Hello there seem to be a lot of new people finding this video - before you comment asking about a book please check my channel. I’ve read ALL of murakamis books and have done reviews for all of them as well as dozens of videos on japanese lit. Please look before commenting thank you. 💜
I’m Japanese, and surprised to find you are so familiar with Japanese literature! Among the books you introduced was those I’ve read over and over so now im feeling SO close to you ~
Ooh I love it when someone exactly knows how to love Murakami's bibliography. South of the border west of the sun was my first reads. There is no going back since. Loved your video!
I love your Japanese literature recommendations. I have most of them in my Amazon shopping cart. After being introduced to manga, I was hooked and wanted to read more literary works as well.
Great video Kate, thanks for making and uploading it. I always prescribe Japanese literature for people who do a lot of combative thinking, or are going through a stressful time mentally and need a break from dense text or intense subject matter. Books like Strange Weather in Tokyo really are like the author casting a spell, lulling you into this strange dream-like world of theirs-- only it's not deliberately surrealist in style, it happens entirely by accident. Which is what makes it feel magical. It's as you said, 'quiet', everyday life, but in writing about it in a certain way it creates an other-worldly, meandering, ultra-eccentric way of looking at everyday life and internal thinking, all entwined. And I love how the strangest of details in a story end up focused on, like what brand of mineral water a character likes and a little anecdote about what happens in the local corner store is out of stock of this one brand. There's almost no real purpose in these details and elaborations. In so much of Western literature, such anecdotes are overloaded with subtext, metaphor, analogies and cryptic symbolism. So the natural response for a Westerner is to over-think these quirky, truly strange little tales of mundane everyday life, looking for 'what they're REALLY trying to say'. There may be a story about a bus driver and a passenger from out of town, and I'll be prepared to think beyond the literal, ready for some sort of parable. Instead the authors just talk about the colour of the woman's handbag and go on a short tangent about being 7 years old on a bus once. I get hypnotised by the elements in a story or report that end up the main focus, like half a paragraph on the surprising pillow on a chair's cushion in a restaurant or whatever. I read and think, 'why are you telling me this, it will never be referred to again and you're not 'saying' anything with your dreamy little soap bubbles of thought. But then I just let go and it's pure joy to give over to the spell. There would be an entirely different way to report an experience in a Western writer's mind, they'd be too keen to use sensory details only as poetic language or just as a way of dressing up a psychological insight, some sermon on some existential dilemma or some overarching theory on some socio-political hoo-hah. Japanese literature in style and sensibility is impossible to replicate without seeming twee and obvious. There is no great meaning it a lot of things in these novels, it really does turn me upside down and succeed in pulling me into a strange dream world. What a luxury to run into the open field of my imagination and open a different neural pathway once the spell has been cast. I have to read differently thus react differently. It's truly like a luxury spa weekend for my over-stimulated mind. I need a break from trying to keep up with all the relentless, almost suffocating amount of hardcore misery in 2020. Thanks for the recommendations Kate! Hope this long comment was somewhat coherent, at least in parts. Bye. :)
Vessel of Sorrow This is a Japanese literature! The author was reputed to be a Dostoevsky of Japan. A highly prized Japanese après-guerre novel published in 1962.
I just bought Battle Royale from Thriftbooks and I’m really excited to read it! It sounds so good. I loved Confessions! It is my favorite thriller I have read so far this year.
Thank you 😭😭 I'm just getting into japanese literature as a Japanese self study student and I'm so bewildered by it. You go to a Japanese secondhand book store and its overwhelming how much is there. I absolutely agree with the 'quietness' you talk about in Japanese books. It's something that took me off guard at first, but I'm coming to really enjoy it. I haven't read anything translated into English just yet (beyond a light novel series), but I think it would be fun to read some of what you recommended and see how it feels! Thanks for the video ☺️
I found the channel through this video as I was looking for what kind books Osusume Books send-and it's always good to find more channels talking about Japanese lit. Love the genre that Battle Royale created in Japan, learned about Confessions from the movie adaption (You gotta see more Kanae Minato's movies like The Snow White Murder Case-she's called Queen of iyamisu, a type of deals with grisly episodes and the dark side of human nature. Unfortunately, we only got 2 of her novels in English.) Ah, I'd recommend Otsuichi as Horror/Mystery author as well! I went around the channel a bit and what u said about Kazuo Ishiguro and Murakami in "SEPTEMBER WRAP UP (23 BOOKS) | 2019" is kinda funny as some people call one of my favorite Japanese authors-NisiOisiN-Murakami-like just cuz he's Japanese and focuses on introspection but that's all. Seen it with Tomihiko Morimi as well. Guess people think: Japanese = Murakami-like lol (Definitely would recommend those 2 authors as well tho) *Looking for more videos in the future* (Ah, just a Q, heard of Light Novel term?)
hellooo~ your video was the first to pop up when searching for japanese romance novels. i was searching for recommendations for a friends birthday gift and your video was really helpful! but now i have a bunch of books to add to my tbr list lol. also, couldn't help but notice mark lee in the background hehe. totally gonna check out more of your videos!
Hey, I'm about to read "I am a Cat". Your recommendation list is superb. Subscribed. PS: Thank You and please do recommend more unconventional books (I'm sick and tired of bestsellers and popular fictions these days).
Hi Kate, Have you developed any further analysis on some aspects of The Wind-up Bird Chronicle? If yes, it would be great if you share them! Thank you!
Great video Kate! I highly recommend Convenience Store Woman, it's my favourite book of the year so far. I've also just picked up "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, which seems to be popular in UK bookshops at the moment! Also I'm curious as they seem a tad expensive online: what else did you get in your Osusume box? Just a book and a bookmark?
Both of those are on my TBR! I've been interested in the convenience store woman since before its release - its just very pricey in the USA atm still! Yes just the book and bookmark but the books are handpicked for you and your reading tastes! They might be a bit pricey because of the international shipping though but they want to be able to be available to everyone!
Could you link to the book subscription service your promoting? I tried google but can't find anything and I'm really interested! Japanese lit so much fun. You've listed several of my faves but Snakes and Earrings is forever one of my favorite things ever
Have you read or seen anything by Ryu Murakami? So far I've only seen audition and read in the miso soup. I enjoyed both and I just started almost transparent blue by him.
aaa this is a great video !!! i recently read convenience store woman by sayaka murata, and absolutely adored it, it was definitely a quiet book (that's such a good description for japanese lit btw), and it's left me wanting more !!! so thank you for these recommendations !!
oh i love all of these recommendations ! you can never read enough japanese literature. if you haven’t read it already, i highly recommend “the traveling cat chronicles”!!! it’s super short and very beautifully written. definitely a “quiet” book. the main character is one of my favorite characters ever written, he’s so wonderful, and the ending BROKE me. i am definitely going to check out “i am a cat!”
Confessions is one of my favourite movies. I am wondering if it is an exact adaptation of the book or it has some differences, because I would like to buy it. Do you happen to know?
i checked Goodreads and it doesn't look like you've read The Restaurant of Love Regained by Ogawa Ito. now i haven't read actually read it either, but i have read Le Jardin arc-en-ciel which unfortunately hasn't been translated to English. i really enjoyed it though, it's queer and about daily life and family relationships. Le Restaurant de l'amour retrouvé/The Restaurant of Love Regained looks like it may be similar.
@@tatarluffy4309 I was checking i can either read from him Serenade for Nadia in english or in french i have found few which were translated : Leyla s house , Freedom and Loniless ( These are the approximative translations from french to english ) So please let me know which one I shoulf strqt with. I love Ohran Pamuk and I m seeing Elif shafak talking to an event on the 1st of november ( even if I used to prefer her old books rather than the new ones )
