it might be better if outliers are buddy reads rather than group reads, but no apologies are needed.
Mod
Many of us here used to be in a group called Bright Young Things which focussed on 1900-45. I think it just started as 1910 and 20s, but that got too limiting. Anyway, when Susan, Judy and I discussed setting up our own group (after the mods at Bright Young Things lost interest) we were all keen to broaden out the timeframe as we found 1900-45 too restrictive. It's interesting that even with a hundred years of wonderful books we still find ourselves occasionally spilling out into the previous and the next centuries.
Personally I don't feel too strongly about it, so long as, and as Susan says, we offer lots of choice and everyone feels there is something to enjoy in the group. That said, if the majority of members feel that group reads should be exclusively 1900-99 then I'm fine for us to enforce that.
Elizabeth did suggest we make the Japan group read exclusively 1900-99, which I was fine with, however I forgot to add that caveat when setting up this thread. So, once again, I apologise to Elizabeth.
In the interests of full disclosure, and having forgotten to add the caveat, I am most attracted to the selections which were published outside the 1900-99 timeframe for this particular group read.
I have no problem with straying outside the group's stated timeframe for other than group reads. But if that is to become the norm for group reads, perhaps the name of the group should be changed.
By the way, I never would have looked at a group "Bright Young Things" expecting early 20th Century reads. It sounded like a group reading young authors.
I don't think Elizabeth and I constitute a majority, but we have expressed an opinion which nobody has strongly disagreed with.
Nigeyb wrote: "Elizabeth did suggest we make the Japan group read exclusively 1900-99, which I was fine with, however I forgot to add that caveat when setting up this thread. So, once again, I apologise to Elizabeth."I had forgotten I made the request, so thank you for acknowledging it.
I just assumed (after there was a Dickens read) that we are not sticklers for the rules in this group. I recall in BYT there were some fairly heated discussions when people got outside the rules. I may have been partially guilty.
Mod
Mod
Of course, Bright Young Things, referred to those party goers of the 1920's and would have been recognisable, as a name, to anyone interested in author's of that era.
Mod
Click here to go to the poll
Nominations....
VAL: I Am a Cat (1905) by Sōseki Natsume
ELIZABETH: The Sound of the Mountain (1954) by Yasunari Kawabata
NIGEYB: In the Miso Soup (1997) by Ryū Murakami
JAN: The Housekeeper and the Professor (2003) by Yōko Ogawa
SUSAN: Confessions by Kanae Minato
FR: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
KAREN: A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
Mod
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata - 4 votes, 33.3%
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa - 4 votes, 33.3%
The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata - 4 votes, 33.3%
Perhaps we should do all three?
One Group Read, one Mod Read, and one buddy read?
Click here to go to the poll
Nominations....
VAL: I Am a Cat by Sōseki Natsume
ELIZABETH: The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata
NIGEYB: In the Miso Soup (1997) by Ryū Murakami
JAN: The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa
SUSAN: Confessions by Kanae Minato
FR: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
KAREN: A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
Nigeyb wrote: "It's a three way split in the poll....Perhaps we should do all three?
One Group Read, one Mod Read, and one buddy read?"
That's not a bad idea, but I thought we had a few poll days left.
Mod
Since posting there's been one more vote to give us a definitive group read, assuming nothing else changes before the poll closes....
The Sound of the Mountain - 5 votes, 38.5%
The Housekeeper and the Professor - 4 votes, 30.8%
Convenience Store Woman - 4 votes, 30.8%
I doubt we'll get any more votes. If we do it will only be one or two max.
So if nothing changes, we have sufficient interest and enthusiasm for the possibility of three different Japan inspired reads
I'm thrilled the Kawabata is among them. I had already ordered a paper copy.
I did not realise that none of the others had any votes at all Nigey. I will start checking the library catalogues and online bookstores for the first two (I already own the third).
Mod
Mod
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa - 5 votes, 35.7%
The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata - 5 votes, 35.7%
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata - 4 votes, 28.6%
Everything else on nil points
Just 24(ish) hours to go until the poll closes
If things don't change I'm still minded to suggest....
Convenience Store Woman as a buddy read
...with the other two leaders as group read and mod read at the start of the month.
Let's see if anything changes before the poll closes
Click here to go to the poll
Nominations....
VAL: I Am a Cat by Sōseki Natsume
ELIZABETH: The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata
NIGEYB: In the Miso Soup (1997) by Ryū Murakami
JAN: The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa
SUSAN: Confessions by Kanae Minato
FR: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
KAREN: A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
Mod
Mod
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa - 5 votes, 35.7% - GROUP READ
The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata - 5 votes, 35.7% - MOD READ
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata - 4 votes, 28.6% - BUDDY READ
As mentioned, we've decided to read all of them in August as there are clearly sufficient people who are keen to read each of the three titles
Here's to a wonderful Japanese themed month
Reading the 20th Century
Books mentioned in this topic
The Sound of the Mountain (other topics)The Housekeeper and the Professor (other topics)
The Sound of the Mountain (other topics)
The Housekeeper and the Professor (other topics)
Convenience Store Woman (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Sayaka Murata (other topics)Yasunari Kawabata (other topics)
Yōko Ogawa (other topics)
Yasunari Kawabata (other topics)
Ryū Murakami (other topics)
More...
Our August 2019 theme is...
...J A P A N
If you feel inspired, please nominate a book set in, or about, Japan that you would like to read and discuss.
It can be either fiction or non-fiction.
Please supply the title, author, a brief synopsis, and anything else you'd like to mention about the book, and why you think it might make a good book to discuss.
If your nomination wins then please be willing to fully participate in the subsequent discussion.
Happy nominating.