Japanese Literature discussion
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Bill wrote: "I started reading Inside yesterday, an anthology of female Japanese authors with stories from 1997 to 2006, most of whom I'd never heard of before.The first story is really something..."
Added it to my want to read but I look forward to seeing your thoughts first.
Bill wrote: "The best word I can think of to describe The Devotion of Suspect X is 'contrived'.The victim doesn't matter. The murderers(s) don't matter. Even the dim-witted police don't matter...."
So did you finish it? We’ve been on pins and needles awaiting your decision and verdict. lol
I'm currently reading Artificial Condition, which is the second book in the Murderbot series. Despite the serious titles, covers and the fact that it's called "Murderbot" this series is easily the funniest thing to happen to Science Fiction since Douglas Adams decided to hitchhike his way across the galaxy. The series follows, well, Murderbot, who actually does very little murdering and really just comes off as an introvert who would rather stay home and watch soap operas (space soap operas of course), but instead gets stuck in situations where, it may upon occasions, have to murder something.
No, I gave up on Devotion after the two main characters spent all night drinking and trying to solve all the most famous unsolved math problems in the world.
Bill wrote: "I started reading Inside yesterday, an anthology of female Japanese authors with stories from 1997 to 2006, most of whom I'd never heard of before.."Of the eight stories in this volume, three are worth reading. One is gross. One is 'Personifying' (like Beothius or Shepard of Hermas. What's the literary term for this?). The other three meander and go nowhere.
Next up is Hiroshima Diary, similar to the more well known Hiroshima but written by an eyewitness.I'm reading the 2005 hardcover printing, but haven't selected that for my shelf because for some odd reason, the description of that printing is in Arabic. It's a well bound edition on thick, quality paper, but I wish they'd spent more time proofreading the typos in their OCR.
I expect this will take me awhile to finish, as I'll put it down from time to time and read another complete book. Unlike J Robert Oppenheimer, I can't read such painful books in one sitting.
A book that has been sitting on my tbr pile for a month or so, now finally started:The Bells of Old Tokyo: Travels in Japanese Time by Anna Sherman.
It's a slow meditation on time and Tokyo's history, by way of visiting the ancient bells around the city that used to ring out every hour to mark time. Very much in the vein of Pico Iyer's A Beginner's Guide to Japan: Observations and Provocations, it's not really a history book, more observations and thoughts. Think of it as peripatetic musings of a flaneuse!
There are also over 100 pages of notes and bibliography, which will provide references and a heap of future reading, but so far I'm just going with the flow. I will dip into the extra material on a second reading. What the book does lack, however, is a map, which would have helped. Otherwise I'm really enjoying it and would recommend it.
I read Lion Cross Point yesterday. It's one of those rare Japanese novels with a happy ending! It tells the story of a boy living in squalor before his mother abandons him in her hometown full of kindly villagers.And now for some criticisms...
It's a bit short, at under 120 pages.
It won a translation award, which to me seems off because it persists in a practice I hate: rendering regional Japanese accents into bad English.
The narrator at first doesn't sound much like a 10-year-old boy, but that improves as the novel progresses. I don't know if this is due to the author or the translator; I wish whichever had gone back and revised the earlier chapters after finding the right voice for the narrator.
The ending leaves a few things to be desired, in that we don't know what happened to at least one of the main characters. Our narrator must know more than what the author is letting him tell us, unless trauma has blocked it out.
It would have made an interesting group read.
I’m currently reading Norwegian Wood. I reached the part about Reiko and why she stopped playing piano before an important concert... I’ve seen this before in something and it’s driving me mad trying to remember what it was. I can’t even remember if it was a book, show, film...
I have to comment on how hilarious the mostly-manga book 日本人の知らない日本語 (The Japanese Language that Japanese People Don't Know) is.It's about a high-strung Japanese teacher in Japan who gets worked up about the ridiculous things her foreign students of the language say and do. It's definitely not a book to read in translation, but is one to read if you've studied Japanese and want to see variations of your own linguistic travesties in print. I'm seeing myself in some of these gags already, and have barely started.
I just finished Tokyo Ueno Station, which three of our regulars here have already given five stars. It's a shame we didn't pick it for a group read, but I encourage others here to read it anyway.Hopefully I can get our readers to engage in some spoiler-tagged discussion of it.
(view spoiler)
Mr Gnoe gifted me The Ten Loves of Mr. Nishino on New Year's Eve and I'm almost done. Then I'm going to check December's bookclub thread!
Well, today I left my job and they pooled together and got me a £60 Waterstones voucher, bless them. My first buy will be Tokyo Ueno Station. Also Diving pool for my Ogawa collection. Unfortunately they don't have Go though. I put Norwegian Wood down and it got forgotten. I was enjoying it too! I always do this...
Jeshika wrote: "Well, today I left my job and they pooled together and got me a £60 Waterstones voucher, bless them. [..]"WOAH that's a nice present! Great (former) colleagues ;-) Good luck.
Jeshika, that's absolutely the best leaving pressie. And Tokyo Ueno Station I think, although it's a ridiculously early call, will deffo be in my top 5 reads of 2020. It is a powerful book. We all wish you well in a new job!
Despite heavy hints, I never get book vouchers for Christmas or birthdays or even the last job I left. Often, people presume that if you read a lot then you don't need a voucher. Fools!!
Anyway, enjoy spending your voucher!! :-)
Jeshika wrote: "Well, today I left my job and they pooled together and got me a £60 Waterstones voucher, bless them. My first buy will be Tokyo Ueno Station. Also Diving pool for my Ogawa collection. Unfortunately..."Congratulations!!
I started The Aosawa Murders by Riku Onda last evening, even though I'm in the middle of 20 other books. yes, yes. I know. But I really like it and was excited to actually post a review on time so it might help Bitter Lemon Press sell more copies. Because I'm a BLP fan, too. i"ll keep you posted.
Carol, it's been sitting in my tbr arc file for ages. I must get to The Aosawa Murders this weekend. I was so excited when I got it, but it's good news that you are enjoying it so far!
I’m reading The Only Gaijin In the Village after finishing the latest Higashino.The Higashino was just too sappy and sloppy and untethered.
The OGITV is enjoyable if you like that kind of book, where people explore what it means to come here, in this case Gifu, and learn who they are by seeing what they aren’t or by seeing a culture that teaches them how important these unspoken rules that surround us are.
@Ian Josh, that's on my tbr file. And then today I discovered that we, as a bookshop and as the local uni, are doing an event with Iain Maloney soon. Apparently he's a graduate of Aberdeen University, so I will not only get to meet him but get a shiny signed copy too!
Iain is a really nice guy. I had lunch and a nice chat with him a few years ago at a writing conference and he was kind enough to send me my copy.I enjoy his book reviews and we have some shared opinions and some differing, making him a good voice for me to read.
Enjoy that event and let us know how it goes!!
Alan wrote: "Carol, it's been sitting in my tbr arc file for ages. I must get to The Aosawa Murders this weekend. I was so excited when I got it, but it's good news that you are enjoying it so far!"I think we’ll both be happy with this one. She’s a new author to me, so that’s always a treat, too.
@Ian I'm not sure when the event is, but I will let you all know, for sure. I'll try and corner him for a 1-2-1 or get his details. I'm sure he'd love to know we in Goodreads are talking about him!
@Carol. Thanks. I can trust your judgement! I'm looking forward to this one.
Alan wrote: "Jeshika, that's absolutely the best leaving pressie. And Tokyo Ueno Station I think, although it's a ridiculously early call, will deffo be in my top 5 reads of 2020. It is a powerful book. We al..."
Yeah, my family seem to think that giving a gift card is a cop-out present. So they buy me random books they find. I'm grateful for them, of course, but I also wouldn't be against a gift card...
@everyone Thanks for all the well wishes, I'm off travelling about before I start any new jobs. Japan is on my list of places, although I'm mostly just winging it, so who knows where I'll end up.
Enjoy Japan. Try and get to places outside the major sites!!
I just finished Convenience Store Woman, which makes for an interesting contrast to The Great Passage: a character totally dedicated to her job, though it's a convenience store instead of a dictionary.An astonishing number of people have rated Convenience Store Woman on GR. I didn't think it would be that popular a novel.
Alan wrote: "@Carol. Thanks. I can trust your judgement! I'm looking forward to this one."I mean feeling responsible now. I hope you like it :)
I posted a review today. I can’t recall how sensitive you are to spoilers, generally, but I think I stayed in the zone of disclosing no more than what’s already in the publisher’s marketing synopsis.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Jeshika wrote: "Alan wrote: "Jeshika, that's absolutely the best leaving pressie. And Tokyo Ueno Station I think, although it's a ridiculously early call, will deffo be in my top 5 reads of 2020. It is a powerful ..."Woohoo! Enjoy your trip!
Bill wrote: "I just finished Convenience Store Woman, which makes for an interesting contrast to The Great Passage: a character totally dedicated to her job, though it's a convenience store instead of a diction..."It’s not only really popular, it’s “THE” fave Japanese novel of a lot of folks. I am definitely in the minority of folks who abandoned it because meh.
Nearly done with the collection The Lonesome Bodybuilder.Oddly, the title story is the only one in this collection that isn't 'twisted' or 'nonsensical' (the back cover says 'magical', but that doesn't seem to fit). Also oddly, one story takes up almost half the book, won her the Akutagawa prize, and wasn't chosen as the title story... who understands what goes through publishers' minds sometimes?
Speaking of publishing, I bought this book used and it turns out to be an ARC. There are a considerable number of typos in it, which I hope were cleaned up for the final release.
The 'nonsensical' ('magical') elements in these stories don't leave an impact on me. They go in one side of my brain and straight out the other, like neutrinos. Those stories that are strange from start to finish I don't get at all. Those that start normal and end oddly leave me baffled and unsatisfied.
But the prose is good, the characters are interesting, and the takes on modern Japan are ones that I appreciate. I think I would greatly enjoy 'mundane' stories by Motoya, but I also don't think she wants to write any.
Bill wrote: "Nearly done with the collection The Lonesome Bodybuilder.Oddly, the title story is the only one in this collection that isn't 'twisted' or 'nonsensical' (the back cover says 'magi..."
I need to get back to this one. I received an ARC, read maybe 45 pages one day, it was fine, but then a shinier object or book club read pushed it aside. I was insufficiently compelled to get back to it, even though I recall the language being lovely. Thanks for the nudge.
Reading David Peace’s Tokyo Trilogy. Almost finished the first book, and though I can understand some reviewers annoyance at an oddity in the Writers style, overall it is really starting to haunt me as I grasp towards the daylight I hope comes at the end, but fear will just lead me to another dark cave... but in a good way. The last of the books comes out this summer and I hope to be caught up for it.
Also read the first chapter of Go and think I’ll enjoy our read next month. I had no idea what it was about.
Got my copy of GO so I’ll be starting that as soon as I finish ‘salem’s Lot. :)
Jeshika wrote: "Got my copy of GO so I’ll be starting that as soon as I finish ‘salem’s Lot. :)"That'll be a fun shift in vibe and style. lol
I am halfway through the first volume of Shigeru Mizuki’s graphic novel history series, Showa, 1926-1939: A History of Japan. A friend suggested it in the comments to my review of Inventing Japan: 1853-1964, and I am grateful.
I need to read more Mizuki. The only one of his I've read so far is Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths.
Bill wrote: "I need to read more Mizuki. The only one of his I've read so far is Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths."It's given me the historical overview I sorely lack and didn't get from Inventing Japan. and I have 3 more volumes to go after this one, I think.
Rereading Kazuo Ishiguro’s An Artist Of The Floating World. The first chapter struck me as being really good, already incapsulating all of the themes of the novel.
We're not getting a lot of uptake on the history reads voting at this time, so I've started reading Everyday life in Traditional Japan.It starts with a historical overview leading to and defining the period he's going to cover. By page 20 he's getting into things I didn't know, like details of samurai clothing. So I expect it will be a worthwhile read.
Bill wrote: "We're not getting a lot of uptake on the history reads voting at this time, so I've started reading Everyday life in Traditional Japan.It starts with a historical overview leading ..."
I bought it, Bill, but likely won't be ready to start it for a couple of weeks. Will you set up a thread for us to discuss it? I am looking forward to reading it and hearing your and other's thoughts on it.
Reading Shinzanmono, the English translation. Someday my Japanese will be good enough to read it in the original Japanese! I loved the drama adaptation, and reading it already brings back some fond memories.
Reading The End of Summer. It's an interesting take on extramarital affairs.Our main character is a single woman having an affair with a married man. She is financially independent of him, and in fact makes more money than he does. Yet she feels guilty about 'cheating' on him with a slightly younger man. One wonders what grounds for complaint his would even have if he found out...
Just a thought: the supermarket shelves may be stripped bare and I can't buy toilet roll anywhere, but I've realised that my stockpiling of books will now bear fruit... At least I won't run out of things to read!!Seriously though, stay safe and well my lovely friends. We will get through this ☺️
You can say that again. I have at least a two year supply of unread books to keep me busy.I've stopped buying books for the duration, because I don't relish the thought of receiving a book covered in germs. Unfortunately, that means I won't be joining next month's group read.
My office is still open, but almost no one came in today due to the schools being closed, so I might as well keep coming in. I hate working at home, but sometime soon they'll close the office and I'll have to. So either way I'm not going to have a bumper crop of reading time.
I’m glad to hear that you’re both okay, thus far. I’m working remotely, but so is my spouse, and he uses speakerphone relentlessly. Reading time will only decrease, not increase. Take care.
@Bill, my work is the same. The uni has cancelled all classes and has gone fully online for lectures. So I spend my day wiping the keyboard and card machine and door handles with anti-bacterial wipes! I could set up a home phone recommendation service to tell people exactly which books I would recommend they buy online...@Carol, just mute the speakerphone. Or drop it in water! :)
With "Low City, High City" under my belt, I'm ready to tackle Inspector Hanshichi. Just as soon as I finish these 35 pages of translator's introduction.
Japanese Literature
Books mentioned in this topic
When the Museum Is Closed (other topics)Nan-Core (other topics)
Chieko, and Other Poems of Takamura Kotaro (other topics)
Chieko's Sky (other topics)
Tale of the Princess Kaguya Picture Book (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Kotaro Takamura (other topics)Iori Kusano (other topics)
Fehu Kazuno (other topics)
David Guterson (other topics)
Donald Keene (other topics)
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The first story is really something. A stream of consciousness diary of sorts across 8th to 9th grade (moving from middle school to high school) and the changes it causes in her friendships.