tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78673636230260376172024-02-22T21:51:20.465+00:00Lines from the Horizonreadings in translated Japanese LiteratureUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger351125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-32734690147244320372023-08-15T11:02:00.007+01:002023-08-15T11:02:55.110+01:00Only Yesterday by Mutsuo Takahashi<p> </p><p>Another to add to the list (if I compile one for this year!) of books to read <i>Only Yesterday </i>by Mutsuo Takahashi translated by Jeffrey Angles.</p><p>for more information please visit <a href="http://www.canarium.org/bookstore/only-yesterday-by-mutsuo-takahashi-translated-by-jeffrey-angles">Canarium Books</a></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-46424405137488557522023-08-15T10:47:00.003+01:002023-08-15T10:47:27.799+01:00The Art and Life of Fukuda Kodojin <p><br /></p><p>Another book prompt,<i> The Art and Life of Fukuda Kodojin: Japan's Great Poet and Landscape Artist </i>by Dr Andreas Marks and Jonathan Chaves with an essay by Paul Berry.</p><p>the book info at<a href="https://www.tuttlepublishing.com/japan/the-art-and-life-of-fukuda-kodojin-9784805317778"> Tuttle</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-32220702623308662052023-08-15T10:20:00.001+01:002023-08-15T10:49:52.406+01:00Quiet Night by Kaori Fujino<p> </p><p>A quick highlight of the story <i>Quiet Night </i>by Kaori Fujino, translated by Heather D. Davis which is up to read over at Guernica. I'm very much looking forward to also reading <i>Nails and Eyes</i> which was awarded the Akutagawa Prize back in 2013 recently published by Pushkin Press, translated by Kendall Heitzmann. </p><p><i>Quiet Night </i>at<a href="https://www.guernicamag.com/quiet-night/"> Guernica</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-66401370688878573462021-11-24T08:04:00.002+00:002021-11-24T08:04:38.424+00:00I Guess All We Have is Freedom<p> A book I'm basically twiddling my thumbs in anticipation waiting for is <i>I Guess All We Have is Freedom </i>- stories by Genpei Akasegawa translated by Matthew Fargo and published by Kaya Press. </p><p>But in the meantime here's a link to the book's details - </p><p>I Guess All We Have is Freedom at <a href="https://kaya.com/books/i-guess-all-we-have-is-freedom/" target="_blank">Kaya Press</a></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-57368447738894898592021-02-08T23:24:00.001+00:002021-02-08T23:24:32.262+00:00Granta - 20 for 2020<p>I'm a little late on this but I thought I'd post a link to this project from Granta that was due to be put out at the same time as last year's planned Tokyo Olympics, but things have turned out very differently. Hope that you are well and find this of interest.</p><p><br /></p><p>https://granta.com/20-for-2020/</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-29457366404927115962020-08-17T18:41:00.004+01:002020-08-17T18:41:42.113+01:00The Kingdom That Failed<p> translated by Jay Rubin, The Kingdom That Failed by Murakami Haruki is available to read at The New Yorker -</p><p>https://www.newyorker.com/books/flash-fiction/the-kingdom-that-failed</p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-31597875618980179882020-08-17T17:48:00.002+01:002020-08-17T17:48:57.961+01:00reconciliation by Shiga Naoya <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDNMLhrFHZREJDh0lroGyK_SWt__ex1ko6eWm56i1IR2xXvqBFMrfUOD7WQRoeMAsIGVTOaGPkey9hf6R0jjZFwS3Yg5dr1ZZXIrgXnBDUpFdEe4eQBDm7h65rhvzpsCbDdLDbv6S02ZF8/s2048/Fotor_159766663067036.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1043" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDNMLhrFHZREJDh0lroGyK_SWt__ex1ko6eWm56i1IR2xXvqBFMrfUOD7WQRoeMAsIGVTOaGPkey9hf6R0jjZFwS3Yg5dr1ZZXIrgXnBDUpFdEe4eQBDm7h65rhvzpsCbDdLDbv6S02ZF8/s640/Fotor_159766663067036.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div>pleased to pick up a copy of reconciliation by Naoya Shiga recently published by canongate and translated by Ted Goossen. very much hope I can add a more in depth review in the near future. contemplating my blog recently, there's the pull to perhaps add an additional twitter account as time has been an obstacle for me, although with my blog I've hoped to avoid it from slipping into the somewhat rewardlessness slipstream of social media, it's something I've wanted to sidetrack with my reading. that said this book despite it's translator has drifted off certain American places/radar, so hopefully I'll come back with a fuller review.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-5425850642957231592020-08-01T09:15:00.003+01:002020-08-01T10:02:10.377+01:00Yukio Mishima - The Death of a Man A book I'm much looking forward to and one I'll add to the list of titles for this year is Yukio Mishima - The Death of a Man published to commemorate 50 years since the author's passing. With photographs by Kishin Shinoyama. As of yet I can't see details of the translator, the book is published by Rizzoli.
The Death of Man at Rizzoli USA
https://www.rizzoliusa.com/book/9780847868698/Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-14090812877869831902020-01-10T10:32:00.003+00:002020-01-10T10:32:31.504+00:00Careless by Hiroko OyamadaI've a copy of <i>The Factory</i> by Hiroko Oyamada, translated by David Boyd to read very soon and I'm interested to read that a new title from her is forthcoming later in the year, <i>The Hole</i>, which won the Akutagawa Prize, again translated by David Boyd. Another short story <i>Careless</i> by Oyamada is translated by Lucy North and is available to read via <a href="https://granta.com/careless/" target="_blank">Granta Online</a>. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-29555376532573479522020-01-10T10:24:00.004+00:002020-01-10T10:24:59.041+00:00Reading history - 2019<br />
From one list to another, a quick, albeit a little late,run down of books I managed to read last year, apologies I'll not list translators or publishers, but obviously many thanks to them for their endeavours, happy reading in 2020. <br />
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Arthur Rimbaud - <i>Illuminations </i><br />
Andre Gide - <i>Urien's Voyage</i><br />
Walter Kempowski - <i>Homeland</i><br />
Joseph Roth - <i>Flight Without End</i><br />
Frederic Dard - <i>Bird In A Cage</i><br />
Robert Aickman - <i>The Inner Room</i><br />
Roland Topor - <i>Head to Toe Portrait of Suzanne</i><br />
Guy de Maupassant - <i>Pierre and Jean</i> <br />
Lucy M. Boston - <i>The Sea Egg</i><br />
Hans Koningsberger - <i>A Walk With Love and Death</i><br />
Tomas Transtromer - <i>The Half Finished Heaven</i><br />
Yu Miri - <i>Tokyo Ueno Station</i><br />
Yukiko Motoya - <i>Picnic In the Storm</i><br />
Claire Keegan - <i>Foster</i><br />
Edgardo Franzosini - <i>The Animal Gazer</i><br />
Edouard Louis - <i>Who Killed My Father</i>?<br />
Sadeq Hedayat - <i>The Blind Owl</i><br />
Yukio Mishima - <i>Star</i><br />
Henri-Pierre Roche - <i>Jules et Jim</i><br />
Eric Vuillard - <i>The Order of the Day</i><br />
Rilke and Betz - <i>Rilke In Paris</i><br />
Boris Pasternak - <i>The Last Summer</i><br />
Patrick Modiano - <i>The Sleep of Memory</i><br />
George Simenon - <i>The Hand</i><br />
Elio Vittorini - <i>Conversations in Sicily</i> <br />
Merce Rodoreda - <i>Death In Spring</i><br />
Yukio Mishima - <i>Life For Sale</i><br />
George Simenon - <i>The Glass Cage</i><br />
Yoko Ogawa - <i>The Memory Police</i><br />
Arthur Rimbaud - <i>A Season In Hell</i><br />
Sarah Moss - <i>Ghost Wall</i><br />
Andre Gide - <i>The Counterfeiters</i> <br />
Jean de la Ville de Mirmont - <i>The Sundays of Jean Dezert</i><br />
Kentaro Miura - <i>Berserk vol -1, 2,</i> 3<br />
Andre Naffis-Sahely - <i>The Promised Land</i><br />
Kenzaburo Oe - <i>J and Seventeen</i><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-6268150075304661922019-11-27T11:14:00.006+00:002020-06-17T11:56:27.600+01:00books for the reading diary - 2020 <br />
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A list in progress of books I'm looking forward to - <br />
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<b>January</b><br />
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<i>The Chronicles of Lord Asunaro</i> - Hanawa Kanji trans. Meredith McKinney <a href="https://www.redcircleauthors.com/our-books/the-chronicles-of-lord-asunaro/" target="_blank">Red Circle</a> <br />
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<b>February</b> <br />
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<i>Where the Wild Ladies Are</i> - Matsuda Aoko trans. Polly Barton - <a href="https://www.tiltedaxispress.com/books/#/where-the-wild-ladies-are/" target="_blank">Tilted Axis Press</a><br />
<i>The Inugami Curse</i> - Yokomiso Seishi trans? <a href="https://www.pushkinpress.com/product/the-inugami-curse/" target="_blank">Pushkin Press</a><br />
<i>The Man Without Talent</i> - Tsuge Yoshiharu trans. Ryan Holmberg NYRC (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Man-Without-Talent-YOSHIHARU-TSUGE/dp/1681374439/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1867IC2LV9I2Y&keywords=yoshiharu+tsuge&qid=1574852085&sprefix=yoshiharu+%2Caps%2C258&sr=8-2" target="_blank">amazon</a>)<div><br /></div><div><i>The Aosawa Murders </i>- Riku Onda trans. Alison Watts - Bitter Lemon Press<br />
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<b>March</b> <br />
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<i>The Swamp</i> - Tsuge Yoshiharu trans. Ryan Holmberg - <a href="https://www.drawnandquarterly.com/swamp" target="_blank">Drawn and Quarterly</a> <div><br /></div><div><b>April</b> </div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Running Boy and Other Stories </i>- Megumu Sagisawa trans. Tyran Grillo - Cornell University Press<br />
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<b>May</b><br />
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<i>Breasts and Eggs</i> -<b> </b>Kawakami Mieko trans. Sam Bett David Boyd - <a href="https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/mieko-kawakami/breasts-and-eggs/9781509898206" target="_blank">Picador</a> </div>
<i>A Man</i> - Hirano Keiichiro trans. Eli K.P William - <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Man-Keiichiro-Hirano/dp/1542006872/ref=sr_1_1?crid=395UPK8CWIQ48&keywords=japanese+literature&qid=1574849419&sprefix=japanese+liter%2Caps%2C154&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Amazon Crossing</a> <br />
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<b>June</b> <br /><br /></div><div><i>Echo on the Bay</i> - Masatsugu Ono trans. Angus Turvill - Two Lines Press<br />
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<b>August</b> <br />
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<i>Sachiko</i> - Endo Shusaku trans. Van C. Gessel <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/sachiko/9780231197311" target="_blank">Columbia University Press</a> <br />
<i>People From My Neighbourhood</i> - Kawakami Hiromi trans ? Granta (<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/People-My-Neighbourhood-Hiromi-Kawakami/dp/1846276985/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=people+from+the+neighbourhood&qid=1578649978&s=books&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon</a>)<br />
<br /><i>Reconciliation</i> - Shiga Naoya trans. Ted Goosen - Canongate</div><div><br />
<b>October</b><br />
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<i>Earthlings - </i>Murata Sayaka trans. Ginny Tapley Takemori - Granta<br />
<br /><b>November</b> <div><br /></div><div><i>There's No Such Thing As An Easy Job</i> - Kikuko Tsumura trans. Polly Barton - Bloomsbury </div><div><br /></div><div><i>Prefecture D:</i> Four Novellas - Hideo Yokoyama trans. Jonathan Lloyd Davies <br />
<br /></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-35422943494475473012019-11-27T09:47:00.001+00:002019-11-27T09:47:16.001+00:00Where the Wild Ladies Are - forthcomingBeginning to look ahead to the new year, its perhaps time to compile a list of forthcoming titles, among them would be a couple from Tilted Axis Press who are set to publish U.K editions of Ito Hiromi's <i>Killing Kanako</i> along with <i>Wild Grass on the Riverbank</i> translated by Jeffrey Angles (<a href="https://www.tiltedaxispress.com/books/#/killing-kanoko-wild-grass/" target="_blank">here</a>). As well as this comes the novel <i>Where the Wild Ladies</i> Are by Matsuda Aoko translated by Polly Barton, (<a href="https://www.tiltedaxispress.com/books/#/where-the-wild-ladies-are/" target="_blank">here</a>), click through the publisher's page to find a link to one of the stories included <i>'Smartening Up'.</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-509818180138359832019-07-02T10:31:00.000+01:002019-07-02T10:31:00.749+01:00The Ten Loves of Mr Nishino by Hiromi Kawakami<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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It's great to see a couple more titles by Kawakami Hiromi appearing in translation in the not so distant future, <i>Parade,</i> a companion piece to <i>Strange Weather in Tokyo</i> is due in November by <a href="https://softskull.com/dd-product/parade/" target="_blank">Soft Skull Press</a>, translated by Allison Markin Powell and then next year <i>Breasts and Eggs</i>, which was awarded the Akutagawa Prize is due to be published by Picador, at the moment I see the translation is listed as being from both David Boyd and Sam Bett. Recently published in the U.K by Granta is <i>The Ten Loves of Mr Nishino</i>, translated by Allison Markin Powell, it feels simply mind boggling that nine years have passed since first reading <i>Manazuru </i>and thanks mainly to Allison Markin Powell we've read more in the time between.</div>
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Reading<i> The Ten Loves of Mr Nishino </i>the structure of the book brought to mind <i>Revenge</i> by Ogawa Yoko, as in some ways reading the chapters it feels like that they could be read as individual short stories that make up the whole novel, perhaps with <i>Revenge </i>the book is more thematically arranged and here it's more concentrated on character. That said, as much as the central character is the rather enigmatic Nishino-san, womaniser or socially awkward?, there's the balance that the book is equally presenting ten chapters exploring the lives of the ten women who fall in and out of love with him. The prose in <i>The Ten Loves of Mr Nishino</i> is more straight forward story telling as compared to <i>Hebi wo fumu</i> . Over the ten chapters, there's a connection between a couple here, as well as being given portraits into the lives of the women, we take in the life of Nishino Yukihiko, it feels that we get snapshots of his life as the relationships with the ten women occur over various points of his life, and indeed slightly beyond. An aspect due for contemplation is in as much as the narrative tells us a little about Nishino, thinking about what we don't know is of equal interest. </div>
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Perhaps a striking element of the book is the amount of sex to it, not a massive amount maybe by other standards, but unsurprisingly it's central to most of the relationships which somehow is an interesting comparison to make with media reports that Japan is becoming increasingly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/14/record-numbers-of-couples-living-in-sexless-marriages-in-japan-says-report" target="_blank">sexless</a>, or has issues with sex, perhaps this is mere media hyperbole, and maybe the book appeared before this recent social observation took hold, or came into fashion.</div>
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Through out the prose feels pitch perfect, there are moments of harshness and softness from character to character, it's not until perhaps the chapter <i>Grapes</i> that Nishino comes under the harsher criticism, and in the previous chapter <i>Marimo, </i>Kawakami finishes of the chapter with a poignant scene of dimming sunlight and the encounter with Nishino coming to an end for Sayuri Sasaki, who it feels is caught in a loveless marriage and perhaps in a single statement after meeting Nishino at an Energy Saving Cooking Club sums up the slightly pitiable Nishino - <i>'I forgave Nishino his past, I forgave Nishino his present and I forgave Nishino his eternal</i> <i>future</i>'. </div>
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Read the first chapter <i>Parfait</i> at <a href="https://granta.com/parfait/" target="_blank">Granta</a></div>
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<i>The Ten Loves of Mr Nishino</i> at <a href="http://grantabooks.com/the-ten-loves-of-mr-nishino" target="_blank">Granta Books</a> </div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-22883695626396170312019-05-25T20:40:00.000+01:002019-05-25T23:26:23.392+01:00Exhibition of Kaita MurayamaA quick share of a post from Spoon & Tamago, mainly for my own reference and perhaps your own interest, about a new exhibition of works by the artist and poet Kaita Murayama, which marks the centenary of his passing. Featuring previously unseen works.<br />
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Link <a href="http://www.spoon-tamago.com/2019/05/24/kaita-murayama-artist/#more-46129" target="_blank">here</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-65596089139869303592019-01-28T20:09:00.000+00:002019-01-28T20:09:43.265+00:00The Forest of Wool and Steel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Set to be published in translation imminently is the 2016 best selling novel by Natsu Miyashita, <i>The Forest of Wool and</i> <i>Steel</i> received the Japan Booksellers Award and has in 2018 appeared in a film adaption directed by Kojiro Hashimoto.<br />
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The main protagonist, Tomura, a high school student hears the sound of a piano being tuned which evokes the forest that surrounds the small town of the novel's setting. Having not read the novel as of yet the story feels very much to be one that sees the centeal character as he confronts the challenges and obstacles of pursuing your true calling. Although not being able to see much information about the translator on various websites, I'm pretty certain it's by Philip Gabriel, both the film and the novel I'm looking forward to catching up with.<br />
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<i>The Forest of Wool and Steel</i> at <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/1080616/natsu-miyashita.html?tab=penguin-books" target="_blank">Penguin</a><br />
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for the film's <a href="http://website./">website.</a><a href="http://hitsuji-hagane-movie.com/sp/" target="_blank">http://hitsuji-hagane-movie.com/sp/</a><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-27218293879035331272019-01-26T20:32:00.003+00:002019-01-26T20:32:56.440+00:00Love at Least<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As Yukiko Motoya's <i>Picnic In the Storm</i> has recently been published in a translation by Asa Yoneda it seemed apt to give another of Motoya's books a mention. Yukiko Motoya has been awarded just about every major literary award in Japan so hopefully more of her writing will eventually be forthcoming in translation. Among the novels and plays of hers that have already seen adaption to film include <i>Funuke Show Some</i> <i>Love, You Losers</i>!, directed by Daihachi Yoshida, <a href="http://thirdwindowfilms.com/films/funuke-show-some-love-you-losers/" target="_blank">Third Window Films</a>, and also her play <i>Vengeance</i> <i>Can Wait</i> which has been translated into English by Andy Bragen and Kyoko Yoshida and is published by <a href="https://www.samuelfrench.com/p/1905/vengeance-can-wait" target="_blank">Samuel French</a>, if you fancied giving that a read.<br />
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The film <i>Love At Least </i>directed by Kosai Sekine released last year is adapted from Motoya's novel from 2006,<i> Ikiteru dake da,</i> <i>ai</i> follows a couple as their relationship faces falling apart as Yasuko retreats into depression. Here is where I redirect you over to Mark Shilling's review over at the <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2018/10/31/films/film-reviews/love-least-theres-shadow-looming-tale-romance/#.XEy47x6nw0M" target="_blank">Japan Times</a>. It's a movie I'd love to see and further more a novel that again hopefully might appear in translation, more spaces to watch eh?.<br />
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<i>The Lonesome Bodybuilder</i> translated by Asa Yoneda at <a href="https://electricliterature.com/alexandra-kleeman-recommends-the-lonesome-bodybuilder-by-yukiko-motoya-851ad8fb2333" target="_blank">Electric Literature</a>.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-25818896400174687882019-01-25T19:03:00.000+00:002019-01-25T20:57:27.706+00:00Fumiko's Legs <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In a slightly gratuitous bid to speed up the number of posts I thought it time to take a brief glance at some recent film adaptions of literary storys, maybe over the next week or so. First up is a film directed by Ueda Atsushi,<i> Fumiko's Legs, </i>from 2018 is an adaptation of Tanizaki's short story <i>Fumiko no ashi</i> which first appeared one hundred years ago in 1919. Although a quick glance on the Internet and shelves indicate that the story perhaps hasn't appeared in English translation, I'll be pleased to be proved wrong, the novella though has been translated into French and also Spanish, although a quick search over at Folio gives the impression that it too has slipped out of print in the French edition.<br />
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Through the trailer the story appears to display themes Tanizaki explored through his fictions, that of obsessive infatuation pursued to the extremities, centering around the painting of a portrait of Fumiko. I'm guessing it's doubtful that the film will ever see broader distribution in any way outside of the country, in spite of it looking an intriguing adaption.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-60644441470372058152019-01-10T11:36:00.000+00:002019-01-10T11:36:03.865+00:00Stand - in Companion by Kazufumi Shiraishi<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1cXDTtE9VmMcxuCQvTEKO26p80rM3ZCtOLw5j-6rLtqdKx484lYx9JRzgIigutBjCP_bW0GH5gzWy_wY7ZK2-kCTbOUKBUFjv4_5KKCRhHRoehqqlyguXro-GGqM6VqHfHjwgjE9v5Ojw/s1600/Fotor_154711707898018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1019" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1cXDTtE9VmMcxuCQvTEKO26p80rM3ZCtOLw5j-6rLtqdKx484lYx9JRzgIigutBjCP_bW0GH5gzWy_wY7ZK2-kCTbOUKBUFjv4_5KKCRhHRoehqqlyguXro-GGqM6VqHfHjwgjE9v5Ojw/s320/Fotor_154711707898018.jpg" width="203" /></a><br />
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Perhaps if you've recently finished Yoko Tawada's <i>The Last Children of Tokyo</i> and wanted to continue with a book that follows along some similar lines of enquiry that that novel traces, <i>Stand-in Companion</i> by Kazufumi Shiraishi recently published by <a href="https://www.redcircleauthors.com/" target="_blank">Red Circle</a> might be of interest. Part of their recent Minis series this short story was translated by Raj Mahtani who sadly passed away last year. Taking place over 43 pages or so the two main characters are Hayato and Yutori the narrative skips between present and past episodes and as the story begins to unfold comes the realization that the reader maybe dealing with a multiple of Hayato and Yutori, old and new, original and copy?. The initial dilemma the pair are facing is their inability to conceive, they turn to IVF and as the narrative curates their slip into dysfunction and separation, the reader is slowly immersed into a world of android stand-in's, when this occurs questions arise of how far is the story set in the future?, Shiraishi's story leaps us into a future where when relationships break down we can turn to a technology of convincingly accurate replacements as an alternative. The story dips into the ethics behind this new android/human world and also the logistics needed with memory transplantation into the replacement android being written into divorce settlements, the story posits a scenario that obviously may arise in the not too distant future. <i>Stand-in Companion</i> is a really compelling and cleverly constructed story that echoes the writings of Yoko Tawada and Tomoyuki Hoshino, a great introduction into the Red Circle Minis series, very much worth tracking down a copy.</div>
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<i>Stand-in Companion</i> at <a href="https://www.redcircleauthors.com/our-books/stand-in-companion/" target="_blank">Red Circle</a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-87360029964645809182018-10-31T23:45:00.000+00:002019-11-27T11:27:05.134+00:00books for the reading diary - 2019<br />
a brief glance at some titles bookmarked for 2019, more forthcoming - <br />
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<b>January</b> -<br />
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<i>Murder in the Crooked House</i> - Soji Shimada trans. Louise Heal Kawai - Pushkin Press<br />
<i>The Beauty of Everyday Things</i> - Soetsu Yanagi trans. Michael Brase - <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/311112/the-beauty-of-everyday-things/9780241366356.html" target="_blank">Penguin Books</a><br />
<i>The Little House -</i> Kyoko Nakajima<i>, </i>trans - Ginny Tapley Takemori - Darf Publishers<br />
<i>Sacred Cesium Ground and Isa's Deluge</i> - Kimura Yusuke trans. Doug Slaymaker - <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/sacred-cesium-ground-and-isas-deluge/9780231189439" target="_blank">CUP</a><br />
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<b>March</b> - <br />
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<i>Prefecture D</i> - Hideo Yokoyama trans. Jonathan Lloyd Davies - <a href="https://www.quercusbooks.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9781786484635" target="_blank">Quercus</a><br />
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<b>April</b> - <br />
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<i>Star</i> - Yukio Mishima trans. Sam Bett - <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/312/312751/star/9780241383476.html" target="_blank">Penguin Classics</a><br />
<i>The Forest of Steel and Wool</i> - Natsu Miyashita - trans. Philip Gabriel - Doubleday<br />
<i>The Frolic of the Beasts</i> - Yukio Mishima - trans. Andrew Clare - <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/312278/the-frolic-of-the-beasts/9780241386705.html" target="_blank">Penguin Classics</a><br />
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<b>May -</b> <br />
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<i>Fukushima Fiction: The Literary Landscape of Japan's Triple Disaster</i> Rachel DiNitto <a href="https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/fukushima-fiction-the-literary-landscape-of-japans-triple-disaster/" target="_blank">HUP</a><br />
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<b>June</b> - <br />
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<i>The Ten Loves of Nishino</i> - Hiromi Kawakami trans. Alison Markin Powell - <a href="https://www.europaeditions.com/book/9781609455330/the-ten-loves-of-nishino" target="_blank">Europa Editions</a><br />
<i>Somehow, Crystal</i> - Tanaka Yasuo trans.Christopher Smith - <a href="https://www.kurodahan.com/wp/e/catalog/9784909473059.html#more-591" target="_blank">Kurodahan Press</a><br />
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<b>July</b> -<br />
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<i>Inhabitation</i> - Teru Miyamoto trans. Roger K. Thomas - <a href="https://www.counterpointpress.com/dd-product/inhabitation/" target="_blank">Counterpoint Press</a><br />
<i>Japanese Ghost Stories</i> - Lafcadio Hearn - <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/311543/japanese-ghost-stories/9780241381274.html" target="_blank">Penguin Classics</a><br />
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<b>August</b> - <br />
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<i>The Memory Police</i> - Yoko Ogawa <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/110/1107868/the-memory-police/9781846559495.html" target="_blank">Harvill/Secker</a><br />
<i>Life For Sale</i> - Yukio Mishima trans Stephen Dodd - <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/306763/life-for-sale/9780241333143.html" target="_blank">Penguin Classics</a><br />
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<b>September -</b> <br />
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<i>The Miracles of the Namiya General Store</i> - Keigo Higashino - <a href="https://yenpress.com/9781975382575/the-miracles-of-the-namiya-general-store/" target="_blank">Yen Press</a><br />
<i>Automatic Eve</i> - Rokuro Inui trans. Matt Treyvaud - <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Automatic-Eve/Rokuro-Inui/Automatic-Eve/9781974708079" target="_blank">Haikasoru</a><br />
<i>Gold Mask</i> - Edogawa Rampo trans. William Varteresian - <a href="https://www.kurodahan.com/wp/e/catalog/9784909473066.html#more-568" target="_blank">Kurodahan Press</a><br />
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<b>October -</b> <br />
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<i>The Factory</i> - Hiroko Oyamada trans. David Boyd - <a href="https://www.ndbooks.com/book/the-factory/" target="_blank">New Directions</a><br />
<i>The Sheltering Rain</i> - trans. Jim Hubbert - <a href="https://www.kurodahan.com/wp/e/catalog/9784909473509.html#more-454" target="_blank">Kurodahan Press</a> <br />
<i>Beneath the Sleepless Tossing of the Planets</i> - Makoto Ooka trans. Janine Bachman <a href="https://www.kurodahan.com/wp/e/catalog/9784902075953.html#more-442" target="_blank">Kurodahan Press</a><br />
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<b>November -</b> <br />
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<i>Parade</i> - Hiromi Kawakami - trans. Allison Markin Powell - <a href="https://softskull.com/dd-product/parade/" target="_blank">Soft Skull Press</a><br />
<i>Travels With a Writing Brush</i> - edited/trans. Meredith McKinney - <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/305818/travels-with-a-writing-brush/9780241310878.html" target="_blank">Penguin Classics</a><br />
<i>The Refugee's Daughter</i> - Ichikawa Takuji trans. Emily Balistrieri - <a href="https://www.redcircleauthors.com/our-books/the-refugees-daughter/" target="_blank">Red Circle</a><br />
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<b>December</b> - <br />
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<i>The Honjin Murders</i> - Yokomizo Seishi tr. Louise Heal Kawai - <a href="https://www.pushkinpress.com/product/the-honjin-murders/" target="_blank">Pushkin Press</a><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-16074644288442651512018-09-24T11:33:00.000+01:002018-09-24T11:34:37.916+01:00The Cat in the Coffin by Mariko Koike<img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1135" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGVz6jtBV_hDjg4lWmByOKqljzjz4HP3ux_W8U0FDPPr9L20v5LNOk-hWdQzBUen-rJ3INNwRqA1bK_Wcp6vjpfOkMApqvOHwGasz9jsR0E-c9Oy0frdtl5fPYtWLPCMV4-3ZNycEjjxtE/s320/Fotor_15372986256904.jpg" width="226" /><br />
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Translated by Deborah Boliver Boehm, <i>The Cat in the Coffin</i> originally appeared in Japan back in 1990, Vertical Inc published the translation in 2009 along with an interesting Chip Kidd cover. It's a little surprising, traversing the internet, not to have stumbled upon reading lists of Japanese cat related fictions as the list now in translation must number quite a few, maybe that's something for another day, or maybe they are out there. <i>The Cat in the Coffin</i> is related as a narrative within a narrative, the main character, an aspiring artist, Masayo, takes a job as housekeeper to a successful artist - Goro Kawakubo. In exchange for housekeeping duties, she receives a weekly lesson from Goro as well as financial payments. Additionally Masayo acts as tutor to Goro's daughter Momoko, who after her mother Yuriko's death has become withdrawn, her only confidant and companion being her white cat, Lala. </div>
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As the novel progresses Masayo contemplates her relationship to Goro, his flamboyant reputation as a bit of a womaniser precedes him and the presence of a nearby American base seems to hang over the household, a relaxation of formalities and perhaps a certain degree of bohemianism is in the air. As well as these observations Masayo observes the world inhabited by Momoko and Lala and their excursions out to the barley fields that also surround the household, the special places they frequent amongst them an old out of use well. Through arty parties and sojurns the presence of Chinatsu enters the house which causes ripples amongst the already slightly estranged relationships, the centre of attention shifts to Lala, the object of a jealous affection and in some ways a miniature power struggle. With the suspicion that the cat is an embodiment of Yuriko things take a turn for the worse, or perhaps it could be said that things take a turn down the pathological path. </div>
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Whilst reading <i>The Cat in the Coffin</i> it could feel perhaps that the plotline leans toward feeling slightly formulaic, although there are some surprising twists when the rug of character identities is pulled beneath your feet, there remains enough curvatures to it to keep you hooked until the last pages, and throughout the prose retains it's darkly gothic tones. After reading that Koike's novel <a href="http://www.anthempress.com/a-cappella" target="_blank"><i>A Cappella</i></a> translated by Juliet W. Carpenter, was recently adapted to film, (<a href="https://binged.it/2xU7ETN" target="_blank">trailer</a>), I'd like to turn that one next. </div>
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<i>The Cat in the Coffin</i> at <a href="http://www.vertical-inc.com/books/catinthecoffin.html" target="_blank">Vertical Inc</a> <br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-20088206550485382832018-09-12T13:36:00.002+01:002018-09-12T13:36:52.728+01:00Darkness in Summer by Takeshi Kaiko<div style="text-align: justify;">
It seems incredible that five years have slipped by since reading the two stories <a href="http://nihondistractions.blogspot.com/2012/04/panic-and-runaway.html" target="_blank"><i>Panic/Runaway</i></a><i> </i>by Kaiko Takeshi and now finishing <i>Darkness in Summer</i> provides a great prompt to move onto tracking out a copy of <i>Five Thousand Runaways</i> and also the book that he is largely well known for <i>Into</i> <i>a Black Sun: Vietnam 1964-65</i>, which as is <i>Darkness in Summer</i> translated by Cecilia Segawa Seigle. Looking at my old hardback copy from Peter Owen the adage of 'never judge a book by it's cover' comes to mind, and also the contemplation that some books can suffer from issues over presentation, maybe this one has. The jacket of the novel bears a portrait of a woman with hair done up in geisha style which is superimposed over the portrait of Sakutaro Hagiwara by Onochi Koshiro, which feels slightly out of place and perhaps misplaces the contextualisation of the novel which first appeared in 1972 as <i>Natsu no yami</i>. For most readers perhaps it's instrumental that there is some form of correlation between a book cover and it's contents, themes, settings and characters, and that the two go hand in hand to form an aide to visualizing the novel that it's meant to represent, that said this is an old edition, the book now is only available as POD and the cover seems leaning toward the functionary.</div>
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<i>Darkness in Summer</i> published four years after <i>Into a Black Sun</i> feels that it maybe a continuation of that novel, the main drama of <i>Darkness in Summer</i> is that the main character, a journalist, is continuing a relationship with a Japanese woman after a separation of some years, set predominately in Berlin, and then there's another relocation. The narrative style evades detail, it's not late in the novel before Saigon is mentioned by name, episodes from the past drift in and out of the present, the opium taking, the violence, there are abstract summaries on the nature of existence and being juxtaposed with scenes of graphic sex. Having a broader panoramic to either <i>Panic</i> or <i>Runaway</i>, the novel though primarily revolves around the two main characters, with few additional characters, Professor Steinkopf, the visits to Professor Chao's restaurant, there's a close proximity to these two characters who are caught at a crossroads in their lives, with their sometime nicknames of Little Bird and Little Turd. After completing her dissertation and his life after reporting of the Vietnam war their future remains precariously balanced with uncertainty, the relationship fraught with equal fragility. An aspect of her character that brought to mind a more recent character of Natsuki Ikezawa's in <i>mariko/mariquito </i>is of her resolve of not wanting to return to Japan, he too displays traits of this.</div>
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It'll be interesting to read <i>Into a</i> <i>Black Sun</i> after <i>Darkness in Summer</i> to identify overlapping scenes, in places it feels that the narrator is visualizing previous episodes with the distant perspective of this novel, and obviously there are autobiographical links to Kaiko himself, the questioning of war, in places the subtle note of comparison between East and West . The control Kaiko has over his prose remains brilliantly conveyed in Cecilia Segawa Seigle's translation capturing the uncertainties of the novel's characters and their angst ridden sensuality, the fishing trip, the vistas of the ebbing and rising effect of the narrator's observations of the novel's progressions only to be brought down in a crescendo of self recrimination and doubt nearing it's culmination. There are a few reoccurring motifs to the novel, one of these is the central character's use of the German word <i>abendrot</i> - <i>afterglow </i>and it feels apt to the novel as the character's are caught in the afterglow of the past perhaps they are fated to return to it. </div>
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<i> </i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-24832727216774368352018-08-27T22:04:00.001+01:002018-08-27T22:04:37.139+01:00Of Dogs and Walls by Yuko Tsushima<div style="text-align: left;">
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It's interesting to note that Penguin have some more Japan related titles forthcoming, there's the U.K edition of Kawabata's <i>Dandelions</i>, <i><a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/311112/the-beauty-of-everyday-things/9780241366356/" target="_blank">The Beauty of Everyday Things</a></i> by Soetsu Yanagi and also there's the U.K edition of <i><a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/312751/star/9780241383476/" target="_blank">Star</a></i> the newly translated novella by Yukio Mishima to look forward to. Continuing with their Penguin Modern series it was good to sit down at last with the two stories that make up Penguin Modern: 43 - <i>Of Dogs and Walls</i> which is translated by Geraldine Harcourt. Each story is a brief 20-30 pages, both of which are newly translated here into English, interestingly the narrative structures feel quite different to each story, maybe this displays in same way the 32 year gap between them. The first is <i>The Watery Realm</i> which first appeared in 1982, the narrative performs a loop of associations across the story as it opens with a child saving for an aquarium accessory, a sunken castle for his fish tank, through a number of associating links - the Dragon Palace in the fable of Urashimataro, a coal mining accident, father's death, a fear of underground water, the term <i>jusui, </i>the memory of her mother's umbrella, and the Shinto water deity Suijin, the narrative explores themes of cross generational memory, the transience between that of being a daughter and then of being a mother, it feels like that somewhere in her subconscious the narrator is sieving for correlations, the story leaves on an unpleasant episode from the past that causes recalculations for the main protagonist. <i>The Watery Realm</i> is an engaging short story that combines explorations of family history woven with historical myth and elements of nature, as with <i>Territory of Light</i>. </div>
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The second story is the title story - <i>Of Dogs and Walls</i> from 2014, which feels more syncopated in nature perhaps by the sequencing of it's events. Similarly though it explores the nature of memory and the passing of time, and again features a father's premature death, which perhaps bears an autobiographical element. Through it's house move and memories of walled gardens and partitions, which feel to be symbolically loaded, the story opens with a shape seen on a wall which by turns symbolizes the fictional character the <i>'Walker through</i> <i>walls</i>', it feels that Tsushima might be pointing that there is a way through memory, albeit fictional, to pass through certain barriers. Along with the names of the dogs and cats of the story, Perry, Jack, Kuro, Louis, we have the name of the older brother of the central character, Toru-chan, who has a developmental disability. After the move to the new house, the daughter becomes fascinated by a small doorway in the wall between her own and neighbour's houses, equally fascinating is the young master of the house and his mother who mysteriously appear through it after certain events and continue to occupy her dreams and thoughts as the daughter grows older. As the story is brief it's hard to describe it without disclosing the central event away, the second half of the story is ethereal in perspective, continuing on sharing what is seen in the neighbourhood in the here after, a visit to Toru-chan's school, a place that now seems to be surrounded by inescapable walls, juxtaposing unfolding perspectives with unmoving ones, it's hard not to be touched by. </div>
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<i>Of Dogs and Walls</i> at <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/308599/of-dogs-and-walls/" target="_blank">Penguin Modern</a> </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-76831668969218219412018-08-23T23:44:00.000+01:002018-08-23T23:44:13.195+01:00The Last Children of Tokyo by Yoko Tawada<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Recently published from Portobello Books in the U.K and New Directions in the U.S, (under the title <i>The Emissary</i>), <i>The Last Children of Tokyo</i> is translated by Margaret Mitsutani and first appeared in Japan in 2014 as <i>Kentoshi</i>. Although quite short, the prose feels quite dense, and as other readers have noted it's quite a paced read, mainly related in third person, the dialogue is sparse. Reading a few reviews of <i>The Last Children of Tokyo </i>the description of it as being dystopian crops up repeatedly, in a number of places it resembles Orwell's <i>1984</i>, as the narrative unfolds relating the relationship between Yoshiro, a novelist over a hundred years old, and his great-grand son Mumei, Tawada weaves in a number of contemporary concerns and advances them into a projected future. Japan has become more isolationist, environmental abuse is prominent, Mumei is a member of an atrophied generation caught in this great flux, weakened, the elder generation displays more youthfulness than the youth. The age difference between the two characters becomes further apparent when the lives of the intermediate family members are related and of how Yoshiro has come to be Mumei's guardian, definitions are needed to be extended and added upon to cope with this expansion of time. <br />
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Maybe in comparison to Tawada's other novels it feels that the prose to <i>The Last Children of Tokyo</i> is a little less experimental, although some familiar themes appear, Tawada's at times humorous observations of literal translations between the languages crops up, and this is set against the concept of a sort of 'official speak' and the obsolete and dysfunction of words and phrases, and through these concerns there's obviously the projected broadening crisis of an ageing population, the novel in places carries an unnerving accurateness with it's projections, this shift in societal behaviour is depicted in a number of places, another example is that gender change is an accepted norm, sometimes occurring a number of times for each person. Through these big themes Yoshiro looks after Mumei and the characters progress, with a slight distraction in the form of neighbour Suiren, both in wheelchairs the novel ends in an enigmatic note. But before that Mumei's schooling leads him to meet Mr Yonatani, a teacher whose background has also been meddled by malign forces, who is searching for an emissary to leave Japan in a bid to find salvation with the outside through clandestine means, and towards the end of the novel the exterior world begins to resemble something in the form of a myth. Mumei's departure from the story appears riddled with uncertainty. <i>The Last Children of</i> <i>Tokyo</i> although short in pages is a penetrating observation tower into both present and future, full of acute ideas and predictions. <br />
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<i>The Last Children of Tokyo</i> at <a href="http://www.portobellobooks.com/the-last-children-of-tokyo" target="_blank">Portobello Books</a> <br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-83706372431206275762018-06-29T10:37:00.003+01:002018-08-27T22:05:45.020+01:00The Years, Months, Days by Yan Lianke <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp9tPxSP2SqBwdDOARB7Ft_ijb2ANAghAyH7376miVDGlzAGUHC5UmM6ZGvYe46skEUVpRB6qdMdOH_EqZvemhL8G84M__qhzMc3VHtsVZdHOxupUzBAjq8T1tPkGOxgG2wrahlQ-daz8a/s1600/Fotor_153019263718392.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1007" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp9tPxSP2SqBwdDOARB7Ft_ijb2ANAghAyH7376miVDGlzAGUHC5UmM6ZGvYe46skEUVpRB6qdMdOH_EqZvemhL8G84M__qhzMc3VHtsVZdHOxupUzBAjq8T1tPkGOxgG2wrahlQ-daz8a/s320/Fotor_153019263718392.jpg" width="201" /></a></div>
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A first reading of Lianke in a translation by Carlos Rojas, unfortunately it looks like other editions of the novella are accompanied with the short story <i>Marrow </i>although with the Vintage edition we only have the novella sized <i>The Years, Months, Days</i>, perhaps I saw that <i>Marrow</i> had been published previously as a Penguin China Special. Along with the novella translator Carlos Rojas gives an insightful preface into Lianke's oeuvre and the cases of censorship against his works and of the self censorship Lianke has performed in order to get his works published. <i><a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1113315/the-day-the-sun-died/" target="_blank">The Day the Sun Died</a></i>, a novel set in the Balou mountains due in English at the end of July, failed to be published by a mainland publisher at all. </div>
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As Carlos Rojas mentions in his introduction the narrative of <i>The Years, Months, Days</i> sometimes floats from the main protagonist, the Elder, sometimes finding balance between subject/object, it feels Rojas has managed to convey this in the translation, more direct dialogue has been italicised, mostly these moments of conversation are between the Elder and the other main character of the novella, the blind Dog. The narrative has a folklore element, mainly based in first person the ending it could be said drifts into resonation being one relayed via oral tradition. Essentially the novella relays the efforts of the Elder as he tends to a single ear of corn amidst a devastating drought with the hope of propagation. Throughout his arduous task of finding food and water the Elder faces a number of trials - a swarm of rats, a pack of wolves, all the while staving off hunger and thirst and of finding the stalk nutrients. </div>
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Although slim the book makes for resonating reading and with every turn of the page we struggle with it's protagonist's trials. The village abandoned, the responsibility of the continuation of the crop has fallen to him and the blind dog. There are some interesting and original touches to the story which sees the Elder weighing out sunlight, the stronger it is, the weightier it becomes. Through this extremity that Lianke puts his character through the temptation is there to read more into the significance of the drought, it's not too impossible to contemplate that the Elder's drought as perhaps containing alternative representations.</div>
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<i>The Years, Months, Days</i> at <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1115080/the-years-months-days/" target="_blank">Vintage</a>. </div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867363623026037617.post-14992331967602678082018-06-26T11:23:00.001+01:002018-06-26T11:33:54.414+01:00The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Edited by Jay Rubin <i>The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories </i>is also introduced by Murakami Haruki, who offers a synopsis of the writers and stories featured, it's interesting to note Murakami's admission of his allergies towards the tradition of the <i>Watakushi shosetsu/I-novel </i>and<i> </i>also of his general disinterest of the mainstay of Japanese literature, although obviously there are some exceptions. In his Editorial Note Rubin discusses the difficulties of compiling anthologies in that it's a near on impossible task to include everything, no doubt when thinking of stories/authors to include something of a domino effect of associations must arise and you'd end up with a volume running into many thousands of pages. Perhaps looking through the authors here it's something of a shame to see that Dazai remains left out, although him aside the rest of the big names of his era are represented here, Mishima, Kawabata, Soseki, Tanizaki, whose novella <i>The Story of Tomoda and Matsunaga</i> translated by Paul Warham opens the anthology, Rubin notes that this was to be a first appearance of the story into English although the story previously appeared in <i>Red Roofs and Other Stories, </i>trans by<i> </i>Chambers and McCarthy,<i> </i>as noted in the Further Reading chapter, another author whose omission might cause surprise is Abe Kobo, another Ichiyo Higuchi. Another aspect of compiling anthologies is the conundrum of the layout of the stories and here Rubin has gone for a thematic approach as well as usefully listing the stories in chronological order in his Editorial Note. It's also interesting that Rubin has said that this will be the last of this kind of enterprise that he will be involved with so it feels that the stories are ones that carry a resonance for him, as well as their being a number of stories having their debut in English translation, the anthology also recollects a number of stories that have been presented previously in varying anthologies and offers them up again for reconsideration, as well as including the stories from Penguin's new Modern 50's older translations of his resurface; <i>Peaches</i> by Abe Akira and <i>American Hijiki</i> by Nosaka Akiyuki, and obviously two from Murakami Haruki, among more.</div>
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Among the stories that have seen publication previously then but perhaps have slipped from prominence is Enchi Fumiko's fascinating <i>A Bond for Two Lifetimes - Gleanings</i> translated by Phyllis Birnbaum originally published in <i>Rabbits, Crabs, Etc: Stories by Japanese Women, </i>centering on a one time student of Professor Nunokawa who has been asked by the professor to assist him with the transcribing of Akinari's <i>Tale of Moonlight and Rain and Tales of Spring Rain</i> into modern Japanese. As with a number of other stories in the anthology, Ogawa Yoko's <i>The Tale of the House</i> <i>of Physics</i> being another, Enchi's story uses the story within a story premise, or book within a story to great affect, the tale of the buried monk Josuke who comes back to life begins to find parallels with that of the narrator's husband who had died in the war, the narrator also confronts male dominance recollecting the professor's advances towards her and also of the male figure who appears at the end of the story adds to associations and conclusions for the narrator. Another noteworthy story that comes under the chapter themed <i>Men and Women</i> is Ohba Minako's <i>The Smile of a Mountain Witch</i> translated by Noriko Mizuta an allegorical story that uses the myth of the <i>yamauba</i> to explore male/female relations as well as that of mother/daughter. Also included in this chapter is the first time in English translation of Banana Yoshimoto's <i>Bee Honey, </i>translated by Michael Emmerich. Another story appearing for the first time is Nakagami Kenji's <i>Remaining Flowers</i> translated by Eve Zimmerman, which bears some of the physicality and dark eroticism his stories are known for, which follows logger Jukichi as he falls in love with a beautiful blind woman, the story opens with the finding of a man's body whilst builders demolish a house for redevelopment, the story unfolds and follows dark paths to conclude with allusions to it's opening.</div>
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Another of the themed chapters is <i>Nature and Memory</i> which as well as including stories by Motoyuki Shibata, Murakami Haruki, Abe Akira and Ogawa Yoko, Jay Rubin has included his translation of Doppo Kunikida's <i>Unforgettable People </i>a story from 1898 which is the oldest of the anthology, a nuanced story that arises from a conversation between writer and painter Otsu and Akiyama on a night at an inn examines the subtleties of memory and acknowledgement of human presences. The chapter headed <i>Modern Life and</i> <i>Other Nonsense </i>offers up an interesting selection of writers that span the decades, featuring the stories - <i>Closet LLB</i> by Uno Koji, brief ones from Hoshi Shin'ichi and Betsuyaku Minoru, also <i>Mr</i> <i>English</i> by Genji Keita and <i>Dreams of Love, Etc</i> by Kawakami Mieko, an interestingly engaging story of a brief connection between two women of a neighbourhood, whilst through their encounters with each other adopt alternative identities. Through the briefer chapter ominously entitled <i>Dread </i>is the chapter <i>Disasters, Natural and Man-Made </i>which itself is then broken down with subcategories - containing stories concerning the earthquakes of Kobe, Kanto and Tohoku and more under the headings of <i>Post-War Japan</i> and also <i>The Atomic Bombings, 1945 </i>which includes the piece <i>Hiroshima, City of Doom</i> translated by Richard H. Minear, visualizing the protagonists at the riverside on the first night of the bombing brings to mind John Hersey's book <i>Hiroshima. </i>As with this story and Saeki Kazumi's <i>Weather-Watching Hill,</i> translated by David Boyd the reader receives the impression of being deposited at scenes of destruction so immense that perhaps literature can only partially convey although their ability to move remains total. <br />
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As with all anthologies it is that they can be approached on many levels, <i>The Penguin Book of Japanese Short</i> <i>Stories</i> is a solid mixture of stories covering multiple themes and events, they also come to us from various perspectives of varying time periods. As well as containing some firsts into translation, the book offers a variety of the familiar and the not so but it remains a great and essential addition for both seasoned and first time readers.<br />
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<i>The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories</i> at <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/268310/the-penguin-book-of-japanese-short-stories/" target="_blank">Penguin<i></i><i></i><i></i> </a><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0