@“edward”#p89738
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it seems like she’s kinda sorta famous
definitely seems like Michelle Zauner's fame level fluctuates depending on who you ask, so this is an apt summary.
and i had a similar to reaction to Gene Wolfe when i tried to read him. probably lots of cool ideas in there, but too much of a slog to get to any of them, in my opinion.
@“whatsarobot”#p89744
I think I read Wolfe at the right time in life, which has given me a strong affection for him. But I think his best work may be outside of the Solar Cycle.
Wizard Knight sounds like a generic fantasy made for children, but it is a wild and weird book. Maybe my favorite Wolfe novel.
But he definitely loves obfuscation, probably to a fault.
i recenty read michael parenti‘s the assassination of julius caeser: a people's history of ancient rome. i’ve never had an interest in rome befoe because that's nerd shit, but this book is eye opening and disturbing because it depicts rome as basically being just like america. it leaves me with the impression that struggle is eternal.
currently reading _[gomorrah](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ac3JkxAYVno)_. i don't know if i quite have anything to say except the camorra have some interesting ideas.
That Caesar book sounds awesome
i recently finished ベンギン・ハイウェイ by 森見登美彦 (Penguin Highway, Morimi Tomihiko) because the premise sounded amazing to me. a fourth-grade boy with an obsession with researching the world around him (basically think Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes) encounters a young woman who can create penguins at will, and other related strange phenomena happening in his town. Morimi has written several popular novels which have gone on to be remade as anime movies or series, including Penguin Highway, but i was surprised to find that this book received an English translation. not because it isn‘t a delightful and lovably weird novel, which it certainly is, but because it features some peculiar choices, such as the young woman in question having no name, and the young boy’s obsession with breasts—amazingly, not in a creepy way at all, but in an endearing and relatable way. he‘s just as curious about them as he is about everything else. just a tender and well realized story. i intend to read more of Morimi’s work soon, since this is considered one of his more minor books.
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i'm about halfway through The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix, which i started reading because i wanted a fun Halloween time. it is definitely that! i first became aware of Hendrix through the [Great Stephen King Reread](http://www.gradyhendrix.com/the-great-stephen-king-reread) project he did several years ago, which i found to be both entertaining and insightful. anyway this book is an 80s-style romp of a horror story. essentially a campier take on King but with all of the fat trimmed. if King had written this book, the characters would feel more like real people, but it would also be 300 pages longer.
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and because i wanted even more Halloween good times, i also started 夜市 by 恒川光太郎 (Yoichi by Tsunekawa Kotaro), which was highly celebrated in 2005 when it was released. it won the Japan Horror Novel Award and was nominated for the Naoki Prize. so far it's a deeply unsettling story about a night market deep in the woods where things that shouldn't or seemingly couldn't be sold are in deed for sale, at stalls run by otherworldly weirdos (for example, a sword that can cut through anything being sold by a one-eyed gorilla, or a coffin which was set out to sea and contains an immortal who cannot be killed). but it's all told in a brisk, matter of fact style. as far as i can tell, no English translation of this book exists, which is quite frankly a travesty from what i can tell so far. i cannot figure out why some things receive translations and others don't. heck maybe i'll have to translate this one.
@“edward”#p89747 it‘s pretty good. parenti was even good enough to give a talk that’s the cliff notes version of the book.
https://youtu.be/_IO_Ldn2H4o
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@“edward”#p88784 Which one did you read?
the sea came in at midnight. Got the impression this wasn't the one to start with, but it was what they had at the libary
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@“whatsarobot”#p89744 Gene Wolfe
I think smaller doses or in other words not the huge novel series are the way to go. Specifically: _Fifth Head of Cerberus_, Island of Dr Death, There Are Doors, Storeys From The Old Hotel, Peace, Free Live Free. The original 4 New Sun books are exceptional though
@"pasquinelli"#p89752 speaking of Italians ever read _Christ In Concrete_?
@“yeso”#p89761
What fascinates me about Gene Wolfe is that Peace fits much better alongside Gaddis rather than anyone writing SFF. I think had he kept moving in that direction, he'd be one of those obscure but monumentally impressive postmodernists, like Gaddis.
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@“yeso”#p89761 speaking of Italians ever read Christ In Concrete?
no, but it sounds interesting, going by the wikipedia page for it.
I have no doubt it's Parenti-approved reading
@“whatsarobot”#p89748 Quite enjoyed Penguin Highway. It was the first book I ever read in Japanese; I found it in a bookstore prior to the anime coming out and was intrigued by the name.
I did my own translation of it just for fun and practice before the official translation came out. There were some interesting challenges, particularly with the older girl's name. If I remember correctly, I just gave her a regular name I liked, but I can't remember what it was. I took a peek at the official translation after I was done and it seemed really rushed... I think the guy who did it does light novels or w/e mostly. Felt like it was missing a lot of the whimsy. I think he just called her "The Girl" or something which sounded weird.
Anyway, good book.
@“wickedcestus”#p89838 thank you! that‘s a bummer to hear about the English translation of Penguin Highway, but i’m really impressed that you translated an entire novel just for fun! that‘s inspiring. have you translated others since? any tips? i’ve never embarked on a project that big before. only short stories and video game scripts.
@"yeso"#385 @"edward"#1011 i'll give the Book of the New Sun another go at some point. i ordered a copy of it from some mail-order book club when i was like 12 years old, because i thought the cover art looked so cool.
[upl-image-preview url=https://i.imgur.com/hS17hra.png]
i've also got a copy of Peace because Neil Gaiman raved about it somewhere. i'm not even a fan of Neil Gaiman, but i suppose i found his endorsement persuasive. i'm wary though, since it's a debut novel.
@“whatsarobot”#p89844
Peace really is unlike any of his other books. I suppose it's technically speculative fiction? But it reads much more like postmodern literary fiction.
But, yeah, that Book of the New Sun cover is great. That's the one I have too.
@“Syzygy”#p89897 holy cow i am adding this to my never-ending Book-Off shopping list.
@“whatsarobot”#p89748 in case anyone is keeping score at home…
夜市 is actually not a novel, but two novellas that were published together in book form! egg on my face.
anyway, one of the two novellas is indeed a story called 夜市, which i have now finished. i found it to be a concise and well-realized story with powerful imagery that asks interesting questions of its reader.
i will indeed translate it, especially since i now know how short it actually is.
EDIT: ~~what i'm wondering is, would folks here be interested in reading it? maybe i can post it here in bits as i work on it, for encouragement and feedback and whatnot.~~
yeso has kindly informed me that there may be sticky copyright-related issues with posting my translation here, so unfortunately i'll have to keep it to myself, just to be safe.
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@“whatsarobot”#p90269 maybe i can post it here in bits as i work on it
go for it (I mean, if you're willing/excited about doing a lot of hard work completely unpaid).
it can be a let's read to go with syzygy's let's play
@“whatsarobot”#p90269 maybe you could create some anonymous burner blog on, like, neocities or whatever other free hosting service you prefer so that it‘s off the forum and not easily traceable to you? or some other workaround (e.g. just setting up an email chain with whoever’s interested)? I have no idea how strictly copyrights are enforced for unofficial translations of books, so @yeso or whoever else (maybe @radicaledward knows more about this stuff?) can chime in if either of these are bad ideas.
@“saddleblasters”#p90306 thanks! these are good ideas. surely the email approach would be safe.
@“saddleblasters”#p90306
I dont know much about fan translations, but I have a hard time believing it would be a problem. Tim Rogers has that translation of the Abe story that's been on Medium for several years without any issue.
I may be wrong here, but I don't think it should matter unless you're A) selling it, or B) a publisher decides to translate and sell their own translation. And even with B, I think that would only matter if the fan translation was getting tons of traffic.
banana yoshimoto will personally arrest you