The notable Haruki Murakami is unmissable.
IS it the storyline? The writing style? Well I can't really tell because I haven't read enough highly acclaimed literature worthy books :(
BUT to me it's like reading graphically and taking the whole picture at once. Compared to western fiction which is like reading illustratively, the minute details seemingly an afterthought. Whatever, with that explanation, I wasn't even talking about manga but it sounds like reading manga with only words.
The first Japanese fiction I ever read (and notably remember) was from Murakami - Kafka on the shore. It is still my favourite now even though everyone likes the more mature Wind-up Bird Chronicle or Norwegian Wood (his break-through novel). This excludes 1Q84 the latest trilogy from Murakami. It is currently his bestseller!! Anyway, this is by no means a literature review post but to share some of my favourite books.
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1. Kafka on the shore - Haruki Murakami
This is still my favourite because compared to Norwegian wood it is the complete opposite. The people in Norwegian Wood had substantial free will, except marred by a bad past which led to their unconventional choices. In Kafka on the shore, everything just flowed like it was part of fate. I could sense a happy ending! If you like reading about tragic dramatizations of life - and come out feeling better about your real life... this is not the book for you.
Anyway this is about a boy who has a strange father (who eats the hearts of cats), and a parallel story about an old man who is a container - but empty of a soul. The young boy, Kafka, runs away from home because he is adamant about filling a prophecy relating to Oedipus. And the old man really really likes cats
and I'm sure Murakami really likes cats too so he decided to include this amazing story of an old man who catches cats for a living.
Really, when you read it you'd want to become a cat hunter too!!
2. Spring snow (Sea of Fertility tetralogy) - Yukio Mishima
Just read this recently! Someone from kinokuniya recommended it on those slips of recommendation papers they attach to the side. I'm glad they did!
The plot is basically a complete tragic dramatization of life. This is, in complete hypocrisy, the core of what I would hate to read. It was very difficult to finish mainly because I would become as melancholic as Kiyoaki after being exposed to his exceedingly elegant depression.
The crux of the story is Kiyoaki being in a love/hate relationship with Satoko. Well actually, there is no other mentionable plot. Please let this eloquent gentlemen explain what is so significant about this novel:
"His characters are so tragic, yet so ordinary; so privileged, yet so doomed; so foolish, yet so much more introspective than you. "
The translator must have had a difficult time with this book! But he did a marvelous job and even retained what the author tried to convey.
"Mishima ... can isolate the most fleeting, awkward, and yet noble emotion, gesture, or thought, and hold it up to you like a jewel, and allow you to view it from all sides and savor it.
And he does not hold these gems up to show you how ugly they are; what is so beautiful about his writing is that even the ugliest, basest, most "human", emotion, he gives nobility and honor, so that his characters seem deific, holy... like we should see ourselves." - Ryan
DID I MENTION the author Mishima is of noble samurai bloodline and frequently expressed he would commit suicide after completion of this series. Which he did in 1970. I don't know why it is shameful to write this series because committing suicide would mean he did something bad to betray the emperor. But what a commitment to the series!!
3. Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World - Haruki Murakami
A man who is simply the narrator works as a calcutec. Basically, it's like his head is a magical box who can attach and reattach itself (in the sense of being conscious) to make complex streams of coded data. Which he uses his hand to write out. And this is a professional job.
Again this series of events is not because of free will. He meets a quirky professor who is into the research of sound. Including reading people's mind after they die because their bones emit a sound close to their memories.
The beginning is exceedingly slow. Even skipping pages should not be a crime when you say you read the entire book and said it was good. I am still angry and confused about the ending. Much like Inception. Please read to the end! Skip pages when it gets boring and give it a second chance before putting it away without finishing!
4. After dark - Haruki Murakami
This is a short story about a girl who meets a guy in a cafe. None of this pulpy romance crap but a real, one in a lifetime snapshot of what could happen after midnight in a city like Tokyo. There are many questions still unanswered but still a very interesting read. And this entire story took place only in one night, wow such detail and introspection!
5. Memoirs of a Geisha
Well if you haven't read this, you sure are missing out.
And I am sure the in the book Chiyo's eyes aren't blue but grey like a wizards ;/
It might not be by someone Japanese, but it's still related.
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[somehow fill this up later]
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10. In the miso soup - Ryu Murakami
What a psychedelic title!
Well, if you want sadistic torture to be part of your reading list, then you may find this interesting. I was captured at first. But then it went downhill. If only I could selectively erase memories. This seems to be sidelining fat, balding and weird smelling American tourist. Stop reading after they go into the hostess bar, skip that part, then go forward about 10 pages :) then it may be bearable. I like how he captured the sadness of the sex industry. It is a very sad world in there. But it contains a lot of gore.
.
.
.
Ok well these are the ones worth mentioning. SORRY they are just one Murakami after another!! I am just finishing 1Q84 book 1 and it sure feels like his magnum opus. After finishing I might knock off Kafka on the Shore as no.1 :/
Here is a site for top 216 Japanese books by Goodreads
If you feel slightly cheated by my short list ;/
It's rated by users and I am sure you can find one that suits your taste. Here is a short guide:
If you liked One flew over the cuckoo's nest but wanted more romance: Norwegian Wood
If you like Wuthering heights but wanted more melancholic feats of love: Spring Snow
If you liked Lord of the flies but wanted more violence: Battle Royale
If you hated 1984 and wanted a less depressing storyline : 1Q84
.
.
.
If you are lazy and just want to watch the movie, it's likely you will not find it as fulfilling as the book. If only everyone were educated and willing to become educated. Then our society might be doomed because we could all become pessimistic. Anyway, please read good stuff such as the above so you don't become clouded by too much introspection.
Au revoir ~~
This is still my favourite because compared to Norwegian wood it is the complete opposite. The people in Norwegian Wood had substantial free will, except marred by a bad past which led to their unconventional choices. In Kafka on the shore, everything just flowed like it was part of fate. I could sense a happy ending! If you like reading about tragic dramatizations of life - and come out feeling better about your real life... this is not the book for you.
Anyway this is about a boy who has a strange father (who eats the hearts of cats), and a parallel story about an old man who is a container - but empty of a soul. The young boy, Kafka, runs away from home because he is adamant about filling a prophecy relating to Oedipus. And the old man really really likes cats
and I'm sure Murakami really likes cats too so he decided to include this amazing story of an old man who catches cats for a living.Really, when you read it you'd want to become a cat hunter too!!
2. Spring snow (Sea of Fertility tetralogy) - Yukio Mishima
Just read this recently! Someone from kinokuniya recommended it on those slips of recommendation papers they attach to the side. I'm glad they did!
The plot is basically a complete tragic dramatization of life. This is, in complete hypocrisy, the core of what I would hate to read. It was very difficult to finish mainly because I would become as melancholic as Kiyoaki after being exposed to his exceedingly elegant depression.
The crux of the story is Kiyoaki being in a love/hate relationship with Satoko. Well actually, there is no other mentionable plot. Please let this eloquent gentlemen explain what is so significant about this novel:
"His characters are so tragic, yet so ordinary; so privileged, yet so doomed; so foolish, yet so much more introspective than you. "
The translator must have had a difficult time with this book! But he did a marvelous job and even retained what the author tried to convey.
"Mishima ... can isolate the most fleeting, awkward, and yet noble emotion, gesture, or thought, and hold it up to you like a jewel, and allow you to view it from all sides and savor it.
And he does not hold these gems up to show you how ugly they are; what is so beautiful about his writing is that even the ugliest, basest, most "human", emotion, he gives nobility and honor, so that his characters seem deific, holy... like we should see ourselves." - Ryan
DID I MENTION the author Mishima is of noble samurai bloodline and frequently expressed he would commit suicide after completion of this series. Which he did in 1970. I don't know why it is shameful to write this series because committing suicide would mean he did something bad to betray the emperor. But what a commitment to the series!!
3. Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World - Haruki Murakami
A man who is simply the narrator works as a calcutec. Basically, it's like his head is a magical box who can attach and reattach itself (in the sense of being conscious) to make complex streams of coded data. Which he uses his hand to write out. And this is a professional job.
Again this series of events is not because of free will. He meets a quirky professor who is into the research of sound. Including reading people's mind after they die because their bones emit a sound close to their memories.
The beginning is exceedingly slow. Even skipping pages should not be a crime when you say you read the entire book and said it was good. I am still angry and confused about the ending. Much like Inception. Please read to the end! Skip pages when it gets boring and give it a second chance before putting it away without finishing!
4. After dark - Haruki Murakami
This is a short story about a girl who meets a guy in a cafe. None of this pulpy romance crap but a real, one in a lifetime snapshot of what could happen after midnight in a city like Tokyo. There are many questions still unanswered but still a very interesting read. And this entire story took place only in one night, wow such detail and introspection!
5. Memoirs of a Geisha
Well if you haven't read this, you sure are missing out.
And I am sure the in the book Chiyo's eyes aren't blue but grey like a wizards ;/
It might not be by someone Japanese, but it's still related.
.
.
.
[somehow fill this up later]
....
10. In the miso soup - Ryu Murakami
What a psychedelic title!Well, if you want sadistic torture to be part of your reading list, then you may find this interesting. I was captured at first. But then it went downhill. If only I could selectively erase memories. This seems to be sidelining fat, balding and weird smelling American tourist. Stop reading after they go into the hostess bar, skip that part, then go forward about 10 pages :) then it may be bearable. I like how he captured the sadness of the sex industry. It is a very sad world in there. But it contains a lot of gore.
.
.
.
Ok well these are the ones worth mentioning. SORRY they are just one Murakami after another!! I am just finishing 1Q84 book 1 and it sure feels like his magnum opus. After finishing I might knock off Kafka on the Shore as no.1 :/
Here is a site for top 216 Japanese books by Goodreads
If you feel slightly cheated by my short list ;/
It's rated by users and I am sure you can find one that suits your taste. Here is a short guide:
If you liked One flew over the cuckoo's nest but wanted more romance: Norwegian Wood
If you like Wuthering heights but wanted more melancholic feats of love: Spring Snow
If you liked Lord of the flies but wanted more violence: Battle Royale
If you hated 1984 and wanted a less depressing storyline : 1Q84
.
.
.
If you are lazy and just want to watch the movie, it's likely you will not find it as fulfilling as the book. If only everyone were educated and willing to become educated. Then our society might be doomed because we could all become pessimistic. Anyway, please read good stuff such as the above so you don't become clouded by too much introspection.
Au revoir ~~
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