@“captain”#p72784 i found this labeling style so confusing for so long (in fact it still gives me pause), because Japanese is written from top to bottom, so in my brain it makes sense for 下 to come first. it's still not obvious to me why 上 means “start with this one” and 下 means “finish with this one,” but it must make sense to everyone else, so i roll with it.
i do like three volume sets that go 上 中 下 though.
on a (barely) related note, a colleague of mine finally convinced me to get started reading 三国志 (Romance of the Three Kingdoms), which i have always been curious about, but too intimidated to start. i opted for the Yoshikawa version instead of the Kitakawa version (which is the one he read), because Kitakawa is known for writing "hardboiled" stories where the women are subservient and tropey, and i said no thanks to that.
anyway, the first volume is seriously addictive. i thought it would be stodgy and slow and a bit academic, like eating my vegetables, but it's more like eating **candy**.
@“captain”#p72795 i think it has to top out at three, right?? most novels can be broken up into three bunkobon. for super-long stories, it goes to 一、二、三 and so on. that's the system 三国志 uses.
however, if we're talking series, as opposed to broken-up chunks of one novel, then convention goes out the window. i've seen kanji numbers, arabic numbers, roman numerals...
@“JoJoestar”#p72507 I didn’t like Harrow as much as Gideon though, but that’s my own fault because I’m basic bitch and couldn’t help liking a book without Gideon as the protagonist less than a book with Gideon as the protagonist.
I'm with you on this. I also did enjoy _Harrow_ a lot. >!When Gideon makes her "return" late in the novel it feels like a lightning bolt. Completely exhilarating.!<
I'm so excited for the third novel, which I think is either already released or comes out very soon.
Speaking of novels released this year, I believe Ottessa Mosfegh's new novel is out today. I will definitely be reading that and talking about it here.
I read Fires on the Plain recently after watching the movie and thought it was great. It made me realize that I haven‘t read that many Japanese WW2 books (and only really a handful of movies about that period, though I feel I’ve seen many dozens set in the periods shortly before and shortly after the war). Can anyone recommend me some interesting/canonical novels about the war from the Japanese perspective? Feel free to recommend stuff that‘s not in English, since it’d still be nice to know about it. I imagine the whole system for getting books translated and published in English might have certain biases that can prevent a lot of books from ever arriving here.
Some books I might check out based on some quick google searches:
- Grass for my Pillow by Saiichi Maruya, which seems to be about a draft dodger
- Kamikaze Diaries: Reflections of Japanese Student Soldiers by Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, a non-fiction work that includes diary entries by Japanese soldiers with essays analyzing them.
- Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids by Kenzaburo Oe. The only other book I've read by him is A Personal Matter, so I should probably read more of his stuff.
- The Kobe Hotel by Saito Sanki
- The Stones Cry Out by Hikaru Okuizumi
I also realize now writing this that a lot of the Japanese novels I read as a teenager, like Confessions of a Mask, took place during wartime, though I didn't register that as being important to the story they were telling, maybe just because I didn't care much about history at the time. Perhaps if I reread them now I'd interpret them more as war books than I had initially.
You know, since joining here I was wondering if there was a book thread but I guess I never got around to just…looking.
Been reading a lot of Latin American and Japanese novels lately.
Been reading all of Roberto Bolano‘s lesser known novels and there sure is a good reason most people don’t read these! I mean, they‘re fine, but they really feel like practice for The Savage Detectives and 2666. Also, Alejandro Zambra’s Chilean Poet is just brilliant. Really digging Nona Fernandez right now, too. And also Fuminori Nakamura.
@“saddleblasters”#p78794 Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids is good. Oe rules. i highly recommend his short story, Prize Stock, as it is exactly what you're looking for, and has stayed with me vividly for 20 years.
@“yeso”#p79090 This is a great idea, but may I suggest we open up to platforms like z-lib and libgen? More legally grey area but I don‘t think there’ll be any problem.