Japanese Literature discussion

A coworker of mine has been reading Japanese lit. Do you have some recommendations?

Recently he read On Parole, which he liked. He doesn't want something too descriptive and slow. He mentioned samurai as a subject of interest. ; )

Hi!

By the same author, One Man's Justice and Shipwrecks are very enjoyable. The first is about a young soldier who's on the run during the US occupation. The second is about an eerie coastal village with an odd tradition, for which it seems to be punished....

|Kenzaburo Oe, Japan's second Nobel winner! A Personal Matter is a good place to start. Oe's son was born with a severe learning disability (and the doctors were relaxed about just letting him die) ... Oe explores the same thing happening to another young man in this fiction. I also love the short story "Prize Stock" which is within Teach Us to Outgrow Our Madness: Four Short Novels: The Day He Himself Shall Wipe My Tears Away, Prize Stock, Teach Us to Outgrow Our ... but the rest of the collection is probably something to come to if your friend has decided Oe's amazing.

Yukio Mishima! A great place to start would be The Sound of Waves, which is about thrillingly beautiful young people on a remote island. Or there's The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea which is much, much darker but touches on the themes that echo throughout Mishima's fiction ... basically, beautiful young men and death.

Kawabata has a bit of a reputation of being "oh look at the autumn leaves" fror 300 pages. There's actually a lot of plot in many of his books. The Sound of the Mountain isn't about an old man and a mountain ...it's about his family ... daughter has a gangster husband, son is a player, and the old man is falling for his son's neglected wife....

Osamu Dazai is probably one of my favourites! He has a reputation for being a bit depressing (he tried to kill himself loads of times) ... but his short stories are lively and interesting. How about Blue Bamboo: Japanese Tales of Fantasy?

Finally, some random/hard to find with really great plots. Love these:
A Certain Woman
Kyoko's House
Vita Sexualis
Distant Thunder
"The Cape" by Nakagami Kenji

David wrote: "Hi!

By the same author, One Man's Justice and Shipwrecks are very enjoyable. The first is about a young soldier who's on the run during the US occupation. The second i..."

Thanks so much! :D

I'll pass your recommendations and synopses (which are really to the point) to him verbatim.

I'll let you know what he thinks.

I noticed and responded to the same request in the other Japanese novels club, but I just want to come here and mention that I'm not sure if David is making the best picks.

I haven't read Yoshimura's novels or Oe's novels (or the ones on the list at the bottom), so I won't comment on those.

Yukio Mishima is one of my favorite authors (perhaps my top favorite, actually), but both his and Kawabata's writing styles are more like "poetic prose" and have a lot of description. Kawabata has a very dreamy and atmospheric writing style - it's pleasant and relaxing to read, but it's not what you want to go for if you're looking for real action.

Mishima's style is often more intense and penetrating, although The Sound of Waves is a very slow-paced and relaxing novel (which isn't bad, you just have to want that), while The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea is rather powerful but still often descriptive.

Osamu Dazai is a pretty good choice. Blue Bamboo was a nice collection, although I'd recommend Villon's Wife as the ideal sample of his writing style.

I don't know if anyone at this club has read Fuminori Nakamura's novels, he's an amazing author. One day I also want to read Shuhei Fujisawa's The Bamboo Sword and Other Samurai Tales (anyone know this one?), which would be so much easier to get my hands on if there was an ebook version.

if your friend wants something different in japanese literature, he can try murakami ryu... his first is concise, fast, decadent...: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Cris N. wrote: "I noticed and responded to the same request in the other Japanese novels club, but I just want to come here and mention that I'm not sure if David is making the best picks.

I haven't read Yoshimu..."

The person enjoyed On Parole ... so I did presume they're not totally turned off by "literary" fiction. And if you're particularly after Japanese fiction ... it has to be Japanese, no? Kawabata has a reputation for being a poet ... and I'm not suggesting The Master of Go (a book about a boardgame), Snow Country (a book about baths and snow), or Thousand Cranes (a book about tearooms) ... but The Sound of the Mountain to my mind is an episode of "Mad Men" directed by Yasujiro Ozu. And, while we're looking at Kawabata, his Beauty and Sadness is about angry lesbians and revenge. What's not to love?

And my Mishima choices ... they're both short books with Big Plots. People might be turned off by the homoeroticism, the death, the politics ... but they're rarely bored.

the gift wrote: "if your friend wants something different in japanese literature, he can try murakami ryu... his first is concise, fast, decadent...: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1..."

Yeah ... Ryu Murakami's a good option. My fave was Coin Locker Babies but it's quite big. If you're not in love with it, it's going to be a slog.

David wrote: "Cris N. wrote: "I noticed and responded to the same request in the other Japanese novels club, but I just want to come here and mention that I'm not sure if David is making the best picks.

I have..."

Well, like I said, I never read Yoshimura's stuff before, so I can only guess at what On Parole compares to.

I haven't read anything from Kawabata's The Sound of the Mountain, I'm just assuming his writing style is about the same as in his stories I've read so far. Just based on reviews it doesn't sound exciting, but I guess some people feel differently.

As for Mishima, the only two major novels he wrote that have anything to do with homoeroticism are Confessions of a Mask and Forbidden Colors - and I don't plan on reading those because I'm not interested in that. As for politics, Mishima's politics are a bit extreme, but for some reason I'm not bothered much by them. They seem to make sense in their context.

But anyway, because he says "not too descriptive", I just had the impression that Alex's coworker was looking for something very fast-paced with a lot of action. Mishima and Kawabata are great writers, but they tend to take their time building up an atmosphere and describing scenery. Maybe the guy is looking for something more like a light novel, actually.

light novel? crime? try: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... or
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...
or
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...
or
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Cris N. wrote: "David wrote: "Cris N. wrote: "I noticed and responded to the same request in the other Japanese novels club, but I just want to come here and mention that I'm not sure if David is making the best p..."

no, i don't think that my coworker is looking for a light novel b/c they would be too shonen, i think--unless something like psycho-pass--and light novels tend to be serialized, which my coworker wouldn't be interested in.

so, i think what he's looking for is not necessarily a lot of action, but that the "descriptiveness" should not be the main focus; that, instead, there should be a definite plot.

i'll let David's recommendation stand as-is, plus Cris's recommendations in the other thread and I added in another recommendation on a samurai book since my coworker did mention samurai as a subject matter of interest.

i will add in @the gifts since these are crime/mystery (i thought they were all light novels at first.

this is probably more than he can finish in a year!

thanks, all of you!

Cris N. wrote: "Osamu Dazai is a pretty good choice. Blue Bamboo was a nice collection, although I'd recommend Villon's Wife as the ideal sample of his writing style. "

A good place to start with Dazai is Run, Melos! and Other Stories, which is the closest thing there is to a best-of collection in English. (It's actually published in Japan as a study aid for people trying to learn English, but you can easily get copies on Amazon.) The nice thing about it is it contains the novella School Girl which is otherwise available in an overpriced standalone edition..

I've also noticed a couple other Dazai novella's on Amazon recently, Goodbye and Pandora's Box. They appear to be self-pubbed translations and I haven't checked them out to judge their quality yet.

As it hasn't been mentioned yet, I have to recommend Out by Natsuo Kirino.
".. a young mother who works a night shift making boxed lunches brutally strangles her deadbeat husband and then seeks the help of her co-workers to dispose of the body and cover up her crime."

It's one of the most thrilling book I've ever read!

Cris N. wrote: "As for Mishima, the only two major novels he wrote that have anything to do with homoeroticism are Confessions of a Mask and Forbidden Colors - and I don't plan on reading those because I'm not interested in that. "

You might like it if you try it. This is also interesting: The Madness and Perversion of Yukio Mishima.

David wrote: "Cris N. wrote: "As for Mishima, the only two major novels he wrote that have anything to do with homoeroticism are Confessions of a Mask and Forbidden Colors - and I don't plan on reading those bec..."

I read a big excerpt from Confessions of a Mask once. Nah, I like his heterosexual stories, which luckily is most of his stuff. Not going to bother with that other book either; it looks like it's written by someone who hates Mishima and is willing to make all the worst misinterpretations of him possible. You're going a bit too wild with your recommendations sometimes.

Cris N. wrote: "David wrote: "Cris N. wrote: "As for Mishima, the only two major novels he wrote that have anything to do with homoeroticism are Confessions of a Mask and Forbidden Colors - and I don't plan on rea..."

lol. you all crack me up.

my coworker said that he'll check out maybe 10 at a time and read the first few pages and then some from the middle and see how it strikes him. and out of those 10, he'll finish one. a very discriminating reader, indeed. & he's a fast reader too. "a book a week?" I asked. "If it's good even faster," he replied. on second thought, i guess that's not really fast considering the length of these books.

my cousin recommended: Norwegian Wood and Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.

just for fun, i could take bets to see which one's my coworker finishes and which ones he liked the best. i didn't give you much to go on, so...

Cris N. wrote: "David wrote: "Cris N. wrote: "As for Mishima, the only two major novels he wrote that have anything to do with homoeroticism are Confessions of a Mask and Forbidden Colors - and I don't plan on rea..."

You're missing out if you're going to ignore Forbidden Colors just because of its theme. It's really good and, everything considered, an important part of Mishima's work. Ignoring it doesn't do the man justice ;-) (Not saying that I loved everything about the book, on the contrary, it was hella misogynist.)

As for David's last recommendation... eek.

Alex G wrote: "my cousin recommended: Norwegian Wood and Wind-Up Bird Chronicle."

Those are literally the 2 books I read when I started venturing into Japanese lit :).

Carola wrote: "You're missing out if you're going to ignore Forbidden Colors just because of its theme. It's really good and, everything considered, an important part of Mishima's work. Ignoring it doesn't do the man justice ;-) (Not saying that I loved everything about the book, on the contrary, it was hella misogynist.)"

Maybe someday I will just because his writing style is amazing, but I still have yet to get through some other things like The Sea of Fertility, which everyone recognizes as his masterpiece. And Forbidden Colors seems like a really freaky one, I have to say.

Although, one thing I've realized about Mishima's work that people need to remember, is that some of his stories display the perspectives of crazy people - not because Mishima himself is insane and actually thinking like those characters, but just to make a spicy story. It might have some actual messages laced in, but it's complicated. That's why if you're trying to understand why some of his stories have sane people/ideas while others have insane ones, you'll never get it if you think Mishima is actually expressing his own opinions through every one of those.

I fully agree with you on that last part, Cris. What a books' characters do and say does not necessarily reflect the author's opinion (although, of course, it turns out they are often related).

I'm not sure if that was a reply to my comment about the book's misogynist nature, or the book David mentioned ;-) But anyway, I hope you decide to give it a try after you finish his other works. I don't think it's that much 'freakier' than the rest of his work.

Dioni (Bookie Mee) wrote: "Alex G wrote: "my cousin recommended: Norwegian Wood and Wind-Up Bird Chronicle."

Those are literally the 2 books I read when I started venturing into Japanese lit :)."

: )

Carola wrote: "I fully agree with you on that last part, Cris. What a books' characters do and say does not necessarily reflect the author's opinion (although, of course, it turns out they are often related).

I'..."

I'm with Team Carola on the Mishima debate. There's really nothing to fear in the gayer ones. Well ... nothing more than is in all of the others. And let's be frank ... if you can handle a teenage boy masturbating whilst a hunky sailor bangs him mum (The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea) ... then you can handle everything in Forbidden Colors and Confessions of a Mask.

Just to be clear ... The Madness and Perversion of Yukio Mishima was a rec for Cris N ... and not for Alex G's colleague.

David wrote: "my coworker said that he'll check out maybe 10 at a time and read the first few pages and then some from the middle and see how it strikes him. and out of those 10, he'll finish one... just for fun, i could take bets to see which one's my coworker finishes and which ones he liked the best. i didn't give you much to go on, so... "

Whenever I read even a small excerpt from a Nakamura or Mishima novel, I'm impressed. I'd be surprised if he decided not to give those a full read.

Carola wrote: "I fully agree with you on that last part, Cris. What a books' characters do and say does not necessarily reflect the author's opinion (although, of course, it turns out they are often related).

I'm not sure if that was a reply to my comment about the book's misogynist nature, or the book David mentioned ;-) But anyway, I hope you decide to give it a try after you finish his other works. I don't think it's that much 'freakier' than the rest of his work. "

It was to both, I suppose. I mean, whether he's writing about rape, misogyny, or "philosophical murderers", I doubt Mishima is really advocating that stuff. He wrote a book based on a true story about a crazy monk burning down the temple Kinkaku-ji. But while it's possible some of his own thoughts were put into the mouth of that monk in the novel (maybe just for fun or to provoke thought), it doesn't mean Mishima actually thought: "yes, I get it, I really felt like burning that temple too!"

David wrote: "And let's be frank ... if you can handle a teenage boy masturbating whilst a hunky sailor bangs his mum (The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea) ..."

That's a hilarious way of looking at that event, lol!