Japanese Literature discussion
Book and Other Group Chat
>
Currently Reading
@J, Thanks for the feedback on Quicksand. Bummer, but that's what I needed to know.I'm having a little challenge getting into TZM, but no doubt that's more about what's going on my household at the moment than any fault of Shimada's. I do think it's odd given his genre and volume of work that only one novel was translated.
Joanne wrote: "Bill wrote: "I wouldn't bother reading Decay of the Angel without having read the others first."Ok. Thanks Bill! I liked other Mishima novels but I don't think I would like Forbidden Colors. I don..."
yes, Joanne, join me in my challenge of reading the first 3 in time to read the 4th in June !!! I am reading Spring snow now.
I’m currently reading Underground by Haruki Murakami. It’s such slow going, I can read maybe 15 pages at a time then have to put it down because it’s so emotional.
Underground is a serious kick in the stomach. It's one of those books I interspersed with reading something lighter.
Underground is a great examination on the Japanese Psyche, but really heavy and repetitive to boot. I'd be interested in reading a more overall roundup of the events in book form someday (read a lot of old newspaper stories, but would love a journalists slant cutting all the stories into one big book). Still, I think Murakami did an admirable job encapsulating the weaknesses of a culture in simple reactions, like the inability to open the train windows out of fear that it might bother others.
Would anybody like to buddy read with me on a book and do it very slowly? I like to have a discussion every few days or once a week no more than 70 pages at a time depending on the book I am a slow reader and having a buddy helps me stay motivated.
While waiting for others to make progress on Decay of the Angel, I decided to go back and reread Yoshimura Akira's On Parole. I had added it to the recent nominations list, but it came in last ^^;I saw the Imamura Shouhei movie The Eel in the late 90s when it got a limited US release, because it was an Imamura movie and they are often disturbing but rarely disappointing. It was more feel-good than a lot of his earlier movies, and had much smoother cinematography. After seeing it was loosely based on On Parole, I figured I'd give the original a try.
On Parole has a lot to say about the Japanese penal system, especially in the first half. It doesn't tell us until halfway through what our parolee's crime was, and only then because it starts impinging again on his consciousness. Overall, the novel has a very solitary, introspective feel to it. Sure, there are other characters, but so much of it goes on within our parolee's head. It's hard to say more without spoiling, so I'll stop here.
I shouldn't be typing this much right after shoulder surgery, anyway.
I'm about a third into Kawakami Hiromi's The Nakano Thrift Shop, which is quite light and oddball.
Currently reading Keigo Higashino‘s Salvation of a Saint. Excellent so far. I actually am enjoying it more than The Devotion of Suspect X (which I enjoyed a lot).
I currently have The Buried Giant on audio book. Have any of you read that one? If so, I would like to have someone to discuss it with. It was a little slow at first. However, I am starting to love it now. There are some parts where I am not sure what is going on.
Joanne wrote: "I currently have The Buried Giant on audio book. Have any of you read that one? If so, I would like to have someone to discuss it with. It was a little slow at first. However, I am ..."I have not read it but I do have a copy. It's been on my to read list for some time... enjoyable?
Tim wrote: "enjoyable?"It is difficult to know what hit you with that one.
I loved it but discussing it is just...
like trying to discuss a dream in the morning, it will never make sense to the other person and after few minutes not even to yourself.
I am happy I read it though. An authentic experience, no doubt. I really loved it and I also understand why many people think it rubbish.
i guess that did not help :D
sensei no kaban ("My teacher's briefcase") was translated and released in the US as The Briefcase. Then it was licensed for the UK, 'translated' into British English, and released as Strange Weather in Tokyo. Unfortunately, I picked up the Strange Weather in Tokyo version. I should have researched this more before buying, but both editions were hard to find...It's by Kawakami Hiromi, whose Nakano Thrift Shop we recently read. I'm liking The Briefcase better than Nakano Thrift Shop. It has the same light, slice-of-life feel to it, and the dialog is easier to follow than in Nakano Thrift Shop. The cover calls it a romance, but a third of the way in, it's still just a friendship between a 30s woman and one of her old high school teachers. If you liked Nakano, give this one a try, in the English language of your choice :)
Tim wrote: "Currently reading Keigo Higashino‘s Salvation of a Saint. Excellent so far. I actually am enjoying it more than The Devotion of Suspect X (which I enjoyed a lot)."I liked this one too. His other one, Malice, was also very good.
If you haven't read, I definitely recommend Higashino's Journey Under the Midnight Sun. It's a little on the heavy side (over 500 pages), but the structure, plot, narrative perspectives etc are expertly weaved, and the amount of detail he goes into is impressive. I really enjoyed it.
Bill wrote: "sensei no kaban ("My teacher's briefcase") was translated and released in the US as The Briefcase. Then it was licensed for the UK, 'translated' into British English, and released as Strange Weathe..."I'm so glad you explained the publishing pathway on this one. I bought the ebook of Strange Weather and didn't realize that the Briefcase existed - let alone that it's Americanized.
I started Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination by Edogawa Rampo. I'm not very far in, but am enjoying it.
I just finished Toddler Hunting and Other Stories by Kono Taeko. Disturbing, and unsatisfying.The title story is about a near-pedophile: she buys clothes for little boys just so she can get them to undress and dress again.
Most of the stories in this volume have no actual ending. Take the story about the woman who is told (by someone unidentified) that he will kill her in 26 hours. The story only contains the first 8 of those 26 hours, and we never find out who the killer is.
As the top review on GR states, most of the women in this book are hardcore masochists. Sure, the author wants to be deviant and risque. But couldn't she think of any other fetishes?
Not recommended.
I have to give kudos to the translator and publisher, though, for not flopping the names. It's exceedingly rare to find publishers with the guts to leave names intact.
I am struggeling thru Runaway horses... I find it hard. "Just seppuku all of you already and get it over with" is what I am thinking. I am sure I would be enjoying it more if I could really take the time for it, no pressure, during a vacation. But now I have little time and a big pile of bought books looking at me, generating a feeling that I have to keep moving, since I have just been buying way to many volumes and if I do not read them quickly I can not allow myself to buy more books. Which is a horrible sensation.
Agnetta wrote: "I am struggeling thru Runaway horses... I find it hard. "Just seppuku all of you already and get it over with" is what I am thinking. " 2 pages after that the action was beginning , so I'll take that back, and now I am really enjoying it :). page 312 of 421!
Agnetta wrote: "2 pages after that the action was beginning , so I'll take that back, and now I am really enjoying it :). page 312 of 421! ."I found Runaway Horses really fun when you think of Mishima's life personally.
I mean, as a comparison (I don't think this is really spoilers, but tagging it)
(view spoiler) Though I will confess I did skim some parts of Runaway Horses that I felt positively dragged
Personally of the 4, my favorite is the next book because it's so weird that it's kinda hilarious.
Agnetta wrote: (view spoiler)Yeah That could have been like a 4th of the length and you would have gotten the point easily. I skimmed it.
Do you read in tandem with other books? You may want to take a break from it. Runaway horses was easily the worst book in the sense of it being the most boring.
I don't. I have started other reads but I fear that if I read but one chapter of that jolly Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine tragicomedy now, I may not be able to gather the strength to go back on the horses ! I am still aiming for finishing the tetralogy in June.
Worst part is over though, now we are finally in full swing !
I can't skim, unfortunately. Skimming stresses me. I am always afraid of missing something vital, so even if i lose attention for 5 lines in a book I just need to go back and reread until I am confident I got every detail.... must be some psychological affection...
I’m currently reading Autobiography of a Geisha by Sayo Masuda. It’s so easy to read but so heartbreaking at the same time. I adore it. :)
Rhea wrote: "Personally of the 4, my favorite is the next book because it's so weird that it's kinda hilarious. ..."No way, you liked book 3 the most? That's easily my least favourite. I don't even remember much about it. I quite liked Runaway Horses, probably on the same level as Spring Snow.
I'm 100 pages in of book 4 The Decay of the Angel. Found it a bit boring to be honest. Just hoping there's a whole point to this at the end xD
How do I put it.Book 1- Ugh This guy is a dick. Why does the story have to be about him????? *totally missing the point*
Book 2- This is boring why do I have to read a screed inside the book?
Book 3- This is the crudest distillation of what I deem the funniest moment: (view spoiler)
Then some other stuff happens, but that was about the closest I came to cracking up. It seemed so ridiculous!
I mean, if you took that out, Spring Snow would be my favorite, now that I get the point.
And book 4 I just found depressing.
J wrote: "I liked this one too. His other one, Malice, was also very good.If you haven't read, I definitely recommend Higashino's Journey Under the Midnight Sun. It's a little on the heavy side (over 500 pages), but the structure, plot, narrative perspectives etc are expertly weaved, and the amount of detail he goes into is impressive. I really enjoyed it."
Thanks! I’ll certainly give both of those a shot. So far I’ve really enjoyed his works.
Currently reading Treasure Island... not Japanese I know, but I’m trying to go through some of the classics I was never assigned in school that I feel I missed out on.
Tim wrote: "J wrote: "I liked this one too. His other one, Malice, was also very good.If you haven't read, I definitely recommend Higashino's Journey Under the Midnight Sun. It's a little on the heavy side (..."
What’s your preliminary call on TI? I’ve not read a word of it but am open to it if it’s worthwhile. I sometimes struggle with 1800s traditional (white male, Western) classics but the ones I’ve loved I love a lot.
Currently reading Laurus, Americanah, Don't Send Flowers and The Chalk Circle Man. All are good and very different from one another.
Tim wrote: "Currently reading Treasure Island... not Japanese I know, but I’m trying to go through some of the classics I was never assigned in school that I feel I missed out on. "Ahah, I just read Treasure Island last year :)
Currently on Agatha Christie's Mystery of the Blue Train. Decent read so far.
Reading too many things:Seventeen is good. So much journalistic detail.
I have arrived at the temple of dawn. Heat is on. I am actually enjoying these weird books in a strange and illogical way, since really, I don't care about patriotism and the characters are all kind of indifferent to me, but still I am enjoying this journey thru Honda's life span and universe.Mishima is strange.
Of course he plunged a knife into his stomach, so alienation was to be expected.
J wrote: "Currently on Agatha Christie's Mystery of the Blue Train. Decent read so far."I thought that one was pretty fun. Agatha Christie rather hated the Poirot character, and I think this is the first book in the series where it really shows. His arrogance in this one seems amped up quite a bit to an almost comical degree ("My name is Hercule Poirot, and I am probably the greatest detective in the world"). The plot isn't one of her best, but the characters are all pretty good.
I love Poirot, and am almost through them all, but at a certain point I couldn’t tell you which one was which, besides a few that stand out.
I am new here and just recently got into japanese litterature, branching off light novels. I just finished Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche and I am planning to join the group reading next month. I am glad to be able to discover so many different books here.
Clément wrote: "I am new here and just recently got into japanese litterature, branching off light novels. I just finished Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche and I am planning t..."Bienvenue :) I haven't read this one from Murakami yet, how was it? I wonder what is meant with "... and the Japanese Psyche"?
Christian, the book is underneath it’s story an examination of how the Japanese way of thinking led to it worsened the incident. Such as when no one was willing to open the windows of the train despite burning eyes, because they didn’t want to be rude.
For anyone on NetGalley, Pushkin has made The Lady Killer by Masako Togawa available to request. I hope to read it in the next couple of weeks.I’ve been wanting to read Underground, too. I need to move it up my TBR.
It is as Josh said. By letting victims and people from the sect tell their stories, he wanted to have a better view of the situation without it being skewed by the media.
Carol, got approved for Lady Killer today... I’m confused as there are various release dates listed... do you know if this/these are all recent translations or was there an earlier translation?
Also, the paperback is out in October, but it’s already on sale in kindle...
Josh, the paperback of The Lady Killer was published here in UK by Pushkin Vertigo in April, so maybe that's why it's available to you on kindle.
Josh wrote: "Carol, got approved for Lady Killer today... I’m confused as there are various release dates listed... do you know if this/these are all recent translations or was there an earlier translation?"I don’t know, Josh.
... is perhaps my favorite Murakami. That, or the Windup Bird Chronicle.
Did some searching and these are re-releases. (Any updates I’m unsure).
I've been a bit of a Reading Slump recently, but Hitomi Kanehara helped a bit. I do love her books, but I hear she's hard to translate. I think I understand why, though I'm not sure I can articulate it.This time I read Snakes and Earrings, because I hadn't read it before. If I had to pick one or the other, I'd pick Autofiction, because I feel it's a bit better a book, and probably less dissatisfying to the reader (I think the dissatisfaction in Snakes and Earrings is the point, but that doesn't mean it makes a pleasant read. )
I really need to change up what I've been reading, I calculated, and YA made up the majority of my reading. I believe reading something different will really help me.
Rhea wrote: "I've been a bit of a Reading Slump recently, but Hitomi Kanehara helped a bit. I do love her books, but I hear she's hard to translate. I think I understand why, though I'm not sure I can articulat..."I am one reader who was mostly let down by Snakes and Earrings. Maybe I'll check out Autofiction.
Japanese Literature
Books mentioned in this topic
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)
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (other topics)
More...
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)
More...
Hi Carol,
Sorry for the late reply, I only just saw your question! Yes, I finished Quicksand, and it was like reading about a torrid (or perhaps I should say sordid?) love affair that degenerated rather quickly. None of the characters were likeable, and I thought the ending was rather weird and a bit overblown.
Josh mentioned The Tokyo Zodiac Murders. I enjoyed that one and it was quite intriguing. I had fun figuring out how things worked. I admit I was probably a bit more partial because I'd watched a short drama special on the lead detective character Mitarai Kiyoshi, which then led me to hunt for the author (Shimada) and his works. It's a pity other Shimada works haven't been translated into English.