2012 in Japan: What are you reading now?

I'm currently reading Lady Gracia: A Samurai Wife's Love, Strife and Faith by Ayako Miura. This is a great book to read if you want to learn more about 16th century Japan (and the great leaders Nobunaga, Ieyasu and Hideyoshi) without committing to the 1000 page historical fiction epic of Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa (although this book is magnificent).

I'm also about to start 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami for the group read.

I finished Volcano by Shusaku Endo on New Year's Day, which was very good; I'll review it later this week.

I'll start 1Q84 shortly.

I'm halfway through 1Q84 and loving it

just finished Kokoro by Natsume Soseki and am about to start In Praise of Shadows by Jun'ichiro Tanizaki.

I just finished The Sea and Poison by Shusaku Endo.

Finished 1Q84 and have started Silence by Endo.

I think I'm going to start A Personal Matter by Kenzaburo Oe tonight. I plan to be fully depressed and appalled, but hey, some books are like that. A good catharsis.

I have had that book on my tbr shelf for many years. Interested to hear what you think of A Personal Matter.

>8 socialpages: 1/3 way through. It's horrific from a parent's perspective. I don't mean that as a deterrent, but it's difficult for a Westerner to read and not immediately demonize. I'll post a complete review when I'm done.

I'm reading 1Q84 and started Silence, also.

I just finished Silence by Endo, and have started 1Q84.

On to Runaway Horses (Book 2 of the Sea of Fertility). I know Mishima isn't until Q4, but I have quite a bit of his works and I prefer not to read them back to back.

No one makes the natural beauty of Japan seem as appealing as Mishima!

I read Summer Of The Ubume - an interesting thriller which plays with ideas of the supernatural and how they can have a genuine effect on people who believe in them.

I am finally going to start on this next week, when I go on a trip, and I'm going to start with Kokoro by Nasume Soseki. Looking forward to it!

I've just started Stained Glass Elegies by Shusaku Endo, a collection of short stories written between 1959 and 1977.

On to Letters of the Nun Eshinni: Images of Pure Land Buddhism in Medieval Japan.

16 - Interesting. Any reason why you chose that book?

17...my cousin in a Shin Buddhist priest and she recommended it. There are not many first hand accounts of medieval Japan, and by a woman no less. So far I find the existence of them more interesting than the actual content.

OK, well so much for Letters of the Nun Eshinni. I'm moving on to Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata.

Ha ha ha. Hope the Kawabata treats you better!

I've finished Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa. Along with the translator's footnotes and the excellent introduction by Haruki Murakami, this was a very appropriate introduction to modern Japanese life and literature. Please see the work page for my review.

I'm reading Sanshiro by Soseki. So far I'm enjoying it. There's a great introduction by Haruki Murakami. Sanshiro is a country boy who comes to Tokyo to attend university - a Japanese coming of age novel.

moving on to A Life of Jesus by Shusaku Endo.

putting A Life of Jesus on hold for now. I need fiction. On to The Samurai.

I just started Deep River by Shusaku Endo.

I finished Kokoro yesterday and have ordered some more books by Soseki.

I've just finished Audition by Ryu Murakami and loved it.
Seven years after his wife's death, Aoyama has rebuilt a life with his son, Shinge. The teenager suggests his dad remarry, and his dad considers this and consults his friend, Yoshikawa, who suggests putting out an advertisement for auditions for a film they will go through the motions of developing. His plan is to use the lure of auditions to attract women who may be aspiring actresses for Aoyama to 'interview' and hopefully find someone he'd be interested in dating.

From the hundreds of resumes that flood in, Aoyama is drawn to the resume of Yamasaki Asami, a beautiful ex-ballerina. During the auditions, Aoyama is smitten with Asami but Yoshikawa feels that there is something odd about her. But his friend has become obsessed with this woman and will not listen to observations and warnings from his friends.

The tension builds gradually but consistently in this suspenseful thriller.

This month I have finished Shipwrecks by Akira Yoshimura. A slender volume but a beautiful, sad story. I loved the way the seasons in a small seaside village are measured by the fish/food that is available.

I also finished Kenzaburo Oe's A Personal Matter which I found quite disturbing from a parent's view point though the ending did surprise me. I've not found many happy endings in Japanese novels. This too is a short book but not an easy read. There were many times I just wanted to slap the main character, Bird, and tell him to grow up and stop thinking about himself.

Not sure what to tackle next. #27 Cameling - great review. I'm putting Audition on my wish list.

No way I can catch up with you all! I'm reading When I Whistle by Shusaku Endo. Started an hour or so ago and am already on page 110! His prose is simple but he really knows how to pull you into a story.

Pictures of the Heart, a version of the "100 poets, 100 poems" edited and with abundant and insightful commentary by Joshua S. Mostow. It's a marvelous book, though I haven't actually got to the poetry yet. I've been reveling in the 120 page + introduction. It's filled with enlightening information.

Mostow believes that the illustrations that have accompanied the Hyakunin Isshu give us a history of the collection's reception. To demonstrate this, he has filled his book with stunning visuals.

I'm reading (but not enjoying) The Three-Cornered World by Natsume Soseki.

I have just started Rouse Up O Young Men of the New Age! by Kenzaburo Oe.

I read When I Whistle by Shusaku Endo a while ago although I still haven't written about it. Right now I'm trying to read Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami before the movie comes out here in Austin, TX but I'm reading it in Japanese and am seeing how much patience I have for that. Trying to think what I want to read in English while I read that one.

I am reading another book by Soseki, Sanshirō and am enjoying it; my edition has an enlightening introduction by Murakami.

I'm reading Kokoro by Soseki. I really like it so far, but I'm only a couple of chapters in.

I am nearly finished with the first book of I Am A Cat by Soseki. It is very different from Kokoro, which I read earlier this year.

on to Some Prefer Nettles by Junichiro Tanizaki. Review of The Samurai coming soon....

Anne, I have I Am a Cat on my stack for the first quarter (not going to happen). How did you like it? I may try to get to it in April.

Ellen--I started I Am A Cat and have read the first book (of three). It is much more of a humorous book than Kokoro, the other Soseki I read. In fact, they couldn't be more different so far. The basic premise is that it is narrated by a good-for-nothing cat who provides a running sarcastic commentary on the activities and associates of the middle-class Japanese family with whom he lives. I was enjoying it but it is long, though it reads fairly quickly. It is a library book and I mean to get back to it before I have to give it back--so I'll be reading it in April too.

Thanks for the little peek into what to expect, Anne. Since I didn't get to I Am a Cat in March, I'll try to get to it in April. It sounds interesting!

Have been searching my bookshelves all morning, I know I have a copy of I Am A Cat but can't find it. In the meantime, I have read Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe and looking forward to discussing Abe as our selected author for April-June.

I just read The Woman in the Dunes and started a thread for it. I welcome everyone else's thoughts, because I found it extremely disturbing.

I just finished The Stones Cry Out by Hikaru Okuizumi and am now reading The Face of Another by Kobo Abe. I'm excited to see what everyone thinks about Abe.

IF my kids behave, I will be starting The Woman in the Dunes on a plane tomorrow. What are the chances?

I will have to read something else by Abe to decide what I think about him, and not just the one book I've read. Of course, that's the point (or a point) of Author Theme Reads!

The Ruined Map is one of my favorites.

I am really enjoying The Woman in the Dunes so I just ordered 3 more Abe novels: The Box Man, The Face of Another, and The Ark Sakura.

Technodiabla, you won't be sorry!

Time to read The Temple of Dawn -- Book 3 in The Sea of Fertility by Yukio Mishima.

I'm reading The Woman in the Dunes also. All the descriptions of the sand getting into everything are making my skin crawl. I'm really enjoying his writing, however, despite that particular reaction.

So I ended up not liking The Woman in the Dunes much at all. I'm starting Deep River this weekend and am hoping that I will like that better.

That's okay jfetting. I love The Box Man but read The Woman in the Dunes twice and scratched my head twice as to what I though about it. Never really felt passionate it about that one. I'm reading The Face of Another and although I'm starting to recognize and become aware of what is Abe's style, this book still feels different from the other two. So with Abe it's good to sample I feel.

I was thinking of trying another Abe - probably The Box Man, now. I can tell he's a really good writer, I just need a story that doesn't make me start climbing the walls.

I'm struggling my way through The Box Man and have no idea what's going on. Oddly enough, I enjoyed The Woman in the Dunes. #53jfetting - I hope you fare better with The Box Man than I did.

I bought The Box Man at the same time I bought The Woman in the Dunes, but I still have to recover from The Woman in the Dunes before I read it!

54 -
If you read my review of The Box Man maybe it'll help you out? It might not be right but it's what I got out of the book. The middle part is definitely difficult and probably something easier to comprehend on a second read but I feel that the book becomes comprehensible once you reach the dream he has towards the end of the book. But it's definitely a hard read.

Lilisin, do you recommend I read your review before I finish the book or after I finish? I tend to stay away from reviews until I finish but I really am totally lost with the box man and the fake box man.

That's up to you. I would continue reading and then read reviews and seek other opinions after. If you're only in the middle of the book I'd say you're not supposed to get it yet. I personally saw the book as this whole big metaphor about isolation towards society (the Box Man) but society trying to force you back into societal obligations (the Doctor and the Rifleman) despite curiosity towards what isolation means (the Doctor trying to become a box man). Who the woman is made sense to me after a dream sequence towards the end of the book. At least, that's my interpretation and I want to see what others think so keep going!

The Box Man is next up for me for a Japanese read, but I'm not sure when I'll start because (the horror!) there are other books I want to read first.

I just posted my review for Abe's The Face of Another which I thought was great. I'm taking a small break from reading Japanese fiction and reading in English for my next book but I'll be back after.

Great review of a great book. If you ever get a chance to see the Teshigahara film don't miss it.

Yaaawwwwn! Still reading The Temple of Dawn. Certainly not my favorite in the tetralogy. I want it to be over so I can get to my new Abe books that arrived!

56 - I finally understand The Box Man from reading your review. All the things that confused me suddenly made sense.

I thought I would never attempt another novel by Abe but your review of The Face of Another is so good and the plot as you describe it so different that I want to try Abe again.

I started and finished Deep River by Shusaku Endo last night. Wow! I'll have to go back and read it again some time, more slowly, to give it the focus it deserves. I loved it - I usually really like the "travelers who don't know each other and their backstories" books, but this one is particularly great.

63, socialpages -

I'm glad that you were able to get some clarity from my review. And I'm even more glad that my other review has you inspired to try another Abe. I've only read three of his books now and although I'm starting to recognize what makes the Abe style, so far, all three books have been written very differently so I think it's smart to try another.

64, jfetting -

That sounds great. I have a few more Endo books lined up that are already on my TBR shelf but I'll have to make sure I had Deep River there next I see it at the bookstore.

I thought I posted this, but it seems to have got lost in the ether: if you ever get a chance to see Teshigahara's film of The Face of Another don't miss it. It's excellent. (Abe did the screenplay.)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061065/

You did post it in post 61. Thanks again for the recommendation! I was definitely picturing movie scenes as I read the book.

I read The Box Man today. At first I thought it was going to be a relatively straightforward parable on the alienation of the individual like The Woman in the Dunes. Then it began to seem more like Kafka or Samuel Beckett. But when a character challenges the author's integrity and the whole story appears about to loop back to its beginning, I could only think of James Joyce and conclude it is beyond mortal comprehension. Fun to read all the same.

I have just finished Audition by Ryu Murakami, "Japan's master of the pyscho-thriller" as the blurb says. The book cover also announces that this is the novel behind the acclaimed cult movie. Cameling in post #27 gave a good overview of the plot and I agree with her comments about the thrilling finish. However, as Ryu Murakami is the mini author for the third quarter I will wait to comment further until then.

Just finished The Temple of Dawn (I'll post my Mishima reviews in the fourth quarter). I'm moving on The Box Man next.

The Changeling by Kenzaburo Oe. Love it so far!

I loved The Changeling, too. Here's something I wrote about it: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fb20100815a2.html

Unfortunately, I imagine the chances of volumes two and three of the trilogy making it into English are somewhere between slim and none.

Sigh.

I just reviewed Snow Country by Kawabata. I had three more by him. I like the way Japanese culture is integrated into his writing.

Wow! Finished The Changeling and will write a review in the next few days after I absorb it all. Next up: The Face of Another by Kobo Abe.

I just picked up The Samurai by Shusaku Endo, but haven't started it yet. I'm looking forward to it since it has so many good reviews.

I finished Deep River by Endo. My review is on the book page, and I've posted some additional thoughts on the Deep River discussion thread.

My next Japanese novel will be Popular Hits of the Showa Era by Ryu Murakami.

I'm still working on the original version of Almost Transparent Blue but I'll reach the end if I can do a nice solid final push. Otherwise I started reading Osamu Dazai's Setting Sun which I'm reading in my standard French.

I finished The Samurai, which I had a hard time reading because I was so frustrated with the way Velasco was manipulating everyone else in the novel. Next up is Almost Transparent Blue.

I'm halfway through The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, and I'm just flying through it.

I have finished Mishima's The Sailor who feel from Grace with the Sea but I have yet to come up with my thoughts on it. I'll post them once I do.

Eiji Yoshikawa's epic tome Musashi has been calling my name this past week. I loved Taiko so long ago and have been waiting for the right time to read this one. At its length and with its depth and manner of writing it'll take me into the new year. But it'll be a great to start 2013.

I'm in the middle of Spring Snow, the first book in The Sea of Fertility. I don't think I'll get all of SoF finished by the end of the year, so I'll be continuing Japan Year into 2013. Also, I finished The Sound of Waves last week and I loved it - beautifully written and the love story was adorable.

I don't have any Mishima left to read, and I wasn't yet ready for more of Endo's Catholic soul-searching, so I read Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto. It's quite short--two novellas each read in a single sitting--and I enjoyed the author's perceptive but unsentimental perspectives on grief and recovery.

Modern Japanese literature seems to feature a disproportionate number of protagonists who are orphaned and "tied by blood to no creature in this world," as the narrator of Kitchen says.

I finished reading The Samurai ethic and modern Japan by Mishima on October 31, but haven't time to write a review.

I am still reading (half-way through) Forbidden Colours

I've just started reading Foreign Studies by Shusaku Endo.

I finished Foreign Studies by Shusaku Endo, along with The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima. I'll review both books this weekend.

I'm still working on Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa. It's a great book but I have only been sitting down to read about once a week so the 1000 pages are getting read in large but infrequent bites. I love it though.

I still have so many Japanese books I want to read and will continue to do so but I am looking forward also to our French year.

I just finished Scandal by Shusaku Endo, which will be the last novel of his that I'll read this year. I liked it more than I expected to, and I'd rank it third among my favorite Endo novels, after Silence and The Sea and Poison.

As the year draws to a close, I wanted to thank you, lilisin, for introducing me to Japanese literature, and I'm sure that I'll be dipping into it again amidst the many books from all over I'd like to read. I especially enjoyed the opportunity to explore Endo in depth, and I still have some Soseki books on the TBR. I may even get up my courage and try some more Abe, Murakami, or Mishima!

ETA Of course, I'm looking forward to the French theme too, and hope to take advantage of it to read some other French authors who have been languishing on my TBR.