Photo de l'auteur

Gen'ichirō Takahashi

Auteur de Sayonara gangsters

18+ oeuvres 178 utilisateurs 4 critiques 2 Favoris

A propos de l'auteur

Œuvres de Gen'ichirō Takahashi

Oeuvres associées

Monkey Brain Sushi: New Tastes in Japanese Fiction (1991) — Contributeur — 235 exemplaires
New Japanese Voices: The Best Contemporary Fiction from Japan (1991) — Contributeur — 48 exemplaires
Monkey Business: New Writing from Japan, Volume 03 (2013) — Contributeur — 11 exemplaires
Monkey Business: New Writing from Japan, Volume 05 (2015) — Contributeur — 10 exemplaires
Monkey Business: New Writing from Japan, Volume 04 (2014) — Contributeur — 7 exemplaires
opera "Asters" (2019) — Contributeur — 1 exemplaire
文藝 2006年夏季号 特集 高橋源一郎 — Contributeur — 1 exemplaire

Étiqueté

Partage des connaissances

Nom canonique
Takahashi, Gen'ichirō
Nom légal
高橋源一郎
Date de naissance
1951-01-01
Sexe
male
Nationalité
Japan
Lieu de naissance
Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan

Membres

Critiques

There are books you love and books that you hate and after a lifetime of avid reading I know a book that I hate in very short order: books I love are a different kettle of fish - usually. Usually, a book that I love will come on me over an initial reading and prompt me to read it again, and it is at that point that I may fall in love. Sometimes that second read confirms what I suspected, sometimes not, but it is a rare book that makes me fall in love within a few pages, or, exceptionally, even a single page. Some of the great book loves of my life have been very slow growers. Not so this one: just a paragraph in and I was head over heels.

So what is it that makes me love a book? You may as well ask me what makes me love certain women: it is beyond exhaustive analysis. The language. The style. The construction. A sense of humour. Looks. Shape. All of these and then there has to be something else, some je ne sais quoi. Some magic chemistry between it and me. I love this book and will always love it. It joins my small list of books I will never lend to anyone.

I have heard this text called experimental and futuristic and post modern and dystopia and consigned to a whole plethora of other genres and sub-genres but it does not fit any. Imagine a text wherein ancient Greek poets and playwrights discourse amongst themselves and with a teacher of poetry, a modern day Japanese teacher of poetry who teaches tiny gangsters and delinquent children. And then imagine that one of the ancient Greeks, Virgil no less, metamorphoses into a refrigerator and visits the poet and you have surely identified the genre that we are operating within - good old surrealism - one of my favourites. That the poet’s name, as given by his girlfriend, and in this world one’s lover names one, is Sayonara, Gangsters only confirms that fact.

That this was Takahashi's first novel is simply stunning - think Confederacy of Dunces, think Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - just stunning. Written beautifully and with a confidence of touch that is rare even in one so talented Sayonara, Gangsters beguiles and intrigues from the opening paragraph. From there on the journey becomes more engrossing and involving with each new scene until finally you are rationing yourself in the false hope that if you go slowly enough you will never have to finish the text.

That this came to me in translation is amazing. My admiration for Michael Emmerich is up there with my admiration for Gilbert Adair’s work in translating Perec’s A Void. I genuinely have no idea how this is done. It is a magical act of creativity and empathy.
… (plus d'informations)
½
 
Signalé
papalaz | 3 autres critiques | Apr 1, 2016 |
VOTO: 8,5Decisamente surreale, delirante e strambo! Ma anche molto godibile! Si legge anche velocemente. In copertina c'è un certo Jonathan Safran Foer che dice che ha amato questo libro per la capacità di descrivere ciò che gli è intimo e familiare. Sinceramente non c'ho trovato niente di intimo e familiare...
 
Signalé
Malla-kun | 3 autres critiques | Sep 22, 2012 |
No one does absurd better than some Japanese authors. Takahashi is one of them. The book is divided into three parts. I'd give the middle part - The Poetry School - four stars.
 
Signalé
slickdpdx | 3 autres critiques | May 13, 2008 |
What a weird, neat little book!

It's almost impossible for me to describe the plot to this novel or what I took away from it. Suffice it to say I now have a much higher appreciation of the postmodern and absurd. Sayonara, Gangsters is incredibly charming, and the design and presentation of the English version is impressive. Vertical did an excellent job with this.
 
Signalé
JackFrost | 3 autres critiques | Apr 4, 2008 |

Prix et récompenses

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Statistiques

Œuvres
18
Aussi par
7
Membres
178
Popularité
#120,889
Évaluation
½ 3.4
Critiques
4
ISBN
24
Langues
4
Favoris
2

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